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A young couple is left speechless after learning via email that their newly built home will be demolished to make way for a highway.
Charmaine and James Jackson, who have two young sons, received an email on Monday informing them that their ‘dream home’ in Griffin, north of Brisbane, will be bulldozed as part of the Bruce Highway upgrade.
The young parents didn’t move into the newly built $600,000 home until September 1.
“I haven’t stopped feeling sick since I got the email,” Ms Jackson, 29, a stay-at-home mom told the Daily Mail Australia.
“We thought we’d be in this house until our kids left the house.”
The Jacksons are one of 25 families who will see their homes at the Aspire development in Griffin demolished as part of $2.1 billion upgrades to Bruce Highway.
Charmaine and James Jackson, who have two young sons, received an email on Monday informing them that their ‘dream home’ in Griffin, north of Brisbane, will be demolished as part of the Bruce Highway upgrade.
The couple paid approximately $600,000 for house and land and did not move into the newly built home until September 1 of this year
Half of the homes destined for demolition are newly built and the other half are still under construction.
“I’ve met a few owners in person…everyone is just really upset and scared of what’s going to happen to them,” said Ms. Jackson.
Jackson said the Queensland government planning disaster will cost homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“The amount we all paid for building land and houses, if we have to rebuild our houses now, we can’t cover the same amount,” said Mr. Jackson, a 30-year-old software engineer.
‘Where are we going? We’re in a housing crisis, how can they talk about demolishing our house?’
Mr Jackson (right) said what makes him most angry is that the loss of their new home was “an avoidable problem.” In the picture, Charmaine and James Jackson
“We’re in a housing crisis, how can they talk about demolishing our house?” said a stunned Mr. Jackson?
The couple paid approximately $600,000 for the land and construction of their new four-bedroom home designed for their two young sons, Theo 4 and Elliott 1.
“The thought of having to pack up our dream home, our first home, when we’ve just arrived is devastating,” said Ms. Jackson.
‘This is our dream house, it’s not extravagant but we’ve selected everything, chosen the colors and the layout.
“The thought of selling it and renting it out until it’s demolished makes me cry when I think of someone renting the bedrooms we chose for our little boys.
The Jacksons are one of 25 families to see their homes in the Aspire development in Griffin bulldozed as part of $2.1 billion upgrades to Bruce Highway
“The emotions are really weird. I go from bursting into tears to feeling angered, numb, like this can’t really happen to us.”
None of the affected families have been given a clear time frame – they just know their new homes will be demolished.
Jackson described the consequences for the young homeowners as a huge planning error.
“People planning this should have been able to communicate with people who approved the land titles, this just shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
“This was an avoidable problem, that’s what pisses me off the most.
“If we knew this was going to happen, we wouldn’t have chosen to buy here.”
None of the families knows when the bulldozers will be deployed.
“It could be next month or in the next six months, it could be two years or ten years, it depends on when they get funding [for the next stage]’ said Mr. Jackson.
Ms. Jackson said that after years of saving, they believed they had run out of rental properties.
Families will see their homes in the Aspire development in Griffin bulldozed as part of $2.1 billion upgrades to Bruce Highway
‘We rented for six years, we saved and saved and thought we were finally free of rent and rent inspections.
Another young father only learned that his new house in the same development would be demolished hours after the house keys were collected.
Anil Konda, a father of four, received an urgent e-mail from the government asking them to call on Monday, the ABC reported.
He had waited 11 months for his family’s new home to be built.
“Last week my kids chose the colors, my son and my daughter the colors… I was going to start work today, paint the rooms, fix up some furniture.”
When he called the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) after they contacted him about the “land need,” he feared he might lose part of his block.
But he was told that the works meant he would lose his “whole house” within two or three years.
Scott Searle, CEO of Aspire developer Fairland Group Pty Ltd, confirmed that his company followed all government guidelines and the approval process.
According to the Queensland Government, future traffic forecasts indicate that traffic between the Moreton Bay Region and northern Brisbane will increase by about 50 percent by 2041.
“Without additional capacity from future upgrades, this vital section of the trunk road will be heavily congested for extended periods, significantly increasing travel times for motorists,” says the TMR website.
TMR minister Mark Bailey claimed residents in the planning area for the Gateway Motorway and Bruce Highway Upgrades project were informed as soon as possible, adding that the project was in the ‘very early planning stage’.
He said affected residents are getting “fair value and compensation” for their properties, but that “it is never a proper process.”