The Sunshine Coast Council is being urged to prepare for the compulsory acquisition of businesses in Mooloolaba amid concern negotiations may fall through and delay a big transport project.
Plans to ease traffic into Mooloolaba by widening Brisbane Road to four lanes requires a string of local businesses to be demolished.
Councillors will vote on Thursday on whether to pursue compulsory acquisition as a back-up plan in case a deal cannot be struck with owners in time.
The businesses at 101, 103 and 105 Brisbane Road include a small shopping centre with a fruit store, takeaway, op shop and gym.
The matter is one of a number on council’s agenda at its second meeting of the year including an update on the Sunshine Coast Airport and governance of the Maroochydore City Centre Project.
Mooloolaba lane-widening project risk
Plans to widen Brisbane Road to four lanes from Bindaree Crescent to Culbara Street rely on businesses being knocked down.
The stage 4 lane-widening is not due to start until early 2023 and is the final stage of the broader Mooloolaba Transport Corridor Upgrade.
However council’s report warned that an agreement would need to be struck with the owners of the retail and office buildings by late 2022.
“Since June 2020, Council officers have been meeting with the affected property owners to
commence negotiations,” a report to council states.
“Negotiations are still ongoing and Council officers will continue to attempt to acquire the land by negotiation.
“However, to avoid any project delays it is recommended that Council run a compulsory acquisition process in parallel, in case compulsory acquisition is necessary.
“The resumption process will take a minimum of 6-12 months.
“This report therefore, seeks the resolution of Council to compulsory acquire a number of properties associated with the last stage of the upgrade, should that mechanism
be required.”
The report warned that not giving the go-ahead for compulsory acquisition could prevent stage 4 being completed.
Area Cr Joe Natoli said he was confident negotiations would be finalised without the need for compulsory acquisition but it was a good backup.
Maroochydore CBD governance
Council will be asked to endorse a new governance arrangement for the multi-billion-dollar Maroochydore City Centre development.
The changes will reflect the new delivery model and roles and responsibilities of both Council and SunCentral Maroochydore Pty Ltd (SunCentral) – given the role that Walker Maroochydore Developments Pty Ltd (Walker) is assuming in the project.
A landmark development agreement was signed in November between Council, SunCentral Maroochydore and Walker Corporation, who will invest $2.5 billion into the Maroochydore City Centre project.
As a consequence, the current Maroochydore City Centre Shareholder Representative Group will now be replaced with a Strategic Review Group (SRG).
The new SRG will be the forum for Council, SunCentral and Walker to review and discuss
progress of projects, matters relating to the Rolling Development Plan and other agreements and review the performance of each party.
