"Strongest opposition to a project that I can recall"

Brisbane City Councillor Peter Cumming says the strength of the campaign to stop high rise development at Lota House is unprecedented in his bayside electorate.

“It’s probably the strongest opposition to a project that I can recall in my 24 and a half years in council”
“The property owners need to take it very seriously”
Anglicare and their commercial joint venture partner Village Retirement Group have submitted a development application for 104 units in four 7-storey towers at Lota House.
 
The towers would be four and five storeys higher than existing residential care facilities on the Oceana Terrace site.
 
More than 100 written objections have been lodged against the application and a  local action group, Bayside Action Group (BAG), has been formed to stop it going ahead.
 
The council has asked Anglicare and Village Retirement Group for more information and details of Anglicare’s future plans for the site. They have until November to respond.
 
But Cr Cumming says even if the council rejects the development application, there’s a risk it could get up under proposed changes to the City Plan.
 
The council is planning to amend the city plan to make it easier for developers to build aged care facilities. Under the proposed amendments, buildings could be up to four storeys higher than what’s allowed in surrounding suburbs.
 
Cr Cumming says it could be 12 months or more until the amendments come into effect.
“If the developers (Anglicare and Village Retirement Group) got knocked back on this application, they could come back with a fresh application then”.
 
But he says Anglicare and Village Retirement Group would still have to comply with the heritage protection orders that are in place for Lota House and its surrounding woodland.
 
Cr Cumming says he will oppose the City Plan amendments and a Labor council would not allow a 7-storey building at Lota House.

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