Lord Mayor says Anglicare’s plan does not meet the requirements of the City Plan.

Meeting with Lord Mayor September 17, 2018
 
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says Anglicare’s current plan to build high-rise towers at Lota House does not meet the requirements of the City Plan.
 
Anglicare and Village Retirement Group have in writing advised Lota House residents that they plan to build 8 x seven story retirement towers on the site - Stage 1  104 units and stage 2 112 units.
A development application for stage 1 is before council. 
 
Representatives of Bayside Action Group met with the Mayor at City Hall yesterday to present local concerns, including Anglicare’s failure to consult with the community...

Large format images of Lota House, its surrounding woodland and modelling of what the developers plan in Stage 1 were used by BAG members to highlight the problems.
These include:

• Unacceptable building heights, four,  7-storey towers in a low rise (two-storey) residential area that includes character overlays
• Developers failure to recognise the heritage and environmental values of Lota House and its surrounding woodland
• Traffic congestion and pressure on existing street networks from resident/staff vehicles

• The development’s failure to meet the community’s need for affordable and appropriate aged care

 
Mayor Quirk agreed these were valid concerns. He said council had written to the developers asking for more information.  That 13-page information request was made on July 30 and the developers have until November to respond.
 
Lota residents yesterday (Sept 17) received letters from the council about this process.
 
The mayor agreed with BAG members that the best way forward was to convene a meeting between Anglicare and the community. This meeting could work through the problems and come up with a plan for Lota House that did not include high rise, that provided attractive and affordable aged care and respected the heritage and environmental values of the site. The mayor said he could not force the property owners to meet with the community but he would support it.
 
It was suggested by the BAG delegation that Council’s information presented from the Mayor’s taskforce on aged care is not current, inaccurate and needs to be reviewed.
The Mayor said there was a problem in the Wynnum/Manly and Lota areas with aged care accommodation that needed to be addressed.
 
The meeting also discussed the Anglican Church’s statement that pledges from the community had allowed them to be in a position to fund their development.
It was suggested that the community should be reviewing such pledges if the Church is not prepared to listen and respect the greater community.