The Southern Moreton Bay Islands, across the water from the famous Stradbroke Island, have long been underserved.
With dodgy roads, no sewage, limited shopping options and a reputation for sketchy activity, the islands’ main appeal is their cheap land.
When islanders disembark their ferries on the mainland at Redland Bay, they head for overfilled car parks, often having risked a ticket by parking on the curb.
In 2013, the council was told one of the islands needed a bigger shop, and the terminal needed a supermarket.
Plans for that supermarket were put in place in 2022, with industry giant Consolidated Property Group (CPG) given the green light to deliver the project, which would also include a car park.
Late last year, plans for the $250 million development were ditched, with Redland City Council instead relying on the state to build a car park.
Now, the head of the sidelined developer has raised questions about how the decision could benefit a local firm with family links to the council’s chief executive.
The proposed centre would compete with the nearby Woolworths-anchored Redland Bay Shopping Village, developed and still partially owned by directors of local firm Fox and Bell.
The council’s chief executive Louise Rusan has a family link to Fox and Bell managing director, Greg Bell – a conflict of interest registered with the council but not previously reported publicly. This masthead is not suggesting any wrongdoing.
In a statement to this masthead, CPG chief executive and chairman Don O’Rorke said the firm won an open tender in 2023 and its plans for a Coles-anchored development were running “on time and on budget”.
“Redlands Council resolved not to extend the mandate thereby cancelling 200 local jobs, and [the decision also] follows a previous move to also oppose a local Aldi,” O’Rorke said.
“This now leaves only Woolworths in the area with no retail competition, just as the owners of the Woolworths-anchored shopping centre, Fox and Bell, have put the $70 million centre up for sale.”
O’Rorke said his firm, which had delivered more than 30 neighbourhood shopping centres over 40 years with Hutchinson Builders, would continue discussions with the state government and council-owned project managers Redland Investment Corporation.
In response to a series of questions, Fox and Bell principal Garry Hargrave would not confirm whether the existing centre was being sold, describing the question as “not relevant”.
Hargrave, Bell, and Fox and Bell’s other director and shareholder, Greg Fox, own the business title for the shopping village and part of the land through a company called Carndale.
Hargrave initially declined to disclose Carndale’s interest in the centre, but later said in an email the “majority of the centre” was not on its land.
Fox and Bell was not concerned about the impact of a shopping centre at Weinam Creek, but Hargrave said he had raised issues with the council over the development.
“I have personally spoken with council planning officers regarding the inconsistency of the previous Weinam Creek proposal with the Redland City Town Plan and in particular the centre’s policy,” he said.
Weinam Creek was categorised as a priority development area in 2014, but development has progressed slowly, frustrating locals.
Last week, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie called the decision to scrap the CPG development “regrettable” in a letter to Redlands mayor Jos Mitchell, citing the fact the contract was almost two years old and work had been progressing.
Under the old plan, work was due to begin later this year for completion in 2028.
In a December post on his website, local councillor Shane Rendalls said the change of plan for the site came after Redlands councillors and executives met with Economic Development Queensland and local LNP MPs.
The motion to scrap CPG’s development also called for Rusan to begin talks with the state to build a multi-level car park.
A council spokesperson said the decision was made to “fast-track delivery of the car park”.
“The decision also included that officers and Redland Investment Corporation regularly consult with council on the progress of the masterplan and multi-storey car park, including the commercial and community benefits,” the spokesperson said.
Rendalls told this masthead his motion was based on what he thought was best for the community, and made no change to the wider plan “other than the removal of the full-line supermarket”.
The lack of a supermarket at Weinam Creek would also benefit the operator of two smaller nearby IGAs, Jones Retail Group, and the civil construction company that ultimately owns one of the grocery sites, Doval Construction – both LNP donors.
Jones Retail Group, which operates a suite of IGAs throughout Brisbane’s east, made a $1000 political donation to the LNP’s Redland branch in 2023.
A March 2025 diary entry by Rebecca Young, the LNP’s first-term MP for Redlands and assistant minister to Bleijie, details a meeting with Rendalls, and representatives of both Jones Retail Group and Doval Construction, regarding “portfolio related matters”.
Doval Construction, which owns the site of the Russell Island IGA through a subsidiary, donated $10,000 to the LNP in 2022.
The construction arm is also a platinum sponsor of the Southern Moreton Bay Island Chamber of Commerce, of which Rendall was president before his 2024 election.
Young did not directly answer questions about the meeting, but said the government’s priority was to fulfil its election promise to build a car park.
“Responsibility for decisions about the wider Weinam Creek precinct rests with Redland City Council,” she said.
Rendalls said he was not aware Doval sponsored the chamber of commerce and said the chamber had no sponsors when he was president.
The Jones Retail Group and Doval Construction have been contacted for comment.
Rusan’s conflict of interest also hangs over a new annual leasing agreement for the council library at another Fox and Bell shopping centre, at Victoria Point, rumoured to be worth more than $500,000.
How the council would progress negotiations for the 1000-square-metre library space was decided during a confidential council meeting in January.
A council spokesperson said Rusan’s family links to Fox and Bell were “registered and managed under appropriate governance processes, including any negotiations required by a decision of council”.
Hargrave said Rusan had played no role in negotiations over the library lease, which he said was “consistently been rented at below true market value”.
This masthead is not suggesting the occurrence of any unlawful activity, just that important questions remain over the processes that led to key council decisions.
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