$40m highway profit

A DEVELOPER that received $60.5m of taxpayers’ money for land along the Coomera Connector unsuccessfully lobbied for the highway’s route to be changed.

After it was denied, the developer sold the land to the government for a $40m profit in just three years.

The government on Friday did not answer Bulletin questions on why it took so long to buy the property.

This week it was revealed the government had resumed 19.134ha owned by Villawood, developer of The Surrounds, in a sale that cost taxpayers $60.5m. It followed an earlier payout of $13.75m to Villawood in 2019, made for a row of 25 house blocks on Citron Cres.

The road, gazetted by the government in 2016, snakes its way along the full length of the estate. It has been marketed by Villawood as a ”green haven”, opposite the Helensvale light and heavy rail stations.

The land on Buckler Dr was earmarked for high-density, public transport-centric housing and villas, medium-density apartments up to 10 storeys, as well as a mix of retirement and aged-care facilities.

Villawood was not in favour of the road’s position, and made its opposition known to the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).

“Villawood requested that TMR sought alternate routes, but none were provided,” the developer told the Bulletin.

“Villawood lobbied TMR for the road to not go ahead and were not successful.”

Property records show Villawood bought the land from long-time owners the Buckler family in 2018 and 2019 for $20.5m. After being gazetted in 2016, the location of the road was extended and re-gazetted in 2017 and 2019, with government maps identifying the properties on Country Club Dr, now known as Buckler Dr, that would be required. The developer could not say when the government first took action to acquire the land due to “confidentiality obligations”.

Although it did not take ownership of the resumed properties until 2018 and 2019, Villawood said it had held a “fully binding purchase agreement” for the land since 2014, before the road was gazetted.

A statement from the department did not answer questions on when it first took action to resume the land, why it was not resumed until 2021, how the value was calculated or about how many further resumptions would be needed for the road.

“TMR continues to liaise directly with all affected landowners for Coomera Connector Stage 1,” it said.

The department’s response spoke generally about the process of gazetting land and about an “early acquisition” process, whereby landowners and the government negotiations could include land valuations, based on market value.

The department said “additional land” on Buckler Dr was identified during planning which would improve the design and save money, for example by “removing the need for some retaining walls and other high-cost drainage structures”.

Questions to Transport Minister Mark Bailey, who was unavailable, were answered via email from a government spokesman: “The second M1 will be one of the largest road projects in Queensland’s history, so acquiring land is necessary,” the email said.

“The Palaszczuk Labor government committed at the election to building Stage 1 of the second M1 this term and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

“There is significant support among Gold Coast residents to get it built so we can take pressure off the M1, and that’s why the Palaszczuk government is getting on with the job.”

The first stage of the second M1, between Nerang-broadbeach Rd at Nerang and Shipper Dr at Coomera, is expected to take up to 60,000 vehicles off the Pacific Motorway, reducing congestion and increasing road safety. The state and federal governments have each committed half of the $1.53bn cost of the first stage.