TENSIONS flared at the final Living Gems Kidd Street retirement facility community consultation forcing Mayor Tom Sharp to call for calm.
The meeting room at Vonda Youngman Community Centre was full, with residents eager to have their say on the contentious development.
Specialists contracted by Living Gems to carry out the studies addressed issues relating to traffic, sewerage disposal, water management and environmental concerns.
They explained Kidd Street was chosen due to its proximity to Main Street, which brought groans from the room, minimal constraints for a good design, the size of land and the unique attributes it offered for residents.
Living Gems National Development Manager, Darren McKenzie, outlined how they had responded to the Council’s information request, reducing the number of homes by 25 to 141, reducing the overall footprint and increasing the greenspace and peripheral buffering to 4.5m around the site to reduce impact on adjoining properties.
He said they had also increased landscaping and put in an ecological link from east to west.
The company said the wastewater treatment plant was class A, with treated water reused on site and ensuring nutrients wouldn’t enter the environment and it was able to cope during power outages.
They said a storm water management plan and flood impact assessment has been done, noting that the changes would mean a number of residents’ properties would no longer be affected by flood water.
Water will be stored in a rainwater tank and released slowly in periods of heavy rainfall.
Measures have been taken to ensure the development can cope with power outages by storing solar power and having a large generator.
Kidd St will be upgraded for two-way traffic to make it a safe, functional road. Existing vegetation has been surveyed, and vegetation will be replanted with natural drainage features.
The company reiterated traffic modelling showed a low volume of traffic with no upgrade required at the intersection with Kidd Street and Main Street. The report said traffic from Kidd Street is expected to increase from 136 daily vehicle trips to 550.
However, the traffic study, looking at the Kidd Street Main Street intersection and Main Street Geissmann Drive intersections, was done on a weekday in October 2023, and residents living in the area disputed the findings. No weekend surveys were conducted.
While Living Gems has not done any research into the demand from locals for the houses, Catherine Wells Director of O’Hara Wells Aged Care Industry Consultants said based on her research in other areas most of the homes would be bought by locals.
The only voice speaking in favour of the development was former resident Toby Zaremba, who drove from the Sunshine Coast to represent his parents, Peter and Ann Zaremba, who have lived here for 32 years and are currently overseas.
He said those who wanted the development to go ahead were too fearful to speak up and many of his parents’ friends had been forced to move off the mountain.
Toby also implored residents to trust the Scenic Rim Regional Council to ensure the development met planning guidelines.
While Darren admitted they had not had further discussions with the local doctors, Catherine, dismissed any concerns over the shortage of medical services and doctors on the mountain.
She said research showed living in over 50s villages led to healthier older populations reducing demand on medical services.
Catherine said the health and wellbeing programs offered as well as the social connections and sense of purpose were key to maintaining health.
She explained integrated health would be achieved through visiting health providers allowing for ageing in place.
