Lately I have been looking at the increasing number of new residential proposals for Teneriffe and Newstead – all of them high rise buildings.
At the recent Brisbane Open House discussion I participated in with David Hinchliffe, there was a concern expressed not only about the lack of vision shown by Council for Teneriffe and more particularly Newstead, but also how the local community feels it has been excluded in discussions about the future of the two areas.
As I have earlier noted, suburbs are continual evolving while some, like Newstead, are undergoing transition from industrial uses to a residential one.
In 2021 I wrote: “While Newstead has benefitted from the high value of Teneriffe and New Farm real estate, there is a danger of it being over-loved. With no character controls and a desirable location, pressure will now grow in Newstead to increase densities north of Waterloo St. Remaining warehouses and non-strata sites will be earmarked for development. This will not necessarily benefit its residents. If inadequate allowance is made for community facilities, Newstead could easily become a socially isolated precinct detached from its neighbours by congestion.”
Perhaps Brisbane City Council feels any study of Newstead is unnecessary as it does not contain much of heritage value as it has been largely a light industrial or warehousing area. What there was of historic value – Newstead House – was already protected. Is there an assumption that the east and west sides of Breakfast Creek Road – a major transport corridor close to the city – are not places people care passionately about?
In addition, there is the ongoing issue of flooding along both sides of the road. For the area to become a successful precinct there must be mitigation measures taken otherwise we are going to be seeing images of people digging themselves and their cars out of flooded basements. I guess this will be palmed off to the State Government to fix.
Land values either side of that corridor have risen to exclude solutions other than high rise residential. Thus, the very explicit 2014 Neighbourhood Plan provisions have been superseded by council’s approval of high-rise projects through Impact Assessment. Market forces will decide Newstead’s future now that council has abrogated its planning role in the development of this future high density residential area.
In speaking to someone closely connected to the council, I was told that limited resources have prevented them from conducting any major review of Newstead. While the Riverside Industrial Sands development was seen as a book-end to the southern edge of the suburb, the northern part of the suburb is seen as a development free-for-all. It is becoming a developer-driven suburb, planned by the market not by our elected representatives.
I had previously believed the local council representatives were not engaged in these new development proposals. This cannot be so as political will is necessary for the development of major projects. Developers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with consultants lodging proposals and it is unlikely that they would do so without prior consultation with the local members before doing so.
There is also a significant role played by major planning firms in the preparation of these projects, some of whom are lobbyists as much as planning consultants. A document supplied by a planning consultant on the Riverside Industrial Sands application reads more like a council response to an applicant than a submission by an applicant’s consultant. It is as if the consultant was writing the council’s response.
All the proposals I have viewed lately argue they are contributing to solving the housing crisis, whereas they are really investment instruments housing self contained communities, isolated from each other.I have no problem with high rise residential buildings if they are designed well and give something back to the communities they are in, a good example being West Village in West End.
Yes, we do need to have more people living in Newstead but in a healthy community, and not left to the vagaries of the marketplace.
Ed Haysom LFRAIA, AIA, HonFNZIA has served as both Queensland Chapter President and National President of the Australian Institute of Architects. In 2003 he was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to architecture, and in 2014 was appointed City Architect for the City of the Gold Coast.