E&C Committee Clause C: Upper Mount Gravatt Centre Suburban Renewal Precinct

Speech to Council Chambers - CR Seal Chong Wah

Full Chambers meeting - 18th August 2026

I rise to speak on the E&C Committee report Clause C, regarding the proposed Upper Mount Gravatt Centre Suburban Renewal Project.

Here’s another big upzoning. The main centre is being upzoned up to 30 storeys. Across Logan Road, the height limit is being roughly doubled to up to 20 storeys, and further up Logan Road is also doubling the height limits to up to 15 storeys. Upzoning can be positive. Upper Mount Gravatt is a huge centre, with a large bus station with several high-frequency services connecting to lots of Brisbane’s South and East. Dense, affordable neighbourhoods, near major public transport nodes, with tree canopy, parks, and green space, protected bikeways and shaded footpaths, are much more sustainable than clearing forests for suburban sprawl. But that’s not happening in these plans. Upper Mount Gravatt only has a few small local parks, none that are big enough for a game of soccer. There’s no plan here for more parks or green space. The LNP wants thousands more people to live here, but is forcing them to fight over pocket parks. They’re missing a prime chance to buy back land around Mimosa Creek nearby, to make parkland for residents, protection from flooding, and habitat for this city’s waterway ecosystems. You might be thinking, “isn’t the Hibiscus sports complex just down the road, with big fields and a pool”? You’re right. It’s about one or two kilometres from this precinct. And why not walk or cycle over? 

*Pause*

With what shade?!

Logan Road, just like Kessels Road, has terrible tree cover. In our increasingly hot summers, these roads are concrete frying pans. These LNP plans don’t include any new street trees. They don’t require more than 10% deep planting from developers. And they don’t stop developers cutting that down through performance outcomes. Trees cool our cities through transpiration, and tree canopy interrupts part of the urban heat island process. We need trees for walkable neighbourhoods. The next problem is with walking itself. The footpaths in this precinct are very narrow, on tiny verges. The huge main roads are death traps to jaywalk, but people do it anyway because of the distance between safe crossings. Even when there’s traffic lights, pedestrians often wait for minutes before being allowed to cross, because cars get prioritised. The LNP administration isn’t proposing wider footpaths. They’re not proposing new crossings, or changing the traffic lights. They’re not planning to put pedestrians first in this upzoning scheme. And what about riding? You might have forgotten about it. The LNP sure did.

There is no planning for separated bikeways in this scheme. Logan and Kessels Road are meant to be top priority cycle routes connecting to the Veloway, according to the City Plan and State Principal Cycle Network. Without any protection, these roads are death traps for cyclists. But this scheme doesn’t include any planning or funding for cycling along these roads. The LNP haven’t even faked it with paint-only lanes. How does the LNP expect people to get around without their car, if they can’t walk or cycle around their own neighbourhood. And lastly, what’s stopping developers maximising their profits by building luxury apartments? Within this Council’s boundaries, there are 11,000 people on the social housing waitlist. Thousands more are one rent hike away from that waitlist. Raising height limits and giving developers handouts hasn’t made homes any cheaper.

This Council should require every new development in Brisbane, with 10 or more dwellings to provide 25 percent of the dwellings to public or community housing providers. We must ensure that for every new apartment building, a few more struggling households find a home that they can afford.

We need to build this city for people.