Relief for home owners in limbo after property acquisition backflip

After years of living in limbo, Shaun Taylor can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The Sunshine Coast resident's home was among dozens earmarked for compulsory acquisition for a major new public transport project.

But new mapping after a backflip from the state government means Mr Taylor and his family can now stay in their "forever home".

He said it was "surreal" to receive the letter from Queensland's transport department on Monday morning informing him his home would no longer be required.

"Then it actually sunk in and it was a huge relief," Mr Taylor said.

The Wave train and bus system will bring mass public transport to the coast for the first time, extending the existing rail from Beerwah to Caloundra and Birtinya for stages one and two.

Stage three will involve express buses running from Birtinya to Maroochydore and Sunshine Coast Airport, instead of a train line as originally promised.

About 80 homes and businesses initially stood in the way for stage three, but the finalised bus corridor now avoids the need for those properties.

Mr Taylor, who lives in a quiet cul-de-sac in the Brightwater estate in Mountain Creek, has been living in fear of being kicked out since September 2024.

"You're basically told, 'This is what's going to happen, there's nothing you can do about it,'" he said.

"That's actually quite a horrible feeling, not being able to have your destiny in your own hands."

While he and his neighbours would have a "few beers" to celebrate, Mr Taylor said he felt for other residents who were not so lucky.

"Our friends, they had got the letter saying they had to leave," he said.

"They were very upset, they'd been in their family home for almost 15 years."

State and federal governments have jointly funded $5.5 billion for stage one of The Wave for heavy rail from Beerwah to Caloundra.

There is no federal funding for stages two and three but the Queensland government is proceeding anyway, after repeatedly promising to complete the project before the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A long road

The state government is upgrading the Mooloolah River Interchange (MRI) as part of The Wave, with a major contract for the next stage also announced this week.

McIlwain Civil engineering and SEE Civil will deliver the earthworks and embankment construction to prepare the site, with The Wave buses passing through the interchange.

The works, which will address the notorious bottleneck on the Sunshine Motorway at Mooloolaba, were first mooted in 2002.

More than 80 homes were demolished to make way for stage one of the MRI in 2023, but then the project was mothballed after the federal government pulled funding in 2025.

Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg has vowed the state would deliver the MRI, whether the federal government chipped in or not.

"For far too long, people have been stuck in traffic here on the coast because of a lack of investment in both rail and public transport," Mr Mickelberg said.

"I think it's incumbent on governments to ensure they do actually get on with the job and build the infrastructure required, particularly where we know there's a shortage of housing.

"The last thing we want to see is houses knocked down and projects not proceed."

Critics say The Wave project represents "a broken promise" and will be sub-standard because buses have replaced trains in the final stage.

"Premier [David] Crisafulli promised rail to Maroochydore — no ifs, no buts, no shortcuts," Shadow Transport Minister Bart Mellish said.

"It's been butchered before it's even got underway … if you look into the 2024 business case on the Sunshine Coast Rail project it would have cost about the same to get rail to Maroochydore.

"It was costed at $12 billion at that point in time and now we're paying the same amount for a bus solution and that's not good enough."

Tenants feel 'forgotten'

Tahlia Nosenzo lives in Mountain Creek, in one of the 52 waterfront homes which are still due to be demolished for the MRI upgrade.

Major works are expected to begin within months and most of her neighbours have already been evicted.

"There's only a handful of neighbours left and it's just a bit eerie," Ms Nosenzo said.

"Each week it seems somebody is moving out … I'm worried for when we're going to be the only ones."

Ms Nosenzo said she wished there was better communication for people in her situation.

"It just feels like we were just very much forgotten about and we're just a bit of an afterthought," she said.

The state government is still negotiating with a handful of property owners who have not yet agreed to sell their homes.

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