Brisbane Archdiocese affordable housing project approved despite home owners protests
Heather Hill, John Bramley, Peter Bingham and an anonymous resident say the development will make Wakerley less liveable. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
In short:
Most of the 44 units in the New Cleveland Road, Wakerley project will be capped at 74.9 per cent of market rent.
The home owners can't challenge the approval because the project is a high priority State Facilitated Development.
What's next?
The Archdiocese of Brisbane will now find a Community Housing Provider to run it.
A bid to build affordable units on church land in Brisbane's east has been approved despite protests from home owners who claim it's "inappropriate".
Most of the 44 units in the New Cleveland Road, Wakerley project will be capped at 74.9 per cent of market rent.
The proposal was approved on Tuesday by the state government.
Nearby residents previously said they feared the homes would be poorly maintained and increase traffic.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane wants to build affordable houses on its property in Wakerley. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
A petition to stop the development claimed it would turn the neighbourhood into a "ghetto" and attract criminals, drug addicts, and immigrants.
The proposal was put forward by the Archdiocese of Brisbane, which owns the mostly empty 17,300 square metre block of land.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge says the project reflects the church's values. (Supplied: Archbishop Mark Coleridge)
Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the project reflects the church's values.
"It is a clear example of how faith-based land can be used for the common good,"Reverend Coleridge said.
"It upholds the dignity of every person, puts our resources at the service of the vulnerable, and delivers housing that is well located [and is] respectful of neighbours."
Neighbours won't be able challenge the project because it has been listed as a State Facilitated Development (SFD).
The new SFD pathway makes it impossible for residents to lodge appeals through a planning tribunal to block, amend, or delay an approved housing project.
Priority approval
The former Labor government created SFDs to speed up approvals for high-priority, affordable housing projects.
SFDs are supposed to be approved or rejected within 75 days, but so far every single project has failed to meet this deadline.
The Wakerley project was approved four months late.
Meaghan Scanlon says the LNP is standing in the way of affordable housing. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
Shadow Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon blamed Queensland planning minister Jarrod Bleijie for the delays to SFDs.
Ms Scanlon said the LNP's first act of parliament gave Mr Bleijie the power to cancel, amend, and delay SFDs.
She said SFDs were supposed to be done at arm's length of the planning minister, and not obstructed.
"The LNP's very first bill in parliament was essentially to cancel or reduce affordable housing projects," Ms Scanlon said.
"We need more housing for key workers in this state, and right now the LNP are standing in the way of 5,000 homes."
Jarrod Bleijie says Labor is trying to make up for a decade of housing policy failure. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
Mr Bleijie said the previous Labor government had tried to force housing developments onto communities to make up for their own failures to build enough houses.
He said this was a "flawed policy" that was rejected by Queenslanders at the state election.
"Meaghan Scanlon rode roughshod over councils and communities and forced major developments onto suburbs without any notice or consultation," Mr Bleijie said.
"It was a desperate measure from a desperate government trying to patch up a decade of failures.
"The former Labor Government also deliberately left out amendment powers so that plans could not be changed once declared, something we fixed straight away."
Reverend Coleridge said the church would now find a Community Housing Provider to run the project.