Response to claims by Moreton Bay Combined Islands Association

3rd April 2009

Redland City Council Press Release

I would like to respond to the advertisement placed in the Bayside Bulletin by the Moreton Bay Combined Islands Association on Friday March 20.

The advert refers to the draft SEQ Regional Plan 2009-2031, and in particular, the proposal to remove 188 lots, mostly on Russell Island, from the Urban Footprint and into the plan’s Rural Landscape and Rural Production category.

I would particularly like to address the misleading statement there will be a “massive reduction in value” for those properties removed from the urban footprint.

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The most important piece of information was missing from the advertisement – that existing rights to use (or seek approval to use) a vacant lot for a house will not be affected by the category change.

This is because the regional plan and its regulatory provisions don’t apply to developing a private dwelling on an existing lot.

The local government planning controls, through planning schemes, remain in place, as do existing protected rights under the Southern Moreton Bay Islands Development Entitlement legislation.

The situation on Russell Island is similar to that at Mount Cotton Village, where more than 750 homes continue to be included in the regional plan’s Rural Landscape and Rural Production category. These homes, along with future development in that area, are not affected by being in that category, as the existing land use rights are protected by the Redlands Planning Scheme through appropriate land use zonings.

This situation, which has existed since 2005, has not led to “massive reductions” in the value of those homes at Mount Cotton. To claim one situation must lead to the other would be uninformed and alarmist.

The South East Queensland Regional Plan acknowledges and addresses this situation through its regulatory provisions, and this is no different for those homes in question on Russell Island.

Council supports the rationalisation of the urban footprint on Russell Island as it more closely reflects the detailed local planning position of the Redlands Planning Scheme than did the mapping in the 2005 regional plan.

Council officers will continue to meet with the Department of Infrastructure and Planning to further refine this mapping detail.