Veteran developer told to get off grass
VETERAN developer Norm Rix says it is “ridiculous” a protected type of native grass growing on a parcel of Jacobs Well land is stopping him from building a residential subdivision.
Mr Rix said he approached the Gold Coast City Council about constructing the subdivision at 61 Helmore Rd, a 4.67ha block of land owned by the Huth family, but was knocked back.
He said part of the objection was due to a wetland on the block, where saltwater couch could be found.
Saltwater couch is a type of grass indigenous to Australia and classified as a marine plant by the state government. Its removal requires development approval, even on private land.
Landowner Tony Huth said the wetland was created three years ago via construction of the neighbouring 107-home Seabright Estate by Villa World, now Avid Property.
He said that had raised the flood table for the area and caused significant runoff on to the block. There were also significant issues with the drainage at Seabright, which exacerbated the problems on the Huth land.
“The road (Huth Road) is the edge of the urban footprint so this is actually in the urban footprint but zoned rural,” Mr Huth said.
“Council keeps … throwing it back and saying it’s rural, we don’t want to change it – it’s a buffer against the caneland, the farm next door. But we actually own the farm next door.”
Mr Huth said the sale of the land, which he is negotiating with Mr Rix if it can be rezoned from rural to residential, would go a long way to securing the financial future of his family.
“If we can offload it, because of the fragility of the sugar industry here, we can put the income into something else and not be totally reliant on the future of the industry and Rocky Point. That’s not going to be here too much longer I believe.”
Mr Rix said “mistakes have been made” by the council and he wanted them to talk to him and Mr Huth about how the land can be used for a subdivision.
He said there was no reason it could not be residential land given it was within the urban footprint and next to a residential development.
“The mangroves and couch are there only because of the flooding from upstream (from Seabright Estate). But they are there now which creates an environmental problem.”
Mr Rix said there would be setbacks required for the mangroves.
He said he was unsure how to deal with the couch, but believed it was worth having discussions to see how much of the land was usable and if an estate was economically viable.
A council spokesperson said the proposed development at Helmore Rd would be “inappropriate due to the required lot size within rural zoned areas of the City Plan”.
“A minimum of 100 hectares is required to subdivide under rural zoning,” the spokesperson said.
“Furthermore, part of the proposed site is mapped as containing a wetland. As per City Plan requirements, development is not generally supported within or adjacent to mapped wetlands.”