Sixteeen neighbours unite to sell their Loganholme street to developers

A whole neighbourhood will go under the hammer next month, putting an end to more than two decades of friendship, cul-de-sac BBQs and community gatherings.

The group of 19 home owners at the south Brisbane suburb of Loganholme have banded together with big plans to collectively sell their houses to a developer, following local council rezoning in their neighbourhood last November.

Twelve of the homes from Osborne Court and Bryants Road will go to auction together on December 7. The remaining four properties are selling by private treaty.

All in all, there is 2.8 hectares of mixed use commercial land up for grabs. Local Elders Real Estate agent and Osborne Court resident Devon deVerinne​ said plans for an Emporium-hotel with accommodation had already been floated by a Brisbane architect.

“While the thought of our entire neighbourhood being bulldozed is difficult, everyone wants what’s best for the area – that’s why we’d like all our homes sold to the one developer who can really do something amazing with the space,” she said.

Only a couple of years ago, the “Bryants Road local precinct”, as it’s known, was extremely quiet and largely untouched, save for the established homes on large blocks that were surrounded by bushland.

Kangaroos were a daily occurrence and passing traffic was minimal. However, five years ago Logan Council drafted a plan that proposed 1800 dwellings, mostly units, for about 5000 people. Highly controversial, it underwent a protracted approval and community consultation process before it was finally gazetted in November 2015.

Since then, a new Woolworths has opened on Bryants Road, in behind Osborne Court.

“Our lives have all essentially been on hold for the past five or so years waiting for this development process to play out,” Ms deVerinne said.

“We’ve all decided to come together to do this to make sure we’re all protected and nobody misses out.”

While the prospect of a moving on is an exciting one, many of the neighbours will be sad to part ways.

Robyn and Dean Messenger own 18 Osborne Court, a sprawling 2378 square metre allotment framed by beautiful trees and gardens. They’ve been there 23 years, raised their two sons and started the Neighbourhood Watch program back in the 1990s.

“It was a sleepy hollow when we arrived…over the years we’ve had a wonderful community here,” Mrs Messenger said.

“We don’t really want to leave but we can see the bigger picture; the growth, the potential that it has to really be something great for the whole area.”

For Bob and Joanne Ashworth, who own No.14, their sadness runs much deeper. The parents-of-four bought into the street after Mr Ashworth landed a job on the Paul’s Milk run but not long after, they lost their four-year-old daughter to cancer.

“She died in that house with us around her. There’s a lot of memories there,” he said.

“But our other children have grown up now, two live in London and one has just finished first year university,” Mrs Ashworth said. “It’s time for us to move on to a new part of our lives.”

The couple plan to move to Mackay to be closer to family.

Mr Ashworth added: “It’s going to be damn near impossible to replicate the familiarity we have here in this street though.”

Prize-winning gardener Val Gilmour has lived at No.12 Osborne Court for 18 years. The sprightly 82-year-old, who plays golf three times a week, is matter-of-fact about her impending upheaval.

“I’m not sad – it’s life. You have to look forward,” she said.

“This has been a great place to live with wonderful neighbours – I mean, Bob Ashworth has been mowing my lawn for the past 14 years – and I love it. This is the longest I’ve ever lived in any house my whole life.”

While she has no concrete plans for the future – “I might go into a retirement village or buy an investment property, who knows?” – her hopes for the auction are that every resident gets a great result.

“We’ve all lived with this limbo for a long time now and now that the time has come, I would love to see everybody do well. They all deserve it,” she said.

The site is approximately one kilometre east of the M1. About 20 minutes drive to Brisbane and 40 minutes to the Gold Coast, it is within easy distance of state and private schools, Logan Hyperdome Shopping Centre, the Queensland busway route and Logan business centre.

For a comprehensive development analysis contact marketing agent Devon deVerinne on 0421 636 687 or devon.deVerinne@eldersshailerpark.com.au.

The auction will take place at 1pm on Wednesday, December 7, at the Riverlakes Golf Club, Cornubia.