Ritzy Brisbane suburb being eaten by developers

Residents in one of Brisbane’s most expensive and charming suburbs say small lot housing and units are ruining its character.

Clynder, which dates to the 1850s before Queensland existed, has had its formerly sweeping grounds continually subdivided.

St Lucia residents say developers are carving up their beautiful suburb for small lot housing and units as they chase profits.

The latest example to anger locals in the inner-west suburb, where the median house price is a cool $1.5 million, is being built next to landmark homestead Clynder.

It is so old the original titles show it on a map of the colony of NSW. Queensland did not come into being until 1859, several years after Clynder was built.

The hilltop Ryans Rd property, held by the well-known Wilson stockbroking family for many years, once boasted sweeping grounds.

But townhouses swallowed up the tennis courts in the late 1990s.

Current owner Caoimhe Ryan returned from a holiday in Ireland over Christmas to discover workers building a house on what was once Clynder’s driveway.

Caoimhe Ryan on the verandah of Clynder, with the small lot housing project in the background.

She dubbed it the “Ikea house’’ because of the speed with which it was going up on the 320 sqm block at 78 Ryans Rd

“When we bought Clynder in 2014 it was cut into three blocks,’’ Ms Ryan said.

“We bought on the condition of being able to buy the adjacent lots, including one that was the garden.

“But we couldn’t afford the price they were asking for the lot where the driveway used to be and they sold it (separately).’’

Ms Ryan said City Plan 2014 allowed for only two storeys, or a total of 7.5m, in the street.

But the new house was effectively three levels and would be at least 9.5m high.

“The bottom level, which is 2.7m high, is almost all above ground and higher than the (lowest level) of our house.

“It has windows on most sides, so how can they call that a basement?

Ms Ryan on the same verandah before the small lot housing project started going up.

She said the house would tower over Clynder and a neighbour’s property.

Council approved a “minor change’’ application by Urban Strategies, acting on behalf of the 78 Ryans Rd owners, in July.

“We are dedicated to preserving the character of our suburbs while balancing the needs of our growing community,’’ a Council spokeswoman said.

“Ryans Rd in St Lucia features a mixture of buildings from apartment complexes to single homes.

“Council approved an application for a single house at 78 Ryans Rd in June, 2017, which was slightly amended in July, 2020.

“The approval was for a two-storey home with a minor third storey component to address the slope of the site.

“It does not exceed 9.5m above natural ground and satisfies all other planning requirements.’’

Urban Strategies conceded in its application in March that the house was three levels, but also said it was below 9.5m.

A plan of the new house, just above Clynder as seen from GoogleEarth. The townhouses built on the former tennis court are at the bottom of the image.

However, it said the house appeared to be two levels from the street and was stepped down to reduce its impact and would have appropriate tree screening and setbacks.

“The extent of the three storey element has been reduced from that approved (in 2017),’’ it said.

“The proposed outcome continues to ensure the house presents as being two storeys, where

visible from the street, and stepped down the site.

“The reduced extent of the third storey element significantly reduces visual bulk and scale.

“The overall height to the roof peak has increased, however continues to be located under 9.5m from ground level.

“The increased height is a consequence of integrating a traditional roof form with pitch and proportions that match other pre-war dwellings within the street.’’

Ms Ryan said she and her neighbours had defeated a previous development proposal on the site in 2017.

They argued the 9.5m-high development would breach nine sections of City Plan 2014, including being non-compliant with height, privacy, traditional building character, parking and waste collection laws.

But by the time Ms Ryan became aware the current development application had been approved — when she returned from holidays to find her fence undermined by earthworks — it was too late to object.

The new project, and the 2017 proposal, were “code assessable’’ which meant neighbours did not have to be notified.

Artist's impression of how the small-lot house will look.

Another neighbour, Brian White, took legal action against a plan for two townhouses on the site 24 years ago, which eventually led to that project being dropped.

But he said under the new code assessable rules he was not allowed to take legal action or even to be consulted.

“There’s nothing I can do about it. As ratepayers we should at the very least be notified,’’ he said.

“Part of the reason we live in St Lucia is it’s leafy outlook, but the fabric of the suburb has changed since I moved here.’’

The new house is the latest in a string of small lot, unit or intensive housing projects across the suburb to ruffle feathers in St Lucia.

In June last year a developer who built a 7m-high steel fence at an 8th Ave property, dubbed by neighbours The Great Wall of St Lucia, had to cut the fence back after Councillor James Mackay intervened.

A rooming house proposal and medium-rise units on Sir Fred Schonell Drive have also caused consternation.

Cr Mackay spoke out last year after residents became alarmed at a boarding accommodation proposal at St Peters Lutheran College on Lambert Rd.

Under State Government rules Council has no power to stop or impose conditions on it.

And last July residents spoke up against plans for a nine-level unit block further along Lambert Rd.

The State Government has been encouraging high-density “transit oriented development in that section of Lambert Rd, but resident Michael Yeates said planning laws were putting pre-1946 and pre-1911 buildings in that area at grave risk.

“Sadly, the days of Brisbane being proud and protective of the ‘timber and tin’ and other historic building types are over, and it seems nowhere is safe from developers,’’ he said.