The approval of an affordable housing project on the Sunshine Coast by a Labor government minister has been overturned by the LNP minister who now holds her portfolios.
The Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie repealed the approval of the Bright Place, Birtinya, project last Thursday.
The Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) project, comprising an eight-storey complex of 90 units, had been approved by former State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Meaghan Scanlon under the Ministerial Infrastructure Designation process last year.
The MID process allows ministers to approve a range of “community-supporting infrastructure”, including social and affordable housing.
The approval was granted by Ms Scanlon on September 30, the day before the then-state government entered caretaker mode ahead of the October 26 election.
In a repeal notice published in the Queensland Government Gazette, Mr Bleijie said the development was too dense for the site under the Sunshine Coast Council’s Development Control Plan 1 for Kawana, which limits the maximum yield for the site to 60 units.
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your email at the bottom of this article.
“I am satisfied that the proposed development does not comply with DCP1 because the number of affordable housing units the subject of the MID exceeds the maximum yield prescribed under DCP1 by 30 dwelling units,” he said.
Asked about the repeal of the project during an unrelated media conference, Mr Bleijie said the project had been approved by Ms Scanlon in what he described as the “dying days” of the previous government.
“I was on record raising concerns about that project in a cul-de-sac in Bright Place, in Birtinya, and it turns out that under the Development Control Scheme, the developer would never have actually lawfully been able to start that development despite the fact the minister had sneakily snuck in a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation,” he said.
Ms Scanlon said Mr Bleijie, whose electorate of Kawana takes in Birtinya, had cancelled affordable homes in his own backyard during a housing crisis.
“This move should send a shiver down the spine of anyone trying to build social and affordable homes,” she said.
“When builders and community housing providers are raring to build, Jarrod Bleijie has taken away the tools.
“It’s astonishing that as one of a number of ministers tasked with housing, the Deputy Premier has cancelled this project because it has too many homes.
“Jarrod Bleijie needs to face Queenslanders and tell them that in the middle of a housing crisis, he’s pulling the plug on affordable homes because he thinks there’s too many.”
Mr Bleijie said the project could be considered by the Sunshine Coast Council.
“If the developer wants to proceed with that 90-unit development, they will put an application in through the Sunshine Coast Council as they should have been advised by the former minister in the first place,” he said.
BHC CEO Rebecca Oelkers said the organisation would work collaboratively with the council to seek approval through the local planning pathway.
Ms Oelkers pointed out the BHC proposal was not as dense as had been once been allowed for the site.
“The original approved scheme for the Birtinya site included a tavern, function room, retail and 60 dual-key units (120 bedrooms),” she said.
“BHC’s plans for 90 affordable, predominantly one-bedroom units aim to provide well-located homes for essential workers in the area, including the nearby Sunshine Coast University Hospital.”
She said the project was not social housing but affordable housing, designed for essential workers such as hospitality staff, childcare workers, cleaners and aged care workers, where the rents would be no more than 74.9 per cent of the market rate.
“These are the people that keep our hospitals functioning, take care of our children and grandchildren, look after our ageing parents and serve us in shops and restaurants.
The state government is yet to make decisions on two unit projects at Noosa submitted under the State-Facilitated Development (SFD) approval process, designed to fast-track affordable housing.
Mr Bleijie has said the proposed developments will need to meet local planning requirements.
Jackson Hills, acting CEO of affordable housing advocacy group Q Shelter, said the MID and SFD state planning pathways were initially created after much consultation and sector input to meet a specific state interest: the lack of affordable housing supply.
“The proposed affordable housing project on the Sunshine Coast is no different, in my view,” he said
“It is a shame that those who have invested significant time, money and resources in these planning processes now face further delays, especially with no guarantee that the project will proceed.
“This only slows down the much-needed housing supply in a market already stretched thin.”
