THE Sunshine Coast Council is pushing back at plans by Stockland to develop Aura South.
Stockland announced last week that it had begun the process to secure Commonwealth environmental approval on a 1231-hectare parcel of land also known as Halls Creek, which if approved could create 10,000 homes.
But council Mayor Mark Jamieson said the council’s preference was to develop Beerwah East, which had capacity for 20,000 homes and was better located around transport nodes.
“Directly opposite Aura is Beerwah East which is of similar size, and is already in the urban plan… that’s where the next development should occur,” he said last week. “There’s a very simple reason why it should occur there and that’s to do with the transport links, that area, Beerwah East, sits between Steve Irwin Way and the Bruce Highway and to the south of Roys Road.
“The CAMCOS corridor runs right through the middle of Beerwah East as it runs right through the middle of Aura… just because [the land for Aura South] is there, doesn’t mean it should be developed.”
Stockland’s Mark Stephens said if approved Aura South – about 1.5km north of the Inter-Urban Break – would not impact on the green buffer.
“Stockland’s application proposes to establish a regenerated natural buffer zone on the southern side, which has an ability to increase the Inter-Urban Break,” he said.
Sunshine Coast Business Council Chair, Sandy Zubrinich, also supported the Aura South development.
“The Aura South site appears to tick all the boxes when it comes to a development site given its limited environmental integrity,” she said.
“When we’re desperately looking for land, this parcel seems like an obvious choice for consideration, and we commend Stockland for starting this process.
“There are limited sites of this scale in the region and while Beerwah East has long been touted as a solution, my understanding is that there is currently still a 90-plus-year forestry lease on the property. “So it would be good to understand what impact the premature termination of this lease would have on local industry and related jobs.” The Sunshine Coast is struggling with a housing crisis and expects the region’s population to swell by over 140,000 people by 2041.
But Mr Jamieson said Aura had no chance of alleviating the current housing crisis.
“Rather than looking to land further south that isn’t developed, and isn’t likely to be developed anytime soon, certainly not in time to be of any value in minimising the current housing crisis,” he said.
“We have a challenge in population growth and that looks likely to continue for some time, and that is why I have been encouraging state government to take action on the Beerwah East site.
“(It is) a bigger site, it’ll be able to accommodate many more people… it will create opportunities and it’s a higher density right along that (transport) corridor if that’s considered necessary.”
Ms Zubrinich said everything should be being done to attract investors to ensure that the required housing stock is underway to meet current and future demands. “We are at a tipping point that requires pragmatic, decisive regional leadership to ensure we are prepared for this growth and the estimated 70,000 additional houses needed by 2041” she said. “Right now, all options should be considered and we should be welcoming investors to the table who can help us facilitate sustainable, responsible growth to protect our enviable quality of life.”