ALEXANDRA Hills residents will still be able to cherish bushland in McMillan Road after council moved to lock the site away for conservation purposes.
Council bought the 9415sq m 61 McMillan Road in June 2010 for $1.15million from the state government.
Following development approval for seven houses on the site, council planned to auction the land with proceeds going into the Environment Levy Fund.
The land was later transferred from council ownership to the Redland Investment Corporation, paving the way for its possible sale.
However, on Wednesday, councillor Alan Beard convinced the council to transfer the land back to council and stave off plans for a large residential development, or for its sale.
Cr Beard said during last year's planning scheme review, residents asked for the environmental integrity of the site to be kept and for the area of the development to be smaller.
He said the community was consulted, and agreed, to make the development higher density to allow townhouses on the block.
Cr Beard said the site was highly vegetated and "the lungs" of division 8 and nominated the land to be rezoned to conservation during the planning scheme review.
Council’s environment levy started in 1992 and is $87.20 per property.
To date, council has bought 351 properties totalling 840 hectares, at a cost of almost $27.6million.
Division 7 councillor Murray Elliott said he supported the rezoning but was concerned council was being selective about the one site. He also said it was not council's role to direct officers on zoning.
"It does not give clarity to the public where we were upfront when we said on December 9 (that we would not sell off council-owned open space or community land," he said.
"It just looks like council is picking on bits (council-owned land) to put bushfires out."
But mayor Karen Williams said the zoning of the site was an anomaly as the council-owned land at McMillan Road was already zoned residential A and there already council plans from 2010 to develop and sell the site.
