Norman Park, QLD

[Livingthedream]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this block in Norman Park? Is it too close to railway line? Good price? What are the extra items to budget for when building close to railway and in DCP?

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-residential+land-qld-norman+park-200846087

 

[wylie]

I know that area well. I didn't realise that bit of street was called Bennetts Road. It isn't as busy as the main drag of Bennetts Road, which is fairly busy but you may find you get train noise. I know that bendy section of the line used to have a lot of "squeal" as the track curves around several bends.

The cemetery is not too far away, but far enough that you aren't really aware of it. My first IP was on Bennetts Road (the busier part closer to Old Cleveland Road). I would live on Bennetts Road for the right house, but if I could find land NOT on Bennetts Road, that would be my preference. There is a kindy tucked away just around the corner, so this would mean lots of cars in and out of that little side road morning and early afternoon. Although this section is quieter than the main drag, the squeal of the trains could be a problem. Can you go and park outside and have a listen?

 

[RyanMcHarg]

That is quite a strange shaped block, and is very close to the train line, be careful what house you build on there to ensure that you don't over capitalise.

As far as additional costs for building in DCP, there are no additional costs. The only thing to be aware of when looking in DCP areas is that you can't knock down existing homes. This is why it is so difficult to buy vacant land in DCP areas of inner Brisbane.

If it's land your looking for send me a PM, I have a block around the corner which isn't advertised yet....

 

[RPI]

Noisy site between a main road and a train line. If you could put a freebie removal house on it then you might be able to make a buck. Most blocks in Norman Park have a 5 in front of them price wise.

 

[Livingthedream]

Thanks all for the comments. I have stood on the block for a while and can't say the noise bothered me, but maybe that's because I've lived in noisy houses before. I think the train might be more annoying than the road.
What would you say is a reasonable spend on a house? Say the block is $400k and a house of $300k....is that too much? Strategy is to build, rent and hold for at least a couple of years.

 

[mitchitygrub]

If you have a look at the planning approval the block currently has on PDOnline you will see the Queensland government has imposed a noise condition on the development.

The condition imposes a maximum internal noise criteria of 45db for all habitable rooms. This is an extremely strict noise criteria and may be hard to achieve as it is very difficult to attenuate low frequency noise (from the diesel trains) with lightweight construction materials (DCP will require at least some form of lightweight construction).

An acoustic engineer will have to conduct noise logging on the site to determine the maximum noise levels. They will then have to design the dwelling with material combinations that meet the condition.

I'd be looking to buy the land at a discount equal to the additional cost of construction due to the noise condition.

Given the property is currently up for sale, so soon after an approval was granted makes me question whether they are selling the block because the noise condition is too costly to comply with.

 

[strongy1986]

No nothing about the block buy in spewing we didn't have finance when a 4 bedroom older brick house on 800 Sqm was for sale 15 months ago for 398k
Not on a main road or near a train

Brisbane has gone bang

 

[stockt12]

If you have a look at the planning approval the block currently has on PDOnline you will see the Queensland government has imposed a noise condition on the development.

The condition imposes a maximum internal noise criteria of 45db for all habitable rooms. This is an extremely strict noise criteria and may be hard to achieve as it is very difficult to attenuate low frequency noise (from the diesel trains) with lightweight construction materials (DCP will require at least some form of lightweight construction).

An acoustic engineer will have to conduct noise logging on the site to determine the maximum noise levels. They will then have to design the dwelling with material combinations that meet the condition.

I'd be looking to buy the land at a discount equal to the additional cost of construction due to the noise condition.

Given the property is currently up for sale, so soon after an approval was granted makes me question whether they are selling the block because the noise condition is too costly to comply with.

Sorry to quote, but this is awesome information. Where is this from?

 

[mitchitygrub]

This comes from personal experience. I own a block just up the road from this property and had the same noise condition imposed upon my development. In my case the DA was for a PPOR house. We received approval in the first week of January this year.

In order to comply with the noise condition, upgrades to the building elements would have cost in the vicinity of $150,000 on top of standard type construction. This extra cost would have have meant we couldn't proceed with construction.

The good news is, as I've only just found out, that it is possible to get the noise condition removed. Under Qld's Sustainable Planning Act section 345, any development conditions are required to be 'reasonable'.

We made 2 submissions to the Qld Government Department of Planning to get the noise condition removed from our development approval. We were not happy with the revised noise condition in response to our first submission so we tried again. The second time around we were successful in having the noise condition completely removed.

The whole process was a massive pain to go through and was quite costly - involving multiple acoustic reports, as well as the additional holding costs and rent during the process.

Given the process involved in getting the noise condition removed, I wouldn't recommend buying on or within 25m of a railway line in Qld - especially when you are constraint to Character Code requirements as well.