Council ‘baffling us with bulls--t’

COMMUNITY group leaders are demanding stronger consultation on the City Plan changes about building heights and light rail.

However, the council planning boss says the latest rounds of consultation have never been higher.

Some community groups have employed planners for a deep dive into hundreds of pages of recommendations provided in a report to be discussed by the council’s planning committee on Thursday.

The amendments called Our City Our Plan started in 2016 and sparked three rounds of consultation in 2019 and 2020 in which residents protested about height increases at Labrador, Biggera Waters, Southport and Palm Beach.

After several hours of analysing the latest update, a planner told a community leader: “They’re (the council) baffling us with bulls--t”.

Several community leaders have contacted council asking for wider consultation.

“The report is very muddling. They (some planners) think deliberately so. The lay person cannot understand it,” a community leader said.

The mapping in the latest reports show the consistent opposition among Biggera Waters residents to taller towers.

Community Alliance leader John Hicks has written to councillors asking them to agree to what he calls a standard of consultation required by the legislation.

Council has invited residents to a “have your say” page, make a submission to a City Plan portal, talk to planners at sessions and email or call.

Planning committee chair Cameron Caldwell said: “City Plan amendment 2 and 3 package has benefited from the highest levels of community consultation ever seen in a planning process.

“Council has listened to community input and responded accordingly. If endorsed by council, the next round of revised changes will be advertised for a fourth time.”

Mr Hicks voiced concerns about the lack of future public meetings. He said the agenda papers contained a large and complex set of amendments.

“The changes contained in the amendment 2 and 3 package will impact on the residential and working amenity of citizens for many years to come,” Mr Hicks said.

“It is only reasonable that those affected should have the maximum opportunity to receive information and to discuss issues with both planning officers and their elected representatives.”

Mr Hicks said a year had passed since public meetings were held in December 2019 and the community should be “brought back up to speed with insightful briefings”.