A long-proposed bypass road north of Brisbane could be prioritised to avoid the need for dozens of home resumptions for Bruce Highway upgrades, the local mayor says.
Key points:
- A mayor says dozens of homes should not be resumed for Bruce Highway upgrades
- A proposed bypass road should instead be prioritised
- Queensland's Premier says the Transport and Main Roads will work with affected homeowners
It is understood more than 100 properties in Griffin and Murrumba have been earmarked as potentially being acquired for new ramps and service roads along the highway near Dohle's Rocks Road.
More than 20 new homeowners have now received letters notifying them of the potential need for their properties, some only weeks after moving in.
Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Peter Flannery said he was formally briefed on the proposed resumptions yesterday, five days after the ABC revealed that dozens of homeowners had been told their newly built properties might be needed.
Mr Flannery told ABC Radio Brisbane he had now seen more detailed plans from Transport and Main Roads (TMR) about plans for new north-facing on and off-ramps onto the highway, near Dohle's Rocks Road.
"The plans I looked at yesterday, I saw the homes on the western side of the highway and there's probably another 30 or 40 homes that have a blue marking on them," Mr Flannery said.
"These are established homes that have been there a little while."
Some Griffin residents were shocked to receive notices of possible resumption, some only weeks after moving in to the new Aspire development.
The proposed highway widening was not gazetted or listed on any property search, with the state government saying planning had only recently progressed to the stage of formal notification.
Moreton Connector touted
Mr Flannery said the state government could instead prioritise the proposed Moreton Connector, a bypass road to the east of Griffin between Dohle's Rocks Road and Anzac Avenue.
"I support all of those residents in getting back to TMR and making their views heard; that they're not happy with this process, not happy with this decision," he said.
"I believe the alternative is the Moreton Connector, which can go through an area with no homes in it."
TMR's website says the Moreton Connector, which would run through a designated corridor set aside years ago, would be "a beneficial potential future local connection" but was not required with the planned Bruce Highway upgrades.
Transport and Main Roads minister Mark Bailey on Tuesday blamed a push for new Bruce Highway ramps from local federal LNP politicians Peter Dutton and Luke Howarth in 2018 for the resumptions.
"They went to the 2019 federal election advocating for these [ramps] with 80 per cent funding and they were re-elected in 2019, so they had a mandate to do this," Mr Bailey said.
"They then asked us for funding, which we gave the 20 per cent, and we started the process of planning in 2020 to build the ramps.
"Obviously if you add on and off ramps to the Bruce Highway then you need space to do that."
Member for Petrie Luke Howarth rejected Mr Bailey's position, saying he could not blame funding provided by the federal government four years ago for a state government project.
"I've written yesterday to the Premier ... pleading with her to look into this personally to revisit the Moreton Connector."
On Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she felt for the residents affected, and that zoning for the land should have been clear.
"I know the department of transport will work very closely with the families to help find them new homes," she said.
"I do want to see answers as to why this happened."