Special override powers proposed for closed Arundel Hills CC

POSTED ON May 6, 2024 @ 1:36 pm

Arundel Hills Country Club with 67 hectares of empty land sits in the middle of a city grappling with a housing crisis. Developers want to build on it, but opening it up for housing is contentious.

But the state government could step in to override the rejection through special powers under the Planning Act known as a ministerial call-in.

It enables the government to take over decision-making on development applications in “exceptional circumstances” when economic, environmental and public interests are at stake.

In a search to free up housing supply, Queensland Planning Minister Meaghan Scanlon has proposed to “call in” the defunct Arundel Hills Country Club, which covers 67 hectares.

“We need more homes and to do that we need to make sure we have diverse and affordable housing supply,” Ms Scanlon recently told parliament.

The proposed notice says there is “an acute shortage of land for housing supply in the Gold Coast and significant limitations on expansion areas”.

It also acknowledges the 1,282 submissions received by the council about the site, and says Ms Scanlon will assess the site’s environmental values, including koala habitat.

If a decision is made to call in the land, opponents won’t be able to appeal against the developer’s plans to potentially build 368 lots that could house about 1,200 people.

The last time these exceptional powers were used in Queensland was for a power plant in the state’s central-west.