RalphieGirl

It's terrible watching all these townhouses etc be built, we live off cloverdale rd and we love driving through the acreage suburbs and it just breaks our heart every time we see a 'proposed development' sign.

Agreed! Recently I stumbled across the BCC plans for doolandella and they plan to resume 46% of our land. Unfortunately this leaves us having to consider subdividing ourselves so we arent left out of pocket later.

That's horrible :( I don't want all these town houses, our street is already like a car park and we are in a great area! Let alone Rockfield road car park - then there are the hoons that speed along cloverdale, it saddens me when we see less and less of the duck families and wildlife because ppl don't care.

Development of Doolandella is a good positive thing that will negatively affect very few people whilst positively impacting thousands. It's very unrealistic and a little selfish to want to keep your massive acreage properties in a suburb that's juts 17km from the Brisbane CBD and a few mins drive to major motorways to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast & Ipswich. It's also surrounded by schools, child care and other residential properties so of course it's going to be developed and so it should. With all the young families struggling to get their opportunity to get into the housing market it's not fair that a small amount of people hog thousands of acres of land whilst thousands of people are finding it difficult to find affordable housing in Brisbane. It was destined to happen and it's not like Doolandella is in the country or like they are cutting down a major protected rainforest so stop your whinging and get out of the 1990's because Doolandella is a great developing suburb that's great for families and young people. If you like large acreage properties then either move further out of town or by a farm. I'm against development of certain areas myself but not land that's so close to the CBD of a fast growing major city that's destined to be developed.

@BrodieJ you have obviously never worked your ass off to own something of value. And if you did would you wamt to surrender it just so a relatively small group of people can live on another cookie cutter estate? I own and live on 5 acres in Doolandella and will never allow developers to get their hands on
it for reasons you will never understand. Im also a local real estate agent of 25 years so I know a little something about the value of this land.

So you think it's good for 12 or so people to live on and take up acres upon acres of land where potentially thousands of people could live just 17km from the CBD of a major capital city?! Sorry sounds to me you are simply being selfish and greedy. If this was a rural town I'd agree with you but honestly you have the blinkers on. Keep your land and fill your ego and it's your right to do that but doesn't mean it's fair on the thousands who miss out on an opportunity to buy their home (possibly first) because people like you want to live a country style life on large properties in the city close to the CBD. Well good for you but don't suggest as you did in your comment that I don't work hard as I work damn hard, hence why I've been very successful in my chosen career... ;-)

@ Charlie Armour-Webb, I also forgot to mention that I worked very hard to currently own two properties and soon to be three but I chose not to own large lots of land to live in that are close to the CBD in a capital city. If I ever decide to live on acreage I'll move out to a rural area because there is space there to do that. The FACT is that Brisbane is the fastest growing city in Australia at the moment so many of those who own acreage in Doolandella will either have to sell or put up with the development that will surround them. It's the future... Deal with it or move to a rural town if you don't like it.

@BrodieJ This is where you need to realise that Doolandella WAS rural and some of it is still considered to be. Our property was a cattle farm and we used to have horses and a lot more wildlife. There was days only 10 years ago that you would see wallabies hoping across the front yard and there were Platypus in the creeks. Those days are now gone. Soon people will think its ok to develop out in Lowood and maybe even as far out as Black Butt all because people think they have a right to? I'm sorry but I love that we have Owls, Kookaburra's and copious amounts of other wild birds that sing. I love not having my house polluted by the sounds of busy streets and my next door neighbours TV. Sometimes things shouldn't be ruined just to make way for 300 new matchbox sized blocks. Look at the comments above from other people that live in my area. It's not just me that feels this way. Wise up and look at the bigger picture and not just the populations constant need for new things. One day when you buy your rural "country town" block to retire on just to be surrounded by new estates you will understand. until then, please enjoy your 3 dwellings (you can only live in one btw) and look at yourself before calling us the selfish ones.

@ RalphieGirl - No I'm sorry but I disagree and this is where you need to realise that you are in a major city not the country and that Brisbane is the fastest growing city in Australia and has been for almost a decade now. If you didn't have the foresight to realise that a suburb just 17 kms from the CBD of a major city that is fast growing was not going to undergo major development in the future then you must have had the blinkers on I'm sorry to say. I'll say it again, I am a strong advocate for protecting our rainforest and wildlife and I'm all for large properties in rural areas but your in a major city so what else did you think was going to happen?! Of course it was always going to be developed and the harsh reality is as long as we all keep breeding and having our 2, 3 or 4+ children then we need somewhere for those families to live. The population of this country is growing fast so what's your plan to housing our fast growing population? Developing land for housing and townhouses in suburbs of major cities that are only 15 - 20 kms from the centre of town may be a good place to start hey... ;-) Like I said this is a major city and I love seeing wallabies, platypus just like you as I grew up on a 10 acre property myself but unless us humans all stop breeding then sadly the harsh reality is to develop accommodation in the major cities. I'd rather see development in major cities than in rural/country areas where there is even more wildlife. Unless you have a better solution to accommodating our very fast rapid growing population than I suggest you accept that change was inevitable for Doolandella given it's location of just 17 kms to the CBD not to mention it's close to major motorways. I reckon it's better to develop the cities than the rural areas. Respect your opinion but strongly disagree...

