Highfields Place Estate unveils unique environmental protection plan with new subdivision

A new boutique housing estate, which has been called an ‘exemplar’ of eco-friendly development, could offer an insight into how housing is delivered in sensitive areas. See the plans here.

A “region-leading” subdivision north of Toowoomba has offered a glimpse into how development in environmentally-sensitive areas could look in the future.

Gold Coast developers Tom and Bernie Mah are currently finalising works at the site of Highfields Place Estate, a set of a eight rural residential lots on the corner of Barracks and Cronin roads — directly opposite the Avenues of Highfields subdivision.

The boutique development, which features an average lot size of about 4800sq m, is unique for the use of environmental covenants to protect more than 300 trees of ecological significance.

Range Environmental Consultants senior ecologist Will Gibson, who worked with the Mahs on the project, said the covenant will wrap around the eight lots and restrict any future owners from developing on it.

Concept art for Highfields Place Estate, an eight-lot subdivision off Cronin Road in Highfields that features extensive ecological preservation.

“Essentially it turns into a private environmental conservation area, so people who are looking to buy these lands become a steward for that land for the time that they own it,” he said.

“They’ll be in quite good condition because as part of the project we’re completing significant revegetation of those areas, but they will keep on top of any weeds that encroach into the area, (and) in (the covenant) people aren’t able to build structures such as sheds and pools – it is an area set aside for nature preservation.

“But the lots have been designed to have sufficient area not under covenant for the expected land uses – say a shed, a pool, a house, effluent irrigation, so they’re sized to provide that level of amenity to people.”

Mr Gibson said the development was also a “throwback” to the typical style of housing that has become synonymous with Highfields.

“The larger blocks have a lot more potential for retention of these large trees,” he said.

“They’re generally extremely hard to retain on the smaller lots because of the amount of servicing and benching that occurs on them.”

Concept art for Highfields Place Estate, an eight-lot subdivision off Cronin Road in Highfields that features extensive ecological preservation.

Highfields Place Estate is similar in concept to Hideaway, a three-lot subdivision at Cabarlah by developer Angela Lambert that Mr Gibson has also worked on.

The advancement of the projects, which are covered by council’s mapping for areas of ecological significance, come as the TRC grapples with a path forward to protection in environmental sensitive zones.

A push by deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff last year to established a temporary local planning instrument (TLPI) using that mapping as a guide was quashed, with her colleagues favouring that work being folded into the council’s long-overdue new planning scheme.

Mr Gibson said both Highfields Place and Hideaway should be used as case studies for how the new planning scheme should treat development in environmental overlays.

Aerial photos of Hideaway at Cabarlah by ReMax Success.

“This is the type of outcome that we would expect a new planning scheme would be seeking to deliver,” he said.

“This is ultimately an exemplary development of where I suppose we would expect development to be heading on lots of this nature under the new scheme.

“When it opens to public consultation, this is the one we’ll be pointing them to and saying, ‘well you basically need to have a scheme that seeks to deliver outcomes like this because this is the balance that you keep referring to’, where there’s some level of development and quite a good amount of retention.

“It really represents a region-leading example of ecologically and koala-sensitive design development.”

ReMax Success’ Shaun Blackburn, who is handling the sale of Highfields Place, said he had already received nearly two dozen inquiries from residents from initial advertising.

“The development approval is through, the operation works approval is through, so lots won’t be sealed until after that (is done), so it will be another 12 to 18 months,” he said.

“We have started some like coming soon marketing on Facebook and social media, so it has had quite a good response based on what we’ve put out there.

“On our register we’ve had 18 or 19 people put their name down for further information once it’s available, so based on the limited time and budget behind that it’s had a pretty good response.”

Photos of Highfields Place Estate, an eight-lot subdivision off Cronin Road in Highfields that features extensive ecological preservation.

Darling Downs Environment Council co-ordinator Ahri Tallon said the project was a “move in the right direction” considering the current planning framework for housing across the region.

“We appreciate the effort the developer has gone to preserve important habitat and place covenants over intact areas to protect them into perpetuity,” he said.

“In the context of no current tree protections being in place this is a move in the right direction.

“We do, however, prefer developments that are placed in the great abundance of land that is already cleared or require as little clearing as possible and that it is made a priority to protect and connect existing habitat.

“We hope that the tree protections brought in under the new planning scheme would recognise the importance of protecting existing intact habitat and focus on making efficient use of already cleared land when zoning new areas for development.”