RICH LIST: Maha Sinnathamby, chairman of Springfield
Land Corporation. overlooks all his development from the
10th level of Springfield Towers.
THE developer pushing for a rail link to Australia's largest privately-owned city, Springfield, is taking the State Government to the High Court over compensation.
Springfield Land Corporation has applied for special leave to appeal to the High Court against a decision which left it without any compensation for resumed land.
In December, Queensland's Court of Appeal dismissed SLC's appeal over a ruling that it should not get almost $1.5 million in compensation.
The issued dated back to 2005, when the Government gave the developer notice it wanted to resume an extra 7ha for future transport purposes, including road and rail.
The Appeal Court accepted the Government's argument that the value of SLC's other land would be increased by the extension of the transport corridor, west from Springfield town centre.
The new appeal bid has surprised some within government and the community.
"Developers are quite happy for taxpayers to fund infrastructure that swings past their doorstep," a government source said.
"And yet they have not hesitated to go to the highest court in the land to milk compensation."
The filing of the High Court application, which could be heard as early as next month when the court sits in Brisbane, has been kept quiet. Even Member for Bundamba Jo-Ann Miller was unaware of it.
"As this is a matter before the courts, Springfield Land Corporation cannot comment at this time," a spokesman for SLC said last week, when contacted by The Sunday Mail.
Springfield, created by Maha Sinnathamby, the fifth richest Queenslander on The Sunday Mail's Rich List last year, now has a population of 20,000. It is expected to reach almost 110,000 by 2030.
"Springfield Land Corporation will continue to work closely with the State Government in an effort to bring forward the timeframe for the delivery of a critical rail service to one of Australia's fastest growing regions," an SLC spokesman said.
Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said the Springfield rail link would be further considered during the annual review of the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program.
Ms Miller said the Government had made it clear it would be willing to move ahead with the railway line construction, provided the developer made a contribution to the "bring forward" costs.
Stage One of the $800 million Darra to Springfield Transport Corridor project, including construction of a 4.5km rail line from Darra to Richlands, is well under way.
The project also upgrades 4.35km of the Centenary Highway, from two to four lanes from Richlands to Logan Motorway interchange, Carole Park. The rail line to Richlands is due for completion next year and to Springfield by 2015.
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