After almost three years of debates, Brisbane City Council has finally adopted the Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan. The updated neighbourhood plan will take effect on 21 September 2018.
The Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan has been through extensive updates. From late 2015, Brisbane City Council worked with the community to update the neighbourhood plan which was originally adopted in 2007 for the suburbs of Ferny Grove and Upper Kedron. The neighbourhood plan also focuses on the area south of Cedar Creek.
Cedar Woods Development
On 1 September 2015, the Queensland Government called for an amendment to the neighbourhood plan following a review of a controversial development application at 390 Levitt Road, Upper Kedron.
The DA involves a proposal for the Cedar Woods project that initially involved the development of 1,349 residential lots. The Council approved the development in December 2014 after reducing the scale to 980 lots.
Community Inputs for the Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan
The Council had considered feedback from the community in the making of the draft neighbourhood plan.
Between November 2015 and December 2016, Council received 600 online survey responses, 330 submissions on a draft strategy document, four information kiosks, four Community Planning Team (CPT) meetings, and direct contact with Council planners by letter, email, and phone.
Members of the CPT were concerned with the preservation of the area’s bushland and at-risk fauna and also considered options for development being located in clusters away from bushfire-prone areas.
Draft Neighbourhood Plan
The Council’s draft amendment update of the plan was made available for public notification from 1 June to 14 July 2017. On the course of the notification, Council received 685 properly made submissions.
In response to submissions, Council made the following changes to the draft neighbourhood plan:
- Reaffirmed our intention to protect and enhance local ecological areas and waterways by replacing the revegetation plan required by the Queensland Government’s conditions of May 2017 with provisions that require future revegetation and rehabilitation of corridors to contribute to local and regional biodiversity values.
- Reaffirmed the range of housing types and dwelling unit density preferred in the area through the inclusion of a ‘Cedar Creek south precinct plan’ illustrating the desired outcomes.
- Ensured the natural topography of the area is maintained and require site-responsive design for development on steep slopes and at risk of natural hazards.
- Ensured the safe development of future homes by including updated bushfire hazard provisions and mapping.
On the other hand, the following components of the draft neighbourhood plan remained unchanged:
- Provision of a 40-hectare conservation area along Mt Nebo Road, which recently transferred into public ownership, with a further 51 hectares of rehabilitated ecological and waterway corridors to be transferred to public ownership at no cost to the community in the future.
- Minimum lot sizes and preferred dwelling unit densities, to be established through two precincts so that residential lots transition from urban to natural environments.
- Support for an efficient transport network and an emergency-access-only connection to Mt Nebo Road.
Updated Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan
The Queensland Government advised the Council on 28 May 2018 that the amendment package could be adopted subject to conditions.
The neighbourhood plan has been amended to include:
- an emergency services and active transport link connecting the Cedar Creek south precinct to Mt Nebo Road (subject to further detailed transport planning and community consultation) in the road hierarchy overlay map
- future bushfire risk mapping provided by the Queensland Government in the bushfire overlay map
- a revegetation map (including regional ecosystem types), provided by the Queensland Government, for reference within the bushfire overlay code.
Brisbane City Council formally adopted the updated neighbourhood plan, including Queensland Government conditions, on 28 August 2018.
The Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan is a legal document that forms part of Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan), to guide future development in the local area.
You may visit the neighbourhood plan’s official page to learn more.
You may also download the adopted neighbourhood plan for more details.