{"id":238565,"date":"2025-10-24T22:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/238565\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T22:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:34:09","slug":"queenslands-heritage-laws-criticised-as-broadway-hotel-owners-propose-demolishing-vandalised-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/238565\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland’s heritage laws criticised as Broadway Hotel owners propose demolishing vandalised wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weak heritage laws in Queensland allow developers to benefit from arsonists torching their heritage buildings, an urban planner says.<\/p>\n

It comes as the owners of the heritage-protected Broadway Hotel propose to demolish the rear of the building, arguing it should be allowed to do so<\/a> because its heritage value had been diminished by fire and vandalism.<\/p>\n

University of Queensland senior research fellow Laurel Johnson says current laws provide no incentive for developers to protect their heritage buildings.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Broadway Hotel’s two rear wings are riddled with mould and graffiti. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)<\/p>\n

Dr Johnson said developers could actively benefit when their buildings lost their heritage status, since it allowed them to build on top of them.<\/p>\n

“There are heritage buildings across Brisbane left boarded up and allowed to fall into ruin without maintenance,” Dr Johnson said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a well-acknowledged problem in parts of Queensland where land values are high and there are development pressures on the site.”<\/p>\n

Land values have increased around the Broadway Hotel due to the suburb being turned into a Priority Development Area<\/a>, which strips away various development criteria.<\/p>\n

Dr Johnson said this translated to millions of additional dollars to developers who were now able to build much taller buildings in hitherto protected areas.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Travis Jordan says these laws are preventing homes from being built. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)<\/p>\n

Lead organiser of volunteer advocacy organisation Greater Brisbane, Travis Jordan, said many of the derelict “eyesores” dotting the city were a side effect of the state’s heritage laws.<\/p>\n

He said these laws were simultaneously failing to protect old heritage buildings, while also preventing new homes from being built.<\/p>\n

“If it isn’t economical for a private owner or developer to integrate heritage values into their development, they just won’t,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The land’s going to keep going up in value regardless of what they do, and they can wait a very long time.”What can be done about it?\"A<\/p>\n

Laurel Johnson says there are several levers the state government could pull. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)<\/p>\n

Dr Johnson said there were several solutions that state governments could implement.<\/p>\n

She said this included creating deadlines for developers who bought heritage buildings, vacancy levies, and more funding for council officers to enforce building standards.<\/p>\n

Dr Johnson said if a heritage building was particularly important, it should be purchased by the state and not left languishing in private hands.<\/p>\n

Most of these solutions were recommended in the 2022 Queensland Heritage Implementation Strategy.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for Queensland environment minister Andrew Powell said they were considering these recommendations.<\/p>\n

“The previous Labor government failed to implement the Queensland Heritage Implementation Strategy to protect Queensland’s history and unique architecture,” the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

“The Crisafulli government is reviewing current regulations and is committed to preserving our State’s heritage.”<\/p>\n

The Broadway Hotel owners declined an interview with ABC Radio Brisbane.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weak heritage laws in Queensland allow developers to benefit from arsonists torching their heritage buildings, an urban planner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,78305,99,142768,142770,142767,142769,67288],"class_list":["post-238565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-broadway-hotel","tag-business","tag-chalk-hotel","tag-greater-brisbane","tag-laurel-johnson","tag-travis-jordan","tag-university-of-queensland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}