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The listed property firm manages to negotiate a settlement with a Queensland property developer.

Embattled property group City Pacific has finally settled a property dispute, about which it had been in negotiations earlier this month.

On December 5, the company issued a trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) with respect to court proceedings between the firm and Mewett Developments.

The proceedings related to the sale of a commercial building.

QUEENSLAND’S peak property body has predicted that up to 3500 people could lose their jobs as a result of a revenue measure introduced by the Bligh Government in yesterday’s budget review.

The budget review contains three revenue-raising measures that will be introduced from the middle of next year and will bring in an extra $323million to the state Government. Car registrations will increase, winners on gaming machines at casinos will pay extra taxes and there will be a surcharge on landholdings worth more than $5million.

While the charges will affect only 130 individuals, they will have an effect on 1800 companies, many of which are large land owners in the retail sector, such as Coles and Woolworths.

Queensland Property Council chief Steve Greenwood said business rents would rise as companies saw their land tax bills more than double, at a time when multiple major construction projects were being shelved or cancelled.

He said a company that owned land in Queensland worth $5million currently faced a land tax bill of $75,000, but this measure meant they would pay an extra $100,000 on top of that.