Brisbane City Council has backtracked on its controversial plan to allow aged care and retirement developers to build on sport and recreation zones.
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In August 2016, lord mayor Graham Quirk announced new incentives to attract more aged care and retirement facilities to Brisbane, including considering proposals on privately owned sport and recreation zones.
In April 2018, Queensland State Development Minister Cameron Dick approved the council’s draft major amendment but enforced conditions around community consultation including doubling the standard consultation period to 60 days, providing residents with detailed maps outlining the affected land and ensuring the planning scheme did not compromise the sport and recreation facilities.
On Tuesday the council back tracked on its proposal and revealed it would scrap plans for the accommodation to build on sporting club land.
Lord mayor Graham Quirk said it was not his desire to see the issue of the shortage of aged care and retirement places to be caught up in community controversy.
“Council will proceed without any proposed changes to sport and recreation land sites, as our priority is ensuring that the accommodation that we need to plan for the growth of our city can be delivered as quickly as possible.
“This is a difficult decision, with many privately owned sporting clubs that could benefit from co-located aged care or retirement facilities to provide financial assistance, while delivering accommodation for our city.
Opposition planning spokesman Jared Cassidy said the change was a huge win for the people of Brisbane.
“We will now see our sport and recreation land preserved in the face of an unprecedented assault by this LNP administration,” he said.
“Under their original plans, we would have seen precious open space gifted to developers and lost forever.”
Mr Dick said the council could still make the development happen, but the community must be consulted on the individual proposals.
"That's a matter for the council," he said.
"My view is that people should be informed and consulted about changes that affect their community sports facilities."
The council will commence consultation on the aged care proposal in the coming weeks.
