Planner refuses lifestyle land lots

AN application to develop large “lifestyle” blocks of between 1ha and 2ha near Ross Dam has not gained the support of Townsville City Council’s planning department.

An officer’s recommendation is that the council refuse an application for preliminary approval for material change of use of a rural property fronting Riverway Drive.

The application has been made by Laudham Developments Pty Ltd which is made up of investors involved in mango farming in North Queensland, including the exports of mangoes to South Korea and China.

Laudham Developments is seeking to subdivide a 325ha property into lots of between 1ha and 2ha.

According to a council planning officer, the proposed development should be refused on several grounds including that there is already sufficient rural residential land in Townsville, that it would fragment existing rural land and that the proponents had not demonstrated need or that the use of on- site sewerage systems would not impact groundwater. But the proponents’ consultants Milford Planning told the planning committee last week that there was a gap in the market for larger rural residential blocks, that the property already had approval for subdivision into 10ha parcels and that any issues of potential groundwater impacts could be addressed if there was a desire to approve the development.

“This is really a discussion about lifestyle and housing choice,” a Milford Planning representative said.

“If we want to be competitive as a region, we need to trade on competitive advantage. Part of that is about lifestyle choice and housing choice.”

The Milford Planning representative said the proponents had spent a lot of time and money over the past two years advancing the application, including more than $ 100,000 on engineering to ensure flood and sewerage aspects worked.

Local councillor for the area Mark Molachino said he supported the officer’s recommendation.

The application will go to the full council meeting later this month for a final decision.