Housing solution to north

SUGAR cane fields at the northern tip of the Gold Coast must be developed for the city to grow, according to veteran developer Norm Rix.

Mr Rix, 83, spoke to the Bulletin for the launch of a series about our biggest landowners, which will culminate on Friday with the publication of a comprehensive list with the landowners’ holdings, and the value of their land.

Mr Rix said the Gold Coast must unlock the value of the land to the north to grow.

“There are thousands of hectares of land out there in the cane fields to the north,” he said.

“The Gold Coast must expand to the north but you can’t buy in there because no masterplanning has been done.

“If we opened up all the canefield land, and the farmers want to get out because the sugar industry is so tough, that is the way the Gold Coast can expand.”

Chinese company Songcheng has struck a deal with cane farmers to buy 6117ha of land at the Norwell Valley, where it is planning a $1 billion city development.

The plans are subject to approval from the Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Government, as the area is zoned rural under the Gold Coast City Plan, and would require rezoning before Songcheng’s plans could proceed.

Mr Rix is well placed to talk about development and land ownership. He started working in the real estate industry when he was 22 and has a career spanning nearly six decades.

He has developed Coomera Grand and Ashmore City, among other assets

The Gold Coast’s leading land owners revealed in Friday’s Bulletin