Sunnybank Hills aged-care development fight in Brisbane’s south

A Brisbane suburb has launched a campaign to stop a 136-bed aged care they say will clog local streets and increase the potential of a fatal traffic crash.

A development application has been lodged for an aged-care facility in Sunnybank Hills.

A COMMUNITY on Brisbane’s southside is campaigning to stop a proposed 136-bed aged-care facility with a hair salon, servery, activities pavilion, wellness centre and communal hall from being approved by council.

The community consultation period for the two-stage Calam Rd/Radiata St development is open and residents opposing the plans have already started lodging submissions.

Their main concerns are a lack of parking on-site and how this will mean further congestion on local roads, pedestrian safety, the height and size of the development, and how many staff will work at the 24-hour facility.

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The Sunnybank Hills community is rallying to stop a proposed multi-level aged care facility on Calam Rd and Radiata St from being approved by Brisbane City Council.

The land has been zoned ‘emerging community’ since 2000 which can be earmarked for townhouses or retirement living, according to Brisbane City Councillor Kim Marx (Runcorn ward).

The development application was lodged with council in August, 2019.

A community meeting is being held on Thursday.

Damask St resident Richard Croft alerted the Southern Star to this development application on Tuesday and asked for assistance to highlight residents’ plight.

Mr Croft told the Southern Star he’d submitted a comprehensive submission to Brisbane City Council opposing the development.

“There are so many problems with this that at the moment I will only address the biggest elephant in the room, parking,” Mr Croft wrote.

A development application has been lodged for an aged-care facility in Sunnybank Hills.

Mr Croft said there were a total of 31 carparks planned for the site (one disabled spot) and the owners of the land would not confirm how many staff would work at the facility.

Any facility like this should be providing all carparking requirements for residents, visitors, staff on site. Not in the surrounding streets,” he wrote.

Just drive along any road in our locality, you dodge in and out of parked cars on both sides of the street, cars parked across the footpaths and on front lawns.

The Sunnybank Hills community is rallying to stop a proposed multi-level aged care facility on Calam Rd and Radiata St from being approved by Brisbane City Council.

“It is only a matter of time before there is a fatal accident.

“So now you want to approve a development that will worsen this problem, not only in Radiata St but right throughout the neighbourhood.

“The residents of Radiata street, a quiet, well maintained small single access street must be

horrified.

“Our living standards have been gradually degraded over the past decade by rental properties not being maintained, gardens and lawns overgrown, crime, which used to be non-existent in

Sunnybank Hills, is now rampant. Enough is enough.”

The owner of Sunny Care Pty Ltd, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Southern Star this facility was not a traditional nursing home and “very different” from anything around.

An artist’s impression of the facility.

The retirement village will have 20 staff on each of the four daily shifts, and has 17 houses on the site with eight bedrooms each.

Each house has its own kitchen and dining area.

“They (residents) don’t want to become a number, they move from one house (theirs) to another house (within the facility),” the woman said.

When asked why Sunny Care Pty Ltd chose this site for the aged-care facility she said: “it is a good location”.

She said if approved by council, construction would start “as soon as we can”.

“The building we designed is very beautiful and it is very far from the neighbours,” the woman said.

The development site.

“It is two storeys (but) nobody can tell it is a facility — it is just a house.”

“Nobody can tell – we are building it like a house.

“It will increase their property value.”

When asked about the parking concerns locals had, the land owner said council had only required them to have 25 carparks and they had decided 31.

She said “lots of our carers live locally, they don’t need to drive”.

What the facility will look like.

The woman noted the nearby bus stop as another means of transport to the facility.

“(We will) try to get staff not to drive to work,” she said.

Tranquil St resident Brian Webb strongly objects to pedestrian access from/to Radiata St, and notes “there must be no parking in Radiata St (from this facility) at all” and that yellow no parking lines should be painted on the road in Radiata St and Tranquil St.

Nearby Peppercorn St resident Jan Giles wrote in her submission that the planned facility would mean “more traffic, not parking” for her street and the adjoining roads.

“Staff changeover time will mean busy street movements as many staff will probably use the backstreet(s) and not Calam (Rd) to park,” she wrote.

A development application has been lodged for an aged-care facility in Sunnybank Hills.

Sunnybank Hills residents John and Beverly Pickerill made a joint submission to council opposing the development noting parking issues and unspecified staff numbers were their main concerns.

Bryan and Barbara Jones also made a join submission opposing the development, noting the rezoning of the land would mean the local community would suffer.

“ … There will be a marked increase in traffic in local streets with children living around the area, accidents will occur and on-street parking (issues) already affecting Peppercorn

St will worsen,” the submission read.

The Sunnybank Hills community is rallying to stop a proposed multi-level aged care facility on Calam Rd and Radiata St from being approved by Brisbane City Council.

Submissions for or against the Calam Rd/Radiata St development can be made during the community consultation which runs until November 25.

Cr Marx told the Southern Star concerned residents should lodge a submission and they could make an appointment to meet with her one-on-one.

She said she would put local residents’ concerns in her letter of objection.

“I don’t like the idea of the parking (or lack there of),” Cr Marx said.

In July, council voted to reject a large townhouse/apartment development application on Trudgian St, Sunnybank which was prompted by a community-led campaign to stop the project.