The Queensland MP Stirling Hinchliffe told state parliament in 2021 there had been a “strong field of community groups” wanting to take ownership of the old Sandgate fire and rescue station.
The government had promised the property would be “granted to the community and not sold off for profit”. A local disability charity then won an expression of interest process and Hinchliffe announced that another election commitment had been ticked off.
It was a “great outcome for the future”, he said.
Two years later, development signs have gone up outside the building. The new owner, the Catholic Church, plans to turn it into a flooring showroom.
Documents seen by Guardian Australia detail how the government came to renege on its promise to local residents, a year after announcing its election commitment had been “completed”.
Questions are now being asked about how a process to preserve a “community asset” ultimately became an off-market sale to the church, at a cheaper price than a previous valuation, after the removal of a covenant requiring the site be maintained for community use.
‘Urgent need’ for care facility
When the disability charity that won the original expression of interest pulled out, citing access and parking issues, the state approached the church – the second-ranked proposal – to see if it would buy the building instead.
The church owns the neighbouring properties, including the Sacred Heart school, and initially told the state government it wanted the old fire station because there was an “urgent need” for a new after-school care facility.
Its original expression of interest, obtained via a right to information application, says the building could be used as a rallying point for church volunteers, to host drop-in sessions for the elderly and language classes for refugees.
But in its later development application to repurpose the building as a flooring showroom, a consultant for the church says there are “no gaps” in the provision of local community facilities. Submissions from parishioners argue the lease will generate urgently-needed income for the parish.
In response to questions from Guardian Australia, the Archdiocese of Brisbane said its 2020 submission to the expression of interest process was unsuccessful and it was then “contacted with an offer to purchase the property”.
“The purchase was finalised according to the market value of the property.”
Building’s covenant removed
In 2018, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service valued the property on its books at $1.05m. Residential property prices increased by 60% in Sandgate over the next four years.
Documents obtained by Guardian Australia show that, in 2022, the government and the church obtained a joint market valuation that said the old fire station was worth $660,000 plus GST. The valuers emphasised the existence of a covenant – requiring the lot be maintained for “community purposes” – that would, in their view, “reduce the pool of buyers and an extended selling period may be required”. It is not known if the covenant was in place at the time of the 2018 valuation.
After the church was allowed to enter into an exclusive “in priority” sale process, the state removed the covenant – effectively enabling the church the right to use the building as a commercial investment. There were no press releases or statements to parliament.
An internal church memo, seeking Archbishop Mark Coleridge’s approval to purchase the property, says: “We note that the … valuation includes a [covenant] on title restricting the use, which would be removed in any proposed transaction.”
A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) spokesperson said it considered development issues at the site would be “a significant issue for any future site owner” and that it arranged to release the covenant as a result.
However, the responsible minister, Mark Ryan, said this week he had made “clear” to the department that he expected the building would be used for a community purpose, and that he had “received briefings that the acquirer would meet that expectation”.
The church ultimately paid $726,000 for the building and, in July 2022, it was listed for lease. The archived listing said it would “suit medical or community facilities”. In April, the church lodged a development application with the council to allow its use as a flooring showroom.
Exclusive sale process
Emails and briefing notes show government employees acutely aware of the state election commitment. One suggests that “a proactive comms plan” would be needed when the sale was completed.
A spokesman for Hinchliffe, the local MP who is retiring at the next election, told Guardian Australia in a statement the government had “honoured” its commitment by awarding the building in the first instance to the disability charity.
He said that after the charity pulled out, citing development issues, Hinchliffe had encouraged other community groups to take ownership of the station, but that none “proceeded with tenders”.
One organisation that lodged an unsuccessful expression of interest told Guardian Australia they were never contacted again, and that they “would have done anything” to take over the property.
A 2022 briefing note to Ryan shows QFES argued against gifting the building, citing long timeframes, significant ongoing “holding costs” and that it was “likely” other community groups would face challenges with the site.
The briefing note said selling the building to the church was allowed under the government’s land transaction policy because “special reasons exist that would be in the interests of the community (eg. sale to a community group to enable the provision of necessary services to the community)”.
QFES said the sale had been in line with the land transaction policy.
A local resident who obtained the documents questions why the government would allow the church to enter into an exclusive sale process, on the basis of its submission requesting the land for use as an after-school care centre, and then remove the covenant for community use.
The spokesman for Hinchliffe said it was “understood the parish has short-term plans to lease the property to finance the building’s refurbishment for community use”.
The internal church memo says the church has “short- and long-term” strategies to derive income from the site, and that estimated rental income would service debt used to fund the purchase over a period of about 20 years.
Guardian Australia invited the church to comment on how the community would benefit from its leasing of the building to a flooring company. Its response did not address the question.
