Five-storey buildings could replace farmland on Sunshine Coast CBD block
The prime parcel of land on Queensland's Sunshine Coast lies mere minutes from the Maroochydore city centre and Alexandra Headland beach.
The late Peter Wise's staunch stance against urban development made the 39-hectare site, bordered by the Sunshine Motorway and Wises Road, even more alluring and valuable.
The recent purchase of the land by Brisbane-based firm QM Properties, for an eye-watering $93.5 million, has only served to thrust it back into the spotlight.
Maroochydore's last remaining undeveloped private land was sold with preliminary approval for low to medium density housing, and a maximum of 570 homes, or a maximum of 800 units.
Plans submitted to Sunshine Coast Council in May show large sections of the site could include housing up to 15 metres, or about five storeys.
The plans also retain many of the existing trees that line a creek along the site, and make provisions for a park and a small shopping centre.
But longtime Sunshine Coast councillor Ted Hungerford said the plans were still subject to change.
"I'm waiting to see whether they [QM Properties] continue to the current application that is being assessed by our planners or whether they bury that or whether they want to go with a whole new plan," he said.
QM Properties was unavailable for an interview.
A spokesperson said they understood the public interest but were not in a position to provide further comment or answer questions.
The company's website states that it was founded in 1976 and its projects are "thoughtfully located, engineered and designed to suit market demand".
"Adopting best practice and innovative solutions ensures QM developments are sensitive to both people and the environment," the website reads.
David and Joannne Ellaby have lived along Wises Road for 14 years and worry about the impact on traffic.
Mr Ellaby said there was already a large church, school, funeral home and sportsgrounds further up the road.
"Some afternoons when the school's coming out, there's a football or a sporting thing happening at the rugby league club — it's a mess," Mr Ellaby said.
"Then you add another 10,000 car movements coming out [of the new development], so it would be nice to know what traffic mitigation the council and the town planners are thinking about putting in here."
The couple said that while they understood the need for more housing, they were concerned about the direction the Sunshine Coast was heading with higher-density living.
"So many people have said over the years that we don't want it to be another Gold Coast, but unfortunately now it's seeming that way," Ms Ellaby said.
Mr Ellaby said he had concerns about how the local council was handling the extra growth.
"It just needs to be done in a sensible way and they're not doing that. And I'm pretty sure most other people who live here would agree with that," he said.
Val Moran, who also lives along Wises Road, said he supported the project as it would provide much-needed housing for the region.
"I have seen the [preliminary] plans and I think they're quite good," Mr Moran said.
"There'll be open space along this road and of course a creek going through, so the creek will represent another green area."
Jackie Le Roux, from local business group 4556 Chamber, said the development provided "fresh opportunities".
"It will actually increase foot traffic for retailers, tradespeople, service providers, hospitality operators," Ms Le Roux said.
"From a business point of view there is a positive embracing of the vision because it does help the local economy."
Nicole Bennets from the Planning Institute of Australia said the site was well-suited to urban development.
"We don't get parcels of land like this very often at all in South-East Queensland … most other land coming to market sits on the fringe of cities," Ms Bennets said.
"This piece of land has good proximity to existing roads and other infrastructure so it means less cost for governments to actually deliver all the infrastructure required."
She said under the Sunshine Coast Council's draft planning scheme there was also requirements on future developments to ensure they were creating "complete" communities.
"If you're starting to push up around 500 dwellings on a site like this, you would expect to see some local parks being delivered and other amenities for those residents," she said.
"Providing the services and infrastructure and amenities that they need in order to live really well."
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