A well-known development company has been given approval to build a new retirement village on rural land.
Stockland Halcyon has been granted a material change of use to establish a manufactured homes village on 20 hectares bounded by Steggalls and Brandon roads, Yandina.
The village would comprise sites for up to 250 two-bedroom manufactured homes for over-50s, recreational facilities such as a pool, pickleball courts and clubhouse, and storage for boats and caravans.
The application has been the subject of much correspondence between Sunshine Coast Council and Stockland’s development team since was lodged in late 2022 and drew a mixed response during a public notification period.
Submissions from a number of residents concerned the potential impact on stormwater and flooding on local properties. Other residents welcomed the notion of a retirement facility for Yandina, especially one within walking distance of town.
In its reasons for approval, the council flags the likelihood of further residential development on the rural land surrounding the site in the future.
“Despite the subject site’s inclusion within the Rural Zone under the Planning Scheme, the subject land, as well as the land directly to the north of the site, is contained within the Urban Footprint under the SEQ Regional Plan,” it says.
“The site is also located on the periphery of established urban areas and the development would be a compatible and logical extension of those urban uses.
“The proposed (urban) use on the subject site ought not be considered to compromise the rural production capability of the area because it is expected that the land and its surrounds would not likely remain rural in the long term.
“It is also relevant to note that there would be minimal adverse impacts upon the nearby residential uses directly associated with the proposed use.”
The council’s statement of reasons for the development approval said it was also relevant that the development would be well screened and was set in a large open and vegetated drainage area so it “would not compromise the rural town setting of Yandina” or the locality’s character.
It said the development would be a “service to the local community” because it would provide a retirement product not readily available in Yandina and it could be designed and constructed so as not to worsen flooding in surrounding areas.
The approval is subject to a number of conditions, including that the site’s stormwater system be extended to accommodate run-off from existing catchments outside the site.
Each home can be occupied by no more than two people, who must meet the development’s age criteria of at least one person being 50 or more and the other being not less than 40.
The homes must each have two parking spaces, including one covered space, and the developer must provide one visitor space for every five homes and a motorcycle space for every 25 homes.
The developer will be required to upgrade Steggalls Road along the development’s frontage and link with the kerb and channel and a footpath already on the northern side of the road.
A 10m wide vegetation buffer must be planted along within the site along the development’s northern boundary.
A bus to shopping, medical and public transport facilities must be provided for residents of the village before stage one is completed.
The council granted approval on January 31 but the decision notice, dated January 11, was not uploaded to the council’s development application portal until February 6.
