Twin Waters West proposal rejected by Sunshine Coast Council

On Thursday 23 July, the Sunshine Coast Council voted on Stockland's revised proposal for a masterplanned community neighbouring Twin Waters, dubbed "Twin Waters West". There were 417 submissions received by the Council in response to the application, with 132 submissions expressing support, and 285 submissions against the development. Mayor Mark Jamieson was excluded from the deliberations, due to receiving $75,000 in electoral donations that were tied to businesses that submitted feedback on the development, raising concerns of a potential conflict of interest. Other councillors also received donations from businesses or individuals associated with submitting feedback, and the councillors voted on a case by case basis who could ethically be involved in the decision as a result. Cr Peter Cox and Cr Terry Landsberg were the only two councillors to vote in favour of the development, with eight councillors voting against. 'Save Twin Waters West' members hailed the rejection of the development a victory. They hold the view that the development will cause traffic congestion and is not fully consisted with the Draft Flooding and Stormwater Management Guidelines. There were also concerns the central wetland ecosystem would be impacted. Sunshine Coast Business Council expressed their concerns that rejection of the development would undermine investor confidence, and believed the impact of COVID-19 and the unemployment rate should have been considered in the decision making process. Stockland now intends to review the decision and it's position.

Stockland’s Turbulent Twin Waters West Fronts Council

20 July 2020 | Author: Renee McKeown | Source: The Urban Developer

 

A decision on Stockland’s controversial Sunshine Coast residential development will be made by council on Thursday.

The development of Twin Waters West in the Maroochydore suburb of Pacific Paradise is more than a decade in the making and has sparked significant community interest.

The first stages of Stockland’s plans for the 104 hectare site—alongside the Sunshine Motorway between the Maroochy River and David Low Way—were to reconfigure four lots into 182 lots including 168 dwellings, new road and parks.

The overall plans for Twin Waters West included 584 residential lots, two apartment towers with 180 dwellings between them, community facilities including a place of worship and 26 hectares of open space.

Following concerns raised by the state government, Stockland amended the application by removing the apartment towers ahead of council’s decision.

Council officers have recommended approval for the development site to have up to 645 homes and no multiple dwelling units.

The approval would also see council receive $10.2 million for infrastructure charges to compensate for population growth in the area.

Stockland originally proposed 950 residential lots in the area in 2009, however this scheme was refused by council and eventually dismissed by the Planning and Environment Court 2013.

A revised conceptual master plan with between 650 and 700 lots and a waterway similar to the existing Twin Waters Estate was designed when the new Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme was released in 2014.

The latest application was lodged in 2018 and during the public notification period received 417 submissions, with 132 supporting and 285 against the proposal.

Those opposing the development said they were concerned about issues including impacts on water quality in the wetlands and river, the environment, the heritage site called Settler’s Park and flooding.

It has been a turbulent year for the ASX-listed company that withdrew its full-year guidance due to uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 which had seen retail spending drop during the second quarter.

Despite this, Stockland has moved forward in other facets of the company, with house sales improving back to pre-Covid levels, and the recent approval of a 29-storey tower in Epping, Sydney.
 

 

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Stockland Twin Waters Development Proposal

Source: Stockland

Stockland is planning the delivery of a new premium residential community at Pacific Paradise, adjacent to Twin Waters. The land is known as Twin Waters West and we are referring to the location as Twin Waters as this is preferred by the local community.

The community master plan is designed to extend upon the enviable, premium Twin Waters lifestyle. The new community is designed to reflect the standard of the existing Twin Waters community, with large residential lots, a waterway network, extensive landscaped areas and greenspace including parks, cycling paths and walkways.


The project is located on 104 ha of vacant, cleared land, between the existing Twin Waters community and the Sunshine Motorway. The project is bounded by existing residential development at Twin Waters and Pacific Paradise.

The project is bounded by existing residential development at Twin Waters and Pacific Paradise. The location was envisaged as an extension from the existing community, when the original Twin Waters development was planned and progressed from the 1990s.

The site is located only 5 km from the growing Maroochydore City Centre and 3 km from the Sunshine Coast Airport, which are both becoming major employment and economic hubs for the Sunshine Coast.

See site context map for more information
 

Click here for illustrative site plan

Project background

The 104 ha site was included in the SEQ Regional Plan Urban Footprint in 2005 and re-zoned by the Sunshine Coast Council in 2018 to allow for a future residential community. The land has been highly modified through previous cane farming practices.

2018: To advance the project in late 2018, Stockland lodged a development application with Sunshine Coast Council. The application was informed through extensive engagement with local stakeholders over many years. This included engagement with many members of the neighbouring Twin Waters, Mudjimba and Pacific Paradise communities.

During this engagement, local stakeholders expressed their preference for a new community that reflected the quality of Twin Waters, with minimal impacts on existing residents. These principles have guided the planning of the new Twin Waters community.

The application followed many years of thorough on-site investigations, technical assessment and community engagement. The application includes many public commitments, including creating a new Twin Waters community that is consistent with the high quality and premium lifestyle of the existing Twin Waters community.

2019: In early 2019, Council issued an information request in relation to the application. This is standard practice to ensure the planning authority has all necessary information to assess the application.

As at May 2019, Stockland completed a detailed response to the information request, which is publicly accessible on Council’s website. During the review and preparation of the information request, Stockland made some adjustments to the original application. The key, beneficial changes have been to reduce the number of medium density sites from five (5) to two (2) and to increase the lake size and capacity to further improve onsite and offsite flood immunity.

Following the completion of the information request in May 2019, the community now has opportunity to make submissions to the Sunshine Coast Council during the statutory Public Notification phase.
 

Premium lifestyle, with responsible delivery

The new community reflects the character and quality of Twin Waters. Key planning and lifestyle outcomes include:

• maintaining the character of the existing Twin Waters community

• predominantly large lot sizes, consistent with Twin Waters

• low building heights, reflecting the existing Twin Waters community

• high quality homes guided by the existing Twin Waters building covenant

• effective stormwater management and improvements to local flood immunity

• effective traffic management and improved commuter safety

• public and active transport opportunities

• existing flora retention and protection, with enhancement

• onsite fauna management and protection

Stockland Twin Waters – at a glance:

• 104 ha site

• 781 dwellings (reduced from development application in December 2018)

  • 581 low density lots (55ha)

  • 197 dwellings in 2 multiple dwelling nodes (4.9ha)

• First 2 stages: 171 dwellings

  • Stage 1 – 101 dwellings

  • Stage 2 – 70 dwellings

• 25% of site is open space ~ 27ha

• Remnant, high value vegetation is retained

• 19ha waterway feature with 95 directly facing waterfront lots

• 10 kms of paths, including waterfront aspect with 2kms of cycle paths

• Destination park – 2 ha
  
   

Benefits and outcomes

The key commitments to the community and outcomes include:

• density and building heights are comparable to the existing Twin Waters community
   

• built form quality will be comparable to Twin Waters as governed through a stringent building covenant
   

• onsite and offsite flood immunity (through upgraded and new stormwater systems combined with a 19ha internal lake system, inclusive of walkable waterfront, with surplus capacity to receive and safely discharge stormwater to the Maroochy River)
   

• protection and enhancement of existing vegetation with a minimum of 25% of the site dedicated to open space
   

• fauna protection through provision of open space and natural areas on site linked to external conservation areas and other habitat, helping to ensure sustainability of the local kangaroo mob (removal of kangaroos is not being contemplated)
   

• delivery of a traffic management solution to minimise external traffic impacts and address existing safety issues.