Lord Mayor laments compulsory land acquisition Mt Gravatt property being resumed by Brisbane City Council. Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk has expressed his lament at the council's "necessary" compulsory acquisition policy, while voting in favour of the resumption of a family's property. Fairfax Media reported on Tuesday their David and Sherin Roberts' learned the council would compulsorily acquire their Mt Gravatt East property, just one month after they bought it in June 2012, in order to make way for a library car park. The couple fought the move but learned on Monday their objection was unsuccessful. "It is not one of the pleasurable tasks of council but we have to do it," Cr Quirk said at Tuesday's meeting. It's never a task we take lightly. It's happened, I dare say, in every ward in the city. David and Sherin Roberts, with children Breanna and Ella outside their house, which council has moved to compulsory acquire. Mr and Mrs Roberts attended the meeting to see the councillors vote in favour of the resumption of the property which the couple had spent $30,000 renovating. Opposition leader Milton Dick attacked what he called the "botched process" of the acquisition, saying the council should have moved on purchasing the property when it was on the market, rather than putting Mr and Mrs Roberts through the resumption process. "Brisbane ratepayers are suffering due to this messy and unfair process," he said. This forced resumption process could have been completely avoided. Cr Quirk said the council had informed the real estate agent of its plans prior to the Roberts" offer being accepted. "Council pursued this property but the real estate agent concerned had an obligation to work in the seller's interest" he said. The agent had a contract at the time of the approach and our property team had the power to negotiate but not the power to make an offer. Mr Roberts said he and his wife had searched for two years to find the perfect property to serve as a shopfront for their landscape architecture business and this one was chosen of because of its potential for growth. Council originally offered the couple $30,000 more than the purchase price, plus expenses, but having rejected the offer in favour of an appeal, the couple are now likely to be offered market value. Cr Krista Adams said the acquisition of the site to make way for a car park for the adjoining Mt Gravatt library was necessary to enable the library's services to expand.