NORTH STRADBROKE ISLAND QYAC LAND BUILDING APPROVALS NOW SUBJECT TO REDLAND CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL
In a major announcement specifically to The Friendly Bay Islander, The department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning has stated Redland City Council is responsible for receiving and assessing any future development applications for development on Quandamooka land on Nortjh Stradbroke Islands (Minjerribah).
The announcement follows a trail of inquiry by The Friendly Bay Islander following concerns about unapproved clearing of land and the erection of buildings on the 94 hectares of land deeded to the Quandamooka organisation, QYAC, in a major move by the Queensland State Government just over 12 months ago.
We had received a number of complaints from North Stradbroke Island residents about the approval process or otherwise for buildings on the 94 hectares situated in Dunwich, Amity and Point Lookout.
One person told us: “We could have a dumpsville on Straddie if something isn’t done.
The Quandamooka group, QYAC, has been tight-lipped about the block clearing and the possible home builds.
We endeavoured to find out if there was process of quality control in the builds so far from interim QYAC CEO Mike Forham, and the response was no response at all.
We discovered a number of people had been ‘granted land’ by QYAC, and were planning home construction.
An island home designer told us he had been spoken to by several parties and all had indicated they wanted to ‘waive’ all forms of building approval, as it ‘did not apply’ to them.
We knew that many islanders and Redland City Council were fearful this could see a new level of low quality buildings emerge that could be called into question.
The North Stradbroke Island Chamber of Commerce also told us that its members had been concerned about the DA approval situation involving the Quandamooka land since it was announced just over a year ago.
“There seem to be no approval process in place for building on this land.
“Not only that, but the lack of information involving submissions to the Dunwich Master Plan is also of major concern,” a spokesperson for the Chamber told The Friendly Bay Islander.
Councillor for North Stradbroke Island, Cr Peter Mitchell, also voiced his concerns, as much of the land in question ‘has already been cleared and some structures are in place’.
By way of concern, Redland City Council, had sought some undertakings from the State Government with no response.
To try and get their attention, council recently moved that it would 'not be responsible' for any roads or infrastructure for any of the 94 hectares involved.
The Friendly Bay Islander went directly to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and asked the following: “Your department told this publication last October that ‘any future development of this land will be subject to usual planning, consultation and development approvals, so could you advise what are the ‘usual planning, consultation and development approvals’ for this 94 hectares?.
We were taken back a little when we received the following response to be attributed to a spokesperson for the department.
The statement reads: “ Redland City Council is responsible for receiving and assessing any future development applications for development on this land.
“Any future development applications will be subject to the development assessment requirements under the council’s local planning scheme.
“This includes the zoning and development assessment requirements under the Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI).
“Building approvals are required for building work under the Building Act 1975,” the statement concluded.
Both Mayor of Redland City Council Karen Williams and Cr Peter Mitchell expressed considerable surprise at the statement.
“We have been trying to get a response from the State Government for 12 months in relation to this,” Mayor Williams said.
Cr Mitchell said he ‘looked forward’ to the ‘State being a willing participant in any actions that might need to be taken’.
• Land clearing on the QYAC land