A property owner has stepped his way through the planning scheme to begin work on the Sunshine Coast’s first privately owned public park.
Gilad Bakas has orchestrated massive earthworks for a public park on his property at Bald Knob, near Maleny, after being advised the council would not entertain the idea of a wedding venue.
Under the Sunshine Coast planning scheme, a public park is considered an acceptable use within a rural area and does not require council approval, a situation acknowledged by Sunshine Coast Council.
Locals have voiced concerns about run-off and the potential effects on the London Creek Environmental Reserve, a platypus habitat, as well as the traffic impact on Bald Knob Road, but the council has not been able to assess the matters as it would with a development application.
Suspicions abound that the property will be used as a wedding venue but Mr Bakas maintains it will be a public park, called On the View, from which he hopes to derive some revenue.
Mr Bakas, who works in cybersecurity, bought the land for more than $1 million four years ago with a view to holding his wedding there and as an asset for his company, GB Technology and Consulting.
“The problem was that it was about twice as much as I wanted to pay. I needed to find a way to get a return for the money,” he said.
He admitted that a wedding venue was one of the ideas he had for the property but the council made it “very, very clear” at a pre-lodgement meeting before he bought it “that it would not support anything on the land”.
After studying the town plan, he decided to create a public park, which is an allowable use under the land’s rural zoning, meaning he did not have to apply for development approval.
He did hit a hurdle when he applied for an earthworks permit, which was rejected by the council on the basis that the proposed works would create a wedding venue, which was not an approved use.
Mr Bakas launched an appeal in court, which he withdrew in August last year after further legal advice that the law was on his side.
He said he had been advised that he could make some money out of the land “as long as most of the land is accessible for free to most of the public, most of the time”.
Mr Bakas said he had not yet made a decision on how he would reap revenue from the park but a website for On the View mentions social gatherings and an Instagram page says it is available for photo shoots.
“I don’t know how the public will interact with the space. Do people want to have picnics? Do they want to kick a footy with the kids? Are they going to stay for five minutes or three hours?” he said.
Mr Bakas said he had consulted engineers before having earthworks carried out on the property and all work would be up to standard.
“I’m doing everything the best we can. People are concerned because there isn’t any development approval before the start of work but the reason we didn’t have a development approval is because it isn’t necessary,” he said.
He acknowledged there had been challenges with run-off given the large volume of rain that had fallen in the past six months.
However, he was confident that once the site was seeded, grass would grow quickly and the park would blend in with the surroundings.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said inquiries had been received about work at the property and no breaches had been detected but it would continue to monitor the situation.
“The landowner has advised council that the work being carried out on their property is for the purpose of a ‘park’ use,” the spokesperson said.
“In accordance with the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, a ‘park’ use is considered to be ‘accepted development’.
“This means that no development application or approval is required from council.
“Council is unable to take any formal compliance or enforcement action where no breach is occurring.”
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