Residents in Kangaroo Point are worried that Brisbane City Council could backflip on a rejected development application for a high-rise on Lambert Street, now on appeal at the Planning & Environment Court.
The group Say No to 108 Lambert St believes that despite Council’s commitment to fighting the appeal, there are concerns that it might enter into secret talks with the developer, Pikos Group.
There is a precedent for their concern as the Council entered into a resolution process with the development of TriCare’s retirement facility in Taringa. Say No to 108 Lambert St said that this process was not conducted in a court hearing thus there are no public records of the resolution. As a result, the Taringa facility’s development will adapt minor amendments only, despite a number of opposition from the residents.
Residents also question the relationship of some Council members to Pedro Pikos, the head of Pikos Group, who was part of the Community Planning Team and served as the advisor for the Kangaroo Point Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan.
A spokesperson for the Council, however, said that the planning team consisted of “local residents, workers, property owners, business owners and students” who are familiar with the area and could best provide inputs during the mapping out of the neighbourhood plan in meetings between 2016 to 2017.
Meanwhile, new evidence has emerged that one of the three buildings in the planned 108 Lambert Street development is beyond the height limit. Independent surveyors assessed that the 15-storey building’s height could actually be for a 16-storey building. This suggested that Council could has stronger grounds to win the appeal at the Planning & Environment Court.
Check the Lambert Street development application at Developmenti Brisbane DA A005542190.
