Land could be sold at Koppen development this year as project progresses

A development just 5km from the Cairns CBD could hit the market before the end of the year as a wealthy local family leads the charge to bring new residential land online.

THE Koppen family is moving ahead with a long-planned subdivision at Callum St in Mooroobool and lots could go to market this year.

Urban Sync director Stuart Ricketts, whose town planning company prepared the latest development application for the project, said work on the 21 lot subdivision was progressing well.

The application was by Fairview Farming Pty Ltd – whose directors are Kevin Koppen, Scott Koppen and Brett Koppen.

A proposal for 77 units on 2.8ha in 2015 met with a flood of protests before council approved the development anyway but that approval lapsed in late 2020.

Council approved the application for 21 lots in April but the 28 page decision had 30 conditions around landscape risk assessments.

A subdivision comprising 21 lots will be built at 31-67 Callum St in Mooroobool – but only if landslide risk assessments are endorsed by Cairns Regional Council. Picture: supplied.

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Mr Ricketts said Urban Sync had completed the approvals and negotiations with stakeholders including Cairns Regional Council to get necessary approvals.

“The project has a long history and completion of the majority of the subdivisional works was in the 1990s,” Mr Ricketts said.

“Finalising the subdivision for these lots is in the final stages of documentation and will involve geotechnical works and bank stabilisation to meet current 2021 requirements.

“The overall construction component is fairly minimal and it’s possible that we could see lots for sale before the end of the year

“Additional housing is a hot topic at the moment and this is going to be a welcome addition to the Cairns market.

“The site has a long and complex history that included physical constraints and earthworks over the land – our approvals strategy sought to ensure that the development of the land could be undertaken, but in a way that meets both the needs of our client and the highest development standards.”

Callum St, Mooroobool, has a 21 lot development approved.

He said subdivision would take advantage of existing earthworks and include extra protection so future building works were suitable for the site conditions.

In its application, Fairview said technical experts were engaged to look at risk reduction measures to improve the overall stability of the land and to demonstrate it is suitable for residential development.

“These investigations have determined that the risk level of the land and all proposed allotments can be reduced to ‘low’ and ‘very low’, subject to the identified stabilisation works being undertaken,” the report said.

Originally published as Land could be sold at Koppen development this year as project progresses