Hemmant housing estate planned next to floodprone creek alarms neighbours

Residents in a notoriously floodprone eastside suburb have inundated a Council development portal with complaints after plans were lodged for a 99-lot housing estate next to a creek.

Hemmant residents are concerned about flooding if a 99-lot subdivision at Ragnor Rd (inset) is approved. Main picture: Nearby Lindum Rd in the 2012 flood.

Residents in a notoriously floodprone eastside suburb have inundated a Council development portal with complaints after plans were lodged for a 99-lot housing estate next to a creek.

More than 40 submissions have so far been lodged about the proposal, on a 14ha site at 62 Ragnor Rd and 54-54a Hemmant Tingalpa Rd in Hemmant.

Hemmant Property Group Pty Ltd lodged a development application (DA) with Council to turn the three lots, zoned rural and “environmental management’’, into a 99-lot estate with house blocks ranging from 300-547 sqm.

The site would be filled to raise most of the house sites above the one-in-100 year local flood level, with stormwater runoff to be directed to “swales’’ to scrub it of contaminants before discharge into Hemmant Drain.

The drain flows into Bulimba Creek and then the Brisbane River.

The developer said two-thirds of the site on its eastern portion, which had many weed species, would be rehabilitated and handed back to Council.

A flood impact assessment by consultants BMT said development would not occur on a section designated as floodway.

Aerial view of the proposed housing estate. Image: Nearmap

Hemmant Property Group said the suburb was transitioning from rural and light industrial uses to residential, with several new estates nearby including Eastpoint (53 lots) and others with 26, 11 and 51 lots.

Town planners Urbis said in the DA documents that other sites zoned for both Emerging Community and Low Density Residential were just to the south of the Ragnor Rd property.

“Hemmant is a suburb in transition, which has undergone rapid growth over the past decade,’’ town planners Urbis said in the DA documents.

“The traffic generated by the development will not result in unreasonably adverse operational capacity of intersections within proximity of the development, including the intersection with Ragnor Rd and the intersection between Ragnor Rd and Hemmant-Tingalpa Rd.

“The site is a logical location for the development of low density residential housing and is very much an expansion of the nature of development which is currently taking place in the immediate vicinity.’’

Flooding at nearby Lindum Rd in Hemmant in 2012. Picture: Rob Maccoll

But Hemmant residents said in about 40 formal submissions that they were concerned about the impact of filling part of the site on flood flows in neighbouring areas.

Some said insurance companies had already refused them flood insurance or greatly increased prices of premiums due to flood risk.

“Insurance companies are currently pulling their building and contents insurance from residents living in the Hemmant area due to flooding, including ours,’’ resident Sharon Foley wrote in her submission.

“I have lived in the area for 20 years. It was very obvious during the last flood that the new (nearby) developments have already had a massive impact on flooding.

“Properties and roads flooded that have never flooded before (now have). They didn’t even flood during 2010/11 flood.’’

The site is a few hundred metres from Hemmant train station.

Another resident wrote: “The current drainage in the Hemmant area is under immense strain, with low-lying land being filled and inadequate drainage to cope.

“The roads surrounding this proposal, in particular Ragnor and Hemmant Tingalpa Rd, are also not suitable for additional traffic.

“Exiting on to Hemmant Tingalpa Rd, even if not directly, (could) prove dangerous with parked cars blocking visual clearance.

“Furthermore additional traffic along Hemmant Tingalpa Rd would cause congestion and safety issues.’’

She said there was also limited parking at Hemmant Train Station, a few hundred metres away.

More details on Council’s online DA portal developmenti. Search for 62 Ragnor Rd or application A006375025