Hundreds of properties across Brisbane would be rezoned for uses including warehousing, logistics and distribution under a proposal that Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said could speed up online shopping deliveries in the future.
Under the plan, more than 200 properties on about 82 hectares of land in Brisbane’s industrial precincts would be rezoned to encourage cleaner uses.
The three precincts are the Northern Industrial Area, along the Bruce Highway; Australia TradeCoast, on both sides of the river near the airport and Port of Brisbane; and the South West Industrial Gateway, along Ipswich Road.
The move was debated during a fractious meeting of Brisbane City Council on Tuesday afternoon, amid widespread sledging and allegations of corruption and conspiracy over technical issues with the live video stream.
“I get excited about [the rezoning proposal] because this is us adapting to a very rapidly changing industrial and commercial landscape,” Schrinner told the chamber.
“There’s a huge demand out there in the community, and we’ve seen investment by a whole range of companies – including Amazon – in Brisbane, where they built their facility … and that facility allows, in many cases, same-day delivery of products that maybe a few years ago we would wait weeks for.
“By updating our planning scheme and updating the mapping, we can make sure that Brisbane residents can get what they need sooner, and that they can have access to faster deliveries.”
The properties would be rezoned from “General Industry C” – which typically applies to higher-impact and potentially noxious industrial activities – to “General Industry B”. Council argues this would attract more suppliers to base their warehouses locally.
The zoning changes would only apply to new applications.
The Labor opposition supported the plan but accused the LNP and their federal counterparts of having contributed to the demise of manufacturing industries across the country.
“[The lord mayor] spoke a lot about the company Amazon, interestingly, and I guess he and Amazon share a lot of values of being anti-union, being hard and harsh on workers with intense monitoring and quotas for workers,” leader Jared Cassidy said.
“I understand why the lord mayor probably focused a fair amount of his time praising that company.
“The changes are in line with the market, essentially where it’s heading. It does make sense to a degree.”
The amendment also sought to rezone nine council-owned properties used for drainage, biodiversity or waterway purposes from “General Industry C” to “Open Space” or “Conservation” areas.
The changes have already gone through a public consultation process and will be sent to the state government for approval, before returning to council for official adoption in the City Plan.
Tuesday’s vote came after an extended period of disruption and sledging from both sides of the chamber, with a threat to refer allegations to the corruption watchdog, claims of a conspiracy to tamper with the YouTube livestream of proceedings, and accusations of paranoia.
On several occasions, councillor Emily Kim and several others appeared blurred or out of frame on the video feed, leading Labor to suggest the LNP was intentionally obscuring them, possibly to prevent visuals being clipped for social media.
“All these matters will be referred for investigation … I think a serious matter is the tampering of public records,” Kim said.
The LNP’s Andrew Wines later responded that he was concerned she was paranoid and acting crazy, before withdrawing the comment. The lord mayor added it was a full moon.
The LNP outright denied anything had been done intentionally to disrupt the stream. Chair Sandy Landers said the feed used AI facial recognition software to direct cameras at councillors, and this system had been confused by Kim sitting in a different seat this week.
This masthead has seen a draft letter to the Crime and Corruption Commission, written by Kim, requesting investigation of “potentially corrupt” conduct.
Cassidy said in a statement: “It’s very strange that LNP councillors were seen clearly, and Labor and other non-LNP councillors were blurred out or off the screen.
“The explanation as to what went wrong left more questions than answers.
“Council pays an external contractor a lot of money to stream these meetings, and we want to make sure it’s being done without reproach.”
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