{"id":153772,"date":"2016-08-04T02:14:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T16:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=153772"},"modified":"2020-10-08T15:07:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T05:07:03","slug":"estate-owners-to-get-bills-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/08\/04\/estate-owners-to-get-bills-soon\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Owners To Get Bills Soon"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Cr Ros Heit in Earl Street at the Memerambi Estate on Friday afternoon … roads are sealed and nature strips laid; the large drainage basin has also been completed with excess soil now being removed\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 3, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Memerambi Estate owners will be receiving their first bills from the South Burnett Regional Council soon following the bailout to get the troubled housing estate back on course.<\/p>\n

Cr Ros Heit, whose Division covers the area, took southburnett.com.au<\/strong>\u00a0on a tour of the stalled development on Friday.<\/p>\n

She said the work to seal the roads and fix drainage issues was almost completed.<\/p>\n

Owners would then be able to begin the task of completing the fitting out the houses left at lock-up stage, or start construction on the vacant land.<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said most of the owners would receive bills of about $30,000 per block with their next rates notice on August 23, although the amount would vary a little depending on whether or not they had to pay drainage charges.<\/p>\n

The owners could elect to pay this immediately – and she believed this was the course that some planned – or they could pay it off over 10 years (including interest) through a surcharge on their rates notices.<\/p>\n

The Memerambi Estate has been mired in controversy ever since construction of the houses began along the Bunya Highway back in 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, serious problems began when\u00a0developer Summit View Meritor Pty Ltd was placed in liquidation in September 2013 without the necessary infrastructure which would have allowed the owners to move in being completed.<\/p>\n

The semi-finished houses and vacant blocks were left unattended while a number of court cases took place.<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said most of the owners were happy that Council had worked out a solution to kick-start the project back into life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Most of the owners I have spoken to seem to be pleased that something happened,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If Council had not stepped in, nothing was going to happen otherwise. These houses could have just stood here vacant forever.”<\/p>\n

The two affected owners in King Street, who were shocked when they first learned they were considered part of the Memerambi Estate area, now have a bitumen road running across the rear of their properties, providing potential rear access to these blocks.<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said the charges on these blocks – one owner will face $60,000 because they have two lots backing on to the road, and the other $30,000 – would only be triggered if the owners decided to sell the blocks or develop them.<\/p>\n

Walking around the estate, southburnett.com.au<\/strong> noticed some vandalism – windows smashed on a few buildings – and there were also some signs of pilfering, but it was almost unrecognisable from the last time we visited before the Council work began.<\/p>\n

It now looks like a housing estate where people will one day live, once the owners organise the finishing touches to their buildings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Prince Street, one of the new roads in the estate, looking towards Couchmans Road at the top intersection (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Marquis Street taken from Squire Street inside the Memerambi Estate (Photo: SBRC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n