Need answers
Council rejected a giant Arundel housing project, so where does the city turn now for land?
Gold Coast city councillors have emphatically voted to reject a controversial $150m redevelopment of the derelict Arundel Hills Country Club site.
This decision by the planning committee was not altogether unsurprising – council officers had already recommended refusal in their report.
Council planning committee chair Mark Hammel was applauded by residents in the gallery as he referred to their report as “the strongest I’ve seen”.
He said the planned residential development would mean the removal of 75,000sq m of vegetation and four waterways, an outcome he said would be ‘catastrophic” on existing fauna.
“The impact on existing fauna would be catastrophic,” he said.
The outcome could clearly be described as an unambiguous win for people power, particularly after the council received 1163 objections, most of them from nearby residents, and individual accounts rather than a signing off on a pro-forma letter.
Only 119 submissions were made in support. About 30 residents, opposed to the project, were in the council chambers for the vote. So where to from here? Preserving open space is important and ensuring the amenity of residents is critical.
But at the same time, this project was to create more than 380 houses and become home to more than 1200 people.
At a time when our population is increasing by 15,000 people annually, development is failing to keep pace and housing prices keep rising – new product on the market would have gone some way to addressing this.
In rejecting this project, it leaves the Gold Coast even further behind in terms of making up for the shortfall in accommodation.
The onus is now on our political leaders and decision-makers to give clear answers on how this issue will be solved.
Be specific about how we are housing all these people, particularly in light of the fact that there’s no population cap or way to slow the migration.
If they don’t have an answer, be honest and open the floor to experts who can give the best advice on what to do.
Doing nothing is not an option.
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