Forest Lake Active Group (FLAG) is determined to fight off development applications that don’t meet community standards. The current development application for the retirement facility, 5 The Esplanade, is in hot water as locals joined forces and gathered support to put a stop to it.
The development proposal was submitted in April to the Brisbane City Council. Upon learning about the application and the negative implications to the community standards, FLAG immediately planned their course of action.
An e-petition was launched protesting the eight-storey facility. So far, it has garnered over 500 signatures and it will be closing on the 10th of July. The petition is supported by Federal Labor MP for Oxley Milton Dick and Councillor Charles Strunk.
MP Milton Dick spoke in parliament on behalf of local Forest Lake residents against the planned high rise development by the lake.
Issues Raised
The residents’ concerns include the project not meeting the zoning requirements, the style, visual design, and the bulk of the building is non-compliant to the suburb’s landscape and architecture, obstruction of lake view for residents on the south, traffic congestion, and an increased on-street parking.
What angered the residents more is that they feel they got blindsided by JRD Number 2, based on the community meeting held in February in which the developer said that their plan is only a six-storey building, only for it to change upon the submission of the DA to the council.
Photo credit: BCC
With the e-petition ongoing, residents are determined to battle for this development not to proceed. FLAG continues to gather support and funds for a protest against this specific development. The group consists of real estate agents, solicitors, and residents who are determined to preserve the beauty of the suburb.
Forest Lake residents have formed a group opposing several housing developments in various areas within the suburb.
The group is called FLAG, which stands for Forest Lake Action Group and they are taking action towards property developments within the area which they consider to be “unsuitable.” These developments are:
150 Lovat St., Ellen Grove – 41 Townhouses
35 Roxwell St. Ellen Grove – 44 Townhouses
50 Crossacres St. Doolandella – 94 Townhouses
The group consists of real estate agents, solicitors and residents who are urging the Brisbane City Council to refuse the approval of these developments. The group believes that their suburb deserves better than these high-density developments.
For instance, traffic congestion is getting worse on streets with recently completed townhouses such as the one on Roxwell St. To add insult to injury, the suburb is also tackling issues about illegal dumping, further adding a burden on already congested streets.
Cr Charles Strunk shares the same sentiments as the residents of Forest Lake and said that the council should put more thought into the level of high-density developments in the suburb.
On the other hand, responding to the negative feedback, the council has requested the Ellen Grove development on Lovat St. to be reduced from 41 townhouses to 36. However, the group does not think this is enough and said that even if it gets reduced to 36, it still doesn’t comply with the Brisbane City Plan 2014 and the Local Government Infrastructure Plan, which cites that Lovat St. is an emerging community zone that only allows 18.8 dwellings per net developable hectare.
Another concern of the residents is the sewerage capacity which may not be able to accommodate increased density dwellings. However, the residents are concerned about sufficiency of sewerage capacity, despite assurances from Queensland Urban Utilities.