Proposed childcare development in Karalee rejected
16 December 2021
Councillors have voted to reject a proposed new childcare development in Karalee at Ipswich City Council’s Ordinary Meeting last week, bringing to an end several months of reviews, community discussions and independent assessments.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said council officers had worked with the proponent to try to condition the application to address community concerns, however councillors assessed that the proposed solutions did not meet the planning scheme or community expectations.
“This has been a challenging decision, but one where councillors determined that the development, despite a range of conditions, wouldn’t meet our planning or community standards,” Mayor Harding said.
“Councillors remain concerned about traffic congestion, lack of parking spaces, the number of children the facility would cater for, noise impacts to nearby residents, hours of operation, and the impact of effluent collection on the local community.
“We listened to the community and assessed it against the planning scheme and made the appropriate decision in the circumstances.
“We thank the Karalee community for their patience in letting council undertake a thorough and transparent process to determine its decision regarding this application.”
The original proposal was lodged in March 2021, and featured space for 116 children, 20 staff, and two-storey building for the site along Arthur Summervilles Rd and Elaine St, nearby Karalee State School.
Council received 280 properly made submissions against the development application, alongside a petition with 858 signatures, which triggered a review through the Independent Decision Review Panel (IDRP) process.
A revised proposal, including reduced capacity to 100 children, 17 staff, and a single storey building, with increased car parking capacity, was considered by the panel at a public hearing on 14 October 2021, where both the proponents and members of the community were able to put their case forward.
This was only the second proposal to receive a public hearing under the IDRP process, following consideration of the Wanless waste and recycling proposal earlier in 2021.
Division 4 Councillor Kate Kunzelmann said she had had carefully considered council officers’ reports and recommendations imposing certain conditions; the IDRP recommendations and developer’s response; and residents’ opinions and their level of objection.
“I believe there are many issues that impinge on this decision. I am not convinced this development can be sufficiently conditioned to overcome the conflict and loss of amenity. There are still significant issues with effluent treatment, noise, traffic and parking,” Cr Kunzelmann said.
“I have listened and consulted extensively and have searched my heart for the right decision. Speaking for myself I cannot agree with the development in this space.”
Cr Kunzelmann said with unprecedented growth in Ipswich, there would be development in the area in the future and it was up to council to manage that appropriately.