A PROTEST is building against the eight-storey Cleveland Railway Station development, with locals saying it is gross over-development and will have the opposite outcome for that which it was intended.
They say there has been no community consultation and the public was not made aware of what was involved before the development application was made.
An article in last week's Redland City Bulletin and on the Bulletin website caused plenty of comment, with some readers suggesting the article must be an April Fools Day joke.
Most people complained about the lack of car parks, with some saying they drove to other stations because Cleveland was too hard.
Residents in surrounding units say the 124-unit development will not provide sufficient parking for residents or visitors and will create major problems in the struggling Cleveland central business district.
Resident John Derbyshire, a former engineer with town planning experience, said a single car space had been allocated for each unit and no visitor parking.
"The (Redland City) council planning scheme would normally require over 30 visitor spaces for the 124 residential units,'' he said. "Unless prevented from doing so, (visitors) are likely to park in the commuter car park, further exacerbating problems.''
Mr Derbyshire and fellow unit owners John Hornabrook and Brian Straker said pressure would be on parking, given 10,000 residents were expected in the Toondah Harbour development.
Mr Derbyshire said the railway development was essentially residential, not multi-use as the planning scheme intended.
Redland mayor Karen Williams said the development met mixed-use provisions for the site, including short-term accommodation, commuter car parking, retail and residential.
As a code assessable development it was deemed to have met requirements under the Cleveland Master Plan, a document for which consultation had occurred for more than a decade.
"If it meets the code, it doesn't require advertising under state government legislation,'' Cr Williams said.
The project – which is meant to help rejuvenate the Cleveland CBD – has been backed by the state government in the context of meeting South East Queensland Regional planning objectives, although project details are up to the council.
Cr Williams said some council workshops had been conducted on the basic concept but the matter was yet to be considered by the full council. At least 17 extra commuter car parks would be provided, an issue that had been agreed to by the state government on whose land the development sat.
