The fate of the Arundel golf course and housing supply are keys to October election win

The behind-the-scenes moves of Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon’s controversial intervention in the Arundel Hills country club are under scrutiny. Read Paul Weston’s take

What will be the hottest election topic for the Gold Coast? Is it the trams going south to the airport, youth crime, pressure on our public hospitals, or the cost of living?

The answer is what happens on an abandoned golf course and for the city’s only Labor MP.

The question your columnist gets asked most by councillors is why Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon decided to intervene in the $150 million Arundel Hills Estate dispute.

Council had voted against the developer’s application, and joined residents in an appeal in the Planning Court. Ms Scanlon considered a “call-in” to potentially overturn it - a rare use of her powers.

After reviewing submissions from all stakeholders, the Gaven MP opted to work with the council and developer on a temporary local planning instrument (TLPI).

Let’s put aside the planning jargon - at its heart, this is about housing affordability.

This process is further complicated by being confidential in its earliest stages.

But a government source explains it simply - Ms Scanlon believes some councils are moving too slowly to reach their population growth targets

Meaghan Scanlon. .Picture: Annette Dew.

The Coast will reach one million residents by 2046 - 158,100 extra dwellings are needed.

The city has enough golf courses according to her - and this one is rundown and not profitable. Why not explore an accommodation solution which considers the environment and neighbours while providing a low cost and affordable housing element?

“We are not talking building McMansions here,” the Labor source says.

The Property Council this week said the biggest poll issue was “unlocking housing”.

The latest Urbis report shows the average Coast unit prices increased from $1.13m in September last year to $1.73m in the March quarter.

Opposition leader David Crisafulli surprised Labor in his budget-in-reply speech by addressing housing, offering stamp duty concessions and bringing housing supply targets forward.

But the Opposition’s Sam O’Connor, the Bonney MP, is standing by his Arundel residents, vocally opposing Ms Scanlon’s dramatic intervention. Ms Scanlon is not going to ignore the environmental concerns raised in the strong submissions by Arundel Hills Golf Course Community Reference Group led by Jason Young

Jason Young, spokesperson for the Arundel Golf Club Community Reference Group — their submissions will not be ignored. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Where is this heading? The Deputy Director of Planning in State Government has written to council CEO Tim Baker calling on bureaucrats to work through the technical process.

A draft TLPI is being prepared. Ms Scanlon is yet to see it. The process will take months. We will know more before the October State election.

All of us need to play a round of golf on this one, have a long shot at trying to ease our housing crisis. Our kids, standing out in the rough trying to get in the game, will applaud us.

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Originally published as The fate of the Arundel golf course and housing supply are keys to October election win