Brisbane City Council's opposition leader has questioned the timing of a land deal announcement that will see a major South Brisbane industry move to council-owned land in Bowen Hills.
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Milton Dick repeatedly questioned Lord Mayor Graham Quirk about his knowledge of what he termed "secret land deals" over the recently unveiled Draft Kurilpa Riverfront Renewal Master Plan at Tuesday's council meeting.
Less than 48 hours later, it was revealed the council will sell the recently decommissioned Bowen Hills bus depot to Hanson Construction Materials for $7.32 million, which, following its relocation, will eventually enable its prime riverfront site to be sold to developers.
The concreting firm is one of three major industries that will need to move from South Brisbane to pave the way for the transformation of Kurilpa Point from industrial heartland to inner city residential precinct.
A council spokesman said the announcement came after News Corporation revealed the sale in a media report.
"I find it extraordinary the Lord Mayor either misled the council deliberately on Tuesday or doesn't know what major land deals are going on across the city, involving land worth millions of dollars to ratepayers," Cr Dick said.
"He needs to come clean on exactly the nature of this land deal.
"Residents have raised alarm bells and this is simply more secrecy for a council addicted to secrecy."
Finance chairman Julian Simmonds said Cr Dick had asked the Lord Mayor had not been specifically asked about the site.
"The Lord Mayor was asked a non-specific question," he said.
"We announced it as soon as we could, Hanson was waiting for the relevant approvals from within the organisation."
Hanson Construction Materials purchased the Bowen Hills bus depot site from the council for $7.32 million, well above an independent market valuation that placed it at between $6.5 million and $7 million.
Both the Bowen Hills and Richlands bus depots were decommissioned last year after new facilties opened at Sherwood and Eagle Farm.
"Ratepayers have a significant benefit from the deal," Cr Simmonds said.
"Hanson has made an offer above the (valuation) rate to move into a suitable inner city location."
Cr Simmonds said the three major riverfront industrial sites, Hanson, Parmalat Milk and ACI Glass, had been in negotiations to move from the inner city sites since the former Labor Government announced its "South Bank 2" plans, which had a similar transformative aim for the industrial precinct.
"This Kuripla precinct has been part of the successive government's plans, they have talked to these industries to transition them out of the site," he said.
Relocating the factories from the inner south could take years, council has said, and the Draft Kurilpa Riverfront Renewal Master Plan could take up to 20 years to come to fruitoin.
In launching it last week, Cr Quirk described the plan, which includes 1.3 hectares of new public parkland, as Brisbane's biggest riverfront transformation project in two decades.
Cr Dick said the direct sale of the Bowen Hills bus depot to Hanson, without it going through a tender process, raised questions about value for money for rateapyers.
"We have just signed up a deal and that land was sold without going out to tender," he said.
"It doesn't stack up, I don't think we got value for money."