It's such a shame that looking back 30 years ago, which is when I moved to Doolandella, it was a lifestyle option that was considered 'out in the sticks' from the city. This was a time when house blocks in general were 800sqm/32 perches and they were being subdivided to a small 16 perch/400sqm. This is now considered to be a huge block. It's one thing to subdivide and move people into an area that you, BrodieJ have so often said was close to so many freeways and 17km from the city, to the option that is happening that they are being crammed on top of each other for the developers to make millions of dollars at the cost of the heritage that all before you made in the area. If acreage was reduced to 800-1000sqm it would have still maintained the notion of larger land living. To pay off their semi rural land, and continue enjoying the lifestyle is a right they've earned, and my parents are still in the area also for this reason. We've had so many family memories made on our property that to think of it being housing to 80 townhouses is insane. If people want affordable shoeboxes, then move further away from the city where that's achieveable, however in the interim, leave the generation who are enjoying the fruits of their labours to their own lifestyle choices, and respect what they've achieved. It's now been some time since you've written your comments, so I trust that you are still loving Doolandella, and don't have a negative thing to say about the constant roadworks or freeway that is now Blunder Road, and can remember a time 2 years ago that is no longer when there was any trace of wildlife left. I'm late on this post, I acknowledge that, but reading your comments insensed me to a point I had to respond. Proud to be an original Doolandella resident....

@ FormerD - Other than focussing on your own past history and self interests please respond to some of the points I made in my post that was originally posted back in Sept 2014. Doolandella is and always was going to be developed at some stage with it being about 18km from the CBD. My question to you is where do house our fast growing population if not in the suburbs of our major cities?! It's all nice and warm to talk of the days that not so long ago saw Doolandella as mostly bushland and rural properties but that's all about you and your past. I am truly and honestly very sad to see wildlife affected anywhere in the world but the sad facts are Brisbane's population is exploding and those people need somewhere to live unless you have a better solution but I haven't heard one yet. Sadly Doolandella is a victim to a growing city but the fact is it's always been a suburb in a "CITY" and that makes me far less sympathetic to those only thinking of themselves and their large properties taking up plenty of land space and enough land to build and house many families desperately looking for housing. If this was a remote place in the rainforest or out in the country I'd be supporting your stance 100% but it's a suburb in the city and always has been, just because you could once buy huge blocks of land in Doolandella cheaply many years ago doesn't mean that the suburb should not grow, develop and move forward as a suburb in the city and other people should be able to enjoy the opportunity to buy a house & land in Doolandella. People sitting on huge blocks of rural style blocks of land while living in the city are just enjoying the best of both worlds whilst many people can't afford to buy a house or land in Brisbane because people sitting on large rural blocks in the city helps to push up the price of land because it's a simple case of supply & demand. If you want lots of rural land then move away from the city and live in a rural town and stop trying to but the guilt trips on people making a start in life with their families. Doolandella was always a suburb in the city so stop living in the past and move forward and deal with the reality that it's a SUBURB IN THE CITY and NOT A RURAL TOWN! Therefore development was imminent and made complete sense in a fast growing city.

Oh come off it @Brodiej - you fire back like you are one of the developers in the area and trying to talk yourself out of the guilt of ruining the locals oasis they call home. We all get what you are saying but what you don't realise is that we are just stating our views on how it used to be and that we are sad to see it gone. So please stop attacking us for our memories and our sadness and understand that we know Brisbane is a growing city but it doesn't change that we love Doolandella the way it was.
Oh and P.S - there are other RURAL settings in the BRISBANE CITY area that remain untouched, bet you have something to say about those too.... jeesh!

@ RalphieGirl No I'm certainly not a developer but you seem to have no care except for your own feelings and your own situation. Again, address what I've said and don't speculate who you think I am. I am just a person with a young family in Doolandella who believes that this is the perfect suburb to develop as it's in the city boundaries with good transport and a good distance to the city. Also, The fact that Brisbane is a city that desperately needs more housing and the fact that there is a lack of free land in south-east Queensland means Doolandella is an ideal place for new housing. Developing Doolandella gives young families and all of those wanting to enter the housing/property market more of a chance to live within a decent distance to the CBD of Brisbane. This is a city not a country town. I'm sure those with huge blocks of land in Doolandella got very good money for them so I don't exactly shed tears for them I'm sorry. Remember those large rural style blocks of lands that you speak of in Dooandella were developed many years ago and they also had to knock down lovely bushland areas back then to develop those so let's not play the environmental card either please. My point is simple, I understand that you may still want to see Doolandella like it was 10, 20 or 30 years ago but surely a suburb that is just 18km from the CBD is ideal for developing. It's much better to develop lots of housing & townhouses that can house thousands of people in a city desperately needing more housing than to keep all of those large rural properties that house just a few hundred. Unless you can find another solution to housing our extremely fast growing population than I'm confident that developing housing in city suburbs like Doolandella is the best option. I'm all ears to other suggestions but this is not about me or my situation but the fact that Doolandella is great suburb and developing more housing here is a good thing in my opinion. Nothing personal, just my opinion based on research.

@brodiej - BrodieJ - ok. So you're a realtor and highly biased. You want to own 5 properties in the area and have them appreciate under the pressure of your publicised inflated demand. I was checking out this suburb to buy in. I won't and you were the determining factor. You browbeat people with your biased self-promoting posts and leave no room for discussion. I've been researching properties for about 18 months and doing suburb reconnaissance, you're not helping your cause. Let's let see how much your 3 properties are worth with all your neighbours parking 3+ cars on the lawn, 10 household residents and higher crime rates. Good luck with that.