Article: Logan, Nundah, Ripley Valley lagging in infrastructure

[ozbob]

At last some others raising the issue of transport and the need for pro-active rail now!

From Courier Mail click here!

Logan, Nundah, Ripley Valley lagging in infrastructure

Logan, Nundah, Ripley Valley lagging in infrastructure
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Alison Sandy

February 24, 2008 11:00pm

THEY are the biggest growth areas in the fastest growing region of Australia, but they are also the most needy.
The Property Council has named its four most neglected areas in southeast Queensland.

They are places where so many people are choosing to work and live that there is not enough infrastructure to cope with demand, the development lobby group says.

"These areas are where there is huge growth in terms of residential and employment generators," Property Council executive director Steve Greenwood said.

"The infrastructure deficit is only now starting to be addressed, but there's such a backlog that it's going to take a long time.

"There's been such a history of under-investment by government, that they're now trying to play catch-up," he said.

The Logan-Coomera gateway to the Gold Coast is a typical example of infrastructure struggling to keep pace with a population explosion, Mr Greenwood said.

With tens of thousands of new families having moved to the area in recent years ? as well as a boom in local industry ? there was simply not enough public transport or community facilities to cope.

Logan alone is predicted to increase from 173,500 people to 200,000 by 2026.

Logan City Council mayor Graham Able said progress had been made in the Logan to Coomera corridor, but more support was needed from the State Government.

"Public transport can be improved and the Government is mindful of that and is looking into it," Cr Able said.

Different problems were facing the Nundah to Northgate area said the Property Council. It needed more public transport, particularly rail, to cope with heavy traffic loads.

Brisbane City Council planning spokeswoman Amanda Cooper said the Property Council was right in their assessment of the Nundah to Northgate area, and that council was looking at ways of working with the state to improve the infrastructure in the area.

Another hotspot for infrastructure neglect is the Australia TradeCoast ? southeast Queensland's main industrial and logistics hub and a major generator of employment.

The Property Council said that while jobs growth in the area was continuing to grow at a rapid pace, the area required a substantial increase in investment in public transport to cater for the growing number of workers in the area.

The fourth significant area of concern for the Property Council was the Ripley Valley, located southeast of Ipswich.

It was identified as one of the chosen growth zones in the South East Queensland Plan and will eventually accommodate about 110,000 residents.

The Centenary Highway extension, which runs from Springfield to Ripley, was opened last year.

But the Property Council said that outside Springwood, significant investment in basic services ? such as roads, transport, community facilities, water and sewerage systems ? was desperately needed.

Ipswich City Council mayor Paul Pisasale said the council had been working with the State Government to improve transport infrastructure in the Ripley Valley.

Infrastructure and Planning Minister Paul Lucas said including the Ripley region on the Property Council's hit-list "

simply defies logic".

"The Government has committed $231 million over four years for vital road improvements related to the growth of Ripley Valley," Mr Lucas said.

He also defended the State Government's record on the other areas identified by the Property Council.

The Government had invested much in each of the so-called "neglected" regions, and was spending $100 million each week to maintain roads, railways, ports and busways across Queensland, Mr Lucas said.