Home owners attempt to block affordable housing on church land

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    Home owners attempt to block affordable housing on church land


    4-5 minutes

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    Peter Bingham is trying to prevent his local church from building affordable housing for low-income residents.

    Mr Bingham is one of the Wakerley residents attempting to block the "inappropriate" two-storey development on a largely empty block of church land.

    The Ross Place home owner said the proposal for 44 affordable units would worsen the "traffic chaos" in the outer suburban Brisbane neighbourhood.

    Mr Bingham said he was concerned these homes would not be kept in good condition, and believed the church's primary motivation was profit.

    "The church has been trying for a number of years to make some money out of this site and they've been held back because of the current zoning," Mr Bingham said.

    "It's alright for them to say they're doing it out of their Christian values or whatever, but it comes back to money."

    A drone shot of a plot of land

    The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane wants to build affordable houses on its 17,300 square metre property. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

    In December, the former Queensland government listed the proposal as a State Facilitated Development (SFD), which makes it more difficult for residents to block such projects.

    Chatsworth MP Steve Minnikin said the previous government had tried to "ram through affordable housing without community consultation".

    "The former Labor government deemed a site at 652 New Cleveland Rd, Wakerley, as a State Facilitated Development just prior to going into caretaker [mode] last year," Mr Minnikin said.

    "Under Labor's approach to development, community consultation was an optional extra.

    "This approach has now changed under the LNP."

    Mr Minnikin said the government had opened the proposal to community consultation, allowing residents to lodge feedback until February 25.

    However, if the proposal is approved residents will still be unable to appeal the decision through development tribunals because of its SFD status.

    Rental housing 'scarce'

    Housing advocacy group Q Shelter has thrown its support behind the SFD process.

    A man with short, dark hair and stubble stands on a leafy city street.

    Jackson Hills says there is a dire need for more social and affordable housing in South-East Queensland. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

    Acting chief executive Jackson Hills said South-East Queensland was in desperate need of more affordable housing, and SFDs were a good way to speed up the approvals process.

    "These programs are important as they offer an alternative development pathway for social and affordable housing projects that meet a state interest, in this case delivering more affordable homes to the community," Mr Hills said.

    "Prices have spiked, rental product is scarce and expensive, and generally we need more housing to meet current and future needs."

    Under the Wakerley proposal, at least 85 per cent of units will be affordable housing, and rents will be capped at 74.9 per cent of the market rate.

    The land is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane and houses St Jude's Catholic Church.

    Residents concerned for trees

    Wakerley resident John Bramley said the project would worsen traffic congestion for the nearby Gumdale State School and strain the local infrastructure.

    A group of people on a footpath

    These Wakerley residents say the affordable housing project will worsen traffic and overcrowd the neighbourhood. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

    The Ross Place resident said the affordable houses would be too close to his fence line and would remove trees from the neighbourhood.

    "All these beautiful gum trees are in our backyards basically, and my concern is these trees are going to be demolished and cut up," Mr Bramley said.

    "We're not exactly in the city — this is supposed to be outer suburbs, we're supposed to have a bit of breathing space."

    A Change.org petition circulated among Waverley residents demanded the government pause all SFDs and stop the "housing commission development" on New Cleveland Road.

    Signatories to the petition claimed the project would turn the neighbourhood into a "ghetto" that would attract criminals, drug addicts, and immigrants.

    Mr Hills said he was "disappointed" about the comments being made about social and affordable housing tenants, given the current housing crisis affecting all Australians.

    The Corp of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane has been approached for comment.

 
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