The proposed Living Gems over 50s retirement facility in Kidd Street is too large for the site and in completely the wrong place according to Emeritus professor of planning and urban management at Griffith University and local resident, Paul Burton.
“I hope it will get refused because it’s too big and not in the right place for that density,” he said.
“The two challenges are access for the number of vehicles likely to be there and the upgrade that will be needed to the intersection.”
He said the second issue was the wastewater and storm water treatment, which in order to be done right would be very costly and take up a lot of land.
“It is not a sensible site for something of that scale,” Professor Burton stressed.
He believed the proposed MacDonnell Road retirement facility on the surface appeared to be a more plausible location and scale for this type of development.
Professor Burton said he said he didn’t support the position that there should be no provision for a residential facility on the mountain.
“There is scope for a more diverse range of housing on the mountain than is currently the case, that wouldn’t radically transform the place and would meet the needs of those that would like to keep living here,” he said.
Former councillor Nigel Waistell and president of the Tamborine Mountain Progress Association Jeannette Lockey have expressed concern at the length of time it is taking Scenic Rim Regional Council to make a decision on the Kidd Street facility.
Mr Waistell said the council has requested nine extensions now and Living Gems could claim it is a deemed refusal and lodge an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court.
“It seems a waste of time having extensions,” Mr Waistell said.
“This is the first development application I have known that has taken so long.
“The fact the council can’t make a decision doesn’t put them in a good light as far as the court is concerned it would be harder to fight it.”
He added the council’s excuse that there was a large number of submissions to process didn’t make sense when a local expert had run them through AI and produced a report, which he had submitted to the council CEO David Keenan.
Mr Waistell said he’d had not received a response from Mr Keenan.
However, Professor Burton said it was not necessarily an abnormally long process for such a development at a small council, adding that if they got it wrong it could come back to bite them.
“It’s a complex development that is pretty contentious due to the local opposition and it takes time for the council to do their own assessment and also assess the reports provided by the applicant,” Professor Burton explained.
Mr Keenan said the application for MacDonnell Road retirement facility is also still undergoing assessment.
“Technical review of the various specialist reports is still underway and a report to council will be provided as soon as the technical assessments are completed,” he said.
The last extension granted was until April 7, according to records on the Scenic Rim Regional Council website.
