Manly Village development at Lota House delayed due to COVID-19
A controversial $60 million luxury retirement living development on Brisbane’s picturesque bayside, which sparked fierce rallies from residents, has hit a major setback. READ MORE HERE.
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A controversial $60 million luxury retirement village development, which sparked rallies from hundreds of concerned residents, has hit a major hurdle.
Construction for the new project from The Village Retirement Group and Anglicare at the site of the heritage-listed Lota House isn’t expected to start until next year after the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down progress.
The delay comes after the development, which includes 100 units in two four-storey and two six-storey buildings, was initially rejected by the Brisbane City Council before the decision was overturned in the Planning and Environment Court in December last year.
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“Progress of the proposed Manly retirement village project has been impacted by COVID-19,” a spokesman from TVRG said.
“The Village Retirement Group (on behalf of Anglicare Southern Queensland) is currently finalising its detailed design for the project.
“It does not expect to be in a position to start construction this year.”
The decision was also overturned after the developers made several minor changes, including reducing the number of apartments by two.
Bayside residents fiercely opposed the project, believing it would ruin the iconic Edwin Marsden Tooth Memorial Building’s view of Moreton Bay, as well as destroy the character of the area and be damaging to surrounding wildlife and habitat.
The project is believed the be worth up to $67 million.
Led by the Bayside Action Group, more than 100 residents rallied against the development in December after the decision was overturned in court.
BAG spokeswoman, Cheri Crane, who led last year’s rally, said they were devastated the project was going ahead.
“It’s really upsetting, we believe it’s going to have a major impact on the area and not in a good way,” she said.
“But there’s nothing we can do unfortunately.
“There’s not a day goes by where a resident doesn’t talk to me about it and how much they’re against it.”
The development from TVRG and Anglicare won’t be the only retirement living development on the bayside with multimillion-dollar plans recently revealed to upgrade the iconic Nazareth House.
However, the project from Nazareth Care has received support from local politicians, including Councillor for Wynnum Manly (ALP) Peter Cumming, whereas bayside leaders joined residents in opposing the development at Lota House.
“The community put in a good fight against the proposal,” Cr Cumming said.
“I still think it’s over the top, considering the area and what’s around it but unfortunately there’s nothing more that can be done.”