Upper Mt Gravatt homes resumed for road

A BLOCK of four properties will be resumed by Brisbane City Council as part of a multimillion-dollar project to create a new connection to a major southside road, despite objections from some of the owners.

Ian walker and Steven Huang.

A BLOCK of four properties will be resumed by Brisbane City Council as part of a multimillion-dollar project to create a new connection to a major southside road.

The council voted to resume 654 Kessels Rd, 652 Kessels Rd, 10 Pickworth St and 8 Pickworth St to extend council-owned Player St and connect it to the state-owned Kessels Rd.

The land will be resumed despite objections from the owners of 652 Kessels Rd and 8 Pickworth St.

652 Kessels Rd, Upper Mount Gravatt, is one of the four properties.

The council says Kessels Rd had “high volumes” of traffic queuing, while its intersection at Cremin St was the site of 24 crashes between 2007 and 2011.

The council has committed $4.8 million to the Player St Connection this financial year but the State Government still refuses to jointly fund the project.

Cr Steven Huang (MacGregor) said he was “extremely disappointed” in the State Government.

The Player St Connection project will extend Player St in Upper Mt Gravatt to meet the signalised intersection at Kessels Rd and MacGregor St, with a roundabout at Pickworth St and Player St.

The council says Kessels Rd had “high volumes” of traffic queuing. Picture: Patria Jannides

The intersection at Cremin St will lose its traffic lights and only be accessible by left-in and left-out turns, and a median strip will be built on the road.

Gaylene Susan Tucker, the owner of 8 Pickworth St, objected to the resumption through a solicitor.

The letter stated the roads the upgrades would create would cause more congestion and that 8 Pickworth St was an investment property and part of the owner’s self-funded retirement plan.

“Replacing this house with one of comparable value in this area will be next to impossible,” the letter said.

The independent delegate’s response was the project had been carefully designed, and “the matter of compensation … is not a valid basis for objection under the Acquisition of Land Act 1967”.

Hsui-Mei Ou and Kun-Tang Wen, of 652 Kessels Rd, wrote in their objection that they were elderly and bought their home because Westfield Garden City Shopping Centre and the bus interchange were within walking distance.

Mr and Mrs Wen noted the council only needed 355m sq of the 582m sq block to build the road.

“Even (if) the additional land is a small lot we still can rebuild our lovely home and enjoy the rest of the (sic) life there,” the letter stated.

A Brisbane City Council spokeswoman confirmed the council was prepared to transfer the remaining land back to the property owners after completion.

Cr Huang said the Player St Connection would address the “traffic gridlock” caused by Kessels Rd and again called on the State for joint funding.

He said it would improve the safety and efficiency of Kessels Rd, part of the Brisbane Urban Corridor — a national freight route.

It is the third time Cr Huang has called for joint funding for the Player St Connection.

The State Government was contacted for comment by the Southern Star but did not respond.

Previously, it has responded to similar questions, for articles published in the Star on May 1 and June 6 in 2017, that the project is “100 per cent council’s responsibility”.