March 18, 2026
South Burnett Regional Council will submit a grant application on behalf of a developer who has had plans to build a 51-unit gated community in Kingaroy for almost a decade.
Councillors voted on Wednesday to “deem the associated operational work road works (internal), stormwater and earthworks” for the Kingsgrove Living Development Project as “essential infrastructure”.
The original Development Application for the project, in Buckingham and Logan streets, was approved by Council in a split vote in October 2017.
In December last year, Council approved “operational work” for the construction of internal roads in the complex as well as stormwater and drainage works.
By now deeming these trunk works as “essential”, the project many become eligible for funding under Round 2 of the State Government’s Residential Activation Fund.
Council staff will prepare and submit the grant application on behalf of Greenidge Pty Ltd as trustee for the RM and SM Burgess Family Trust.
The development was first unveiled by developer Rob Burgess at a public meeting in Kingaroy in July 2017.
At that meeting, Mr Burgess said Kingsgrove would bring an entirely new style of building to the South Burnett.
The units would be assembled on site from prefabricated components and connected to services, at which point they would be indistinguishable from normal homes.
The complex would be covered by covenants to ensure that people who bought into it were aged 55 or higher.
Residents would own their units but not the land they sat on.
In a post on social media last year, Mr Burgess said the gated community could become a model for similar developments.
He described Kingsgrove as “an affordable housing solution to the crisis”.
“Detached units with good private, open space and planned community living including (a) community centre, men’s shed and garden,” he wrote.
“Sustainable living with (a) micro-grid and (a) small footprint that can become a model for other similar estates across Queensland.”
The State Government’s Residential Activation Fund aims to unlock land (both greenfield and in-fill) to accelerate housing development by funding critical infrastructure.
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