More than 6,000 square metres of land will be retained for community use after Ausbuild and Redland City Council settled a Planning and Environment court case out of court.
The settlement follows a court appeal by Ausbuild after Council refused part of an application for their Esperance development in South-East Thornlands on the grounds that it was not in line with Council’s planning scheme.
Council Planning and Assessment spokesperson Cr Julie Talty said the outcome followed months of negotiations and was a win for the community.
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“The land is zoned for community purposes in the planning scheme, meaning it should be retained for community use rather than developed and Council has fought hard to ensure this occurs,” she said.
“The 50 metre wide corridor will include a 30 metre wide community space area and 20 metre wide road reserve through the middle of the development, balancing the number of properties with community space.
“The land is in addition to a local park Ausbuild has dedicated to Council, which ensures community space is maximised with a total of 4.3 hectares of community open space to be included in the final development.”
The settlement resulted in Ausbuild discontinuing its appeal against the original refusal of eight residential lots within the community space zone.
Ausbuild will now provide the land to Council in exchange for offsets against infrastructure charges, by amending an existing Infrastructure Agreement.
“Such offset arrangements are typical under the Sustainable Planning Act and is a good outcome for ratepayers,” Cr Talty said.
“The infrastructure offsets will come off the $6.5 million in infrastructure charges Ausbuild is required to pay as part of the Esperance development.”
Ausbuild has also discontinued a second appeal lodged against Council’s refusal of 259 lots across the development area.
