September 23, 2013
The controversial Memerambi housing estate is at a crossroads with the news that developer Summit View Meritor Pty Ltd has been placed in liquidation.
A resolution was passed by members of the company last month to wind it up.
Mr Blair Pleash and Mr David Ingram, from Hall Chadwick, have been appointed liquidators.
And attempts by the South Burnett Regional Council to work out a solution to get the stalled development habitable have been delayed by legal action in the Planning and Environment Court.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom, with Council saying there are several possible solutions for the estate to move forward, including a new developer taking over the project.
The estate, which consists of 53 dwellings on separate lots, is part of an “historic sub-division” originally laid out in 1907.
Many of the homes constructed so far – including the strip along the Bunya Highway – have been built to “lock-up” stage only and cannot legally be lived in. Their owners are paying rates on the land only, as it is not considered “developed”.
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Like historic sub-divisions all over Queensland, the Memerambi blocks existed on paper only before the developer started the project. There was no infrastructure in place – water, sewerage, power, roads or drainage.
South Burnett Regional Council CEO Ken McLoughlin said Council was initially powerless to stop the individual blocks being sold however it could impose conditions on the erection of the houses.
At the January 19, 2011, meeting of Council, the development was approved with certain conditions, including the completion of infrastructure works prior to the commencement of building work on each lot.
However, at the April 6, 2011, meeting this requirement was removed after Summit View Meritor, via a consultant, requested a “negotiated decision”.
Mr McLoughlin, who was not employed by Council at this time, said there was nothing particularly unusual about this request or the recommendation by council staff that councillors approve it.
It was passed unanimously, although one councillor (Cr Cheryl Dalton) did not vote. She declared an interest as she used the same consultants, AK and TL Christensen, in her private business.
Construction of houses commenced and was continuing until financing for the project hit difficulties. At the time that the work was halted, underground power and NBN cabling had been organised and paid for (although the houses had not yet been connected) but roadwork and drainage work had not commenced.
Many people have told southburnett.com.au that with hindsight if the April motion, moved by then-Mayor David Carter, had not been passed, the current difficulties would not have occurred.
But it has also been pointed out, that if the “negotiated decision” hadn’t been approved, work on the development probably would never have started. At the time there was nothing to suggest the development wouldn’t be of economic benefit to the area. Councillors also had no reason to expect the project would hit financing difficulties.
However, a problem that did quickly arise was drainage with local residents complaining about run-off problems as the development proceeded.
Mr McLoughlin said council staff have been working with Summit View now for more than two years to develop a drainage solution for the estate.
Ironically, this was now close to a solution which would satisfy local residents as well as the Department of Transport and Main Roads.
South Burnett Regional Council Planning and Environment General Manager Stan Taylor said the Department had now signed off on the alternative design.
The next step was to acquire adjoining farmland for an easement to achieve the stormwater management solution.
“This will ensure the development has a ‘no worsening’ effect on the Bunya Highway and low impact on residential properties within the estate,” Mr Taylor said.
Solving the drainage problem means roadwork in the estate could also technically begin.
“The internal road network within the estate is now designed to an acceptable engineering standard,” Mr Taylor said.
There’s one big problem though … who is going to pay for it?
Mr McLoughlin said the bottom line was that infrastructure costs were the developer’s responsibility.
However, there were other solutions, none of which involved South Burnett ratepayers picking up the bill.
Property owners and Council could come together and agree that Council constructs the required infrastructure with the property owners contributing financially at their own expense.
Or Council could declare the estate a “benefitted area”; the property owners benefiting from the infrastructure would be charged accordingly on their rates.
But one of the main things now preventing Council staff putting together recommendations on the way forward is an outstanding case in the Planning and Environment Court, launched by 18 of the property owners who are understandably anxious about their investments.
Initially this was between the property owners and Summit View Meritor and developer Stephen Grant Turner, but the South Burnett Regional Council was later joined as a third respondent.
“The court case came out of the blue,” Mr McLoughlin said.
Mr Taylor said Council could not really move forward until the court case is finished and there was no timeframe for when the next hearing is scheduled.
However, he is optimistic.
“The stormwater plan was a major part of the court case which we have already finalised,” he said.
In June this year, Council had a “win” as part of this case when Judge Everson granted their application to remove an order that would have required Council to “commence and complete” the required works should Summit View Meritor be wound up or receivers appointed.
With Summit View Meritor going into liquidation, this court win is good news for Council and South Burnett ratepayers, but it still leaves the estate stalled for the time being.
