Premier Statement: PREMIER UNVEILS PLANS FOR URBAN RENEWAL

[ozbob]

Premier
The Honourable Anna Bligh
11/08/2008

PREMIER UNVEILS PLANS FOR URBAN RENEWAL

A draft new plan to unlock a key part of inner city Brisbane for redevelopment and greater public use was unveiled at the EKKA today.

Premier Anna Bligh said the Bowen Hills Urban Development Area would become an exciting new business and entertainment precinct.

The area covers approximately 108 hectares centred around the Bowen Hills Rail Station including the RNA Showgrounds, Perry Park, Mayne, Bowen Hills and bordered by Breakfast Creek.

"Our Government established the Urban Land Development Authority to work with local government, landholders, the community and development industry to get more land to market and help address issues of housing affordability in key metropolitan areas," Ms Bligh said.

"They have come up with a innovative proposal for this important area - only a couple of kilometres from the city heart yet under utilised and in need of urban renewal.

"Their plan includes more mixed use commercial, mixed use residential , light industry and public open space.

"It sets out approximately 4,500 new dwellings for up to an additional 10,000 people, and 400,000 square metres of office space supporting more than 20,000 jobs.

"It also includes dedicated pedestrian and cycle links as well as a target of 650 new affordable dwellings set to be delivered through organisations such as not-for-profits and the Department of Housing.

"At the centre of the plan will be incorporation of our Bowen Hills Transit Oriented Development which will contain a mix of retail, commercial, residential and civic functions focussed around the Bowen Hills railway station.

"The TOD will include increased density housing such as apartments and units built around an enhanced public transport network."

Ms Bligh said the plans for redevelopment by the RNA had also been taken into account including commercial and residential opportunities particularly in perimeter locations such as O'Connell Terrace, Brookes Street and St Pauls Terrace.

"This plan endorses the developable areas proposed by the RNA Master Plan and will revitalise this site for greater use all year round," she said.

"The ULDA will work with the RNA and the selected developers to create and finalise the shape and form of more detailed proposals for individual RNA sites.

"They will be able to keep existing uses on the EKKA site that we all know and love as well as revitalising it with new uses and facilities."

Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Mr Paul Lucas welcomed the draft plan and encouraged residents and members of the community to have their say.

"Through August and September the ULDA will consult with State Government agencies and the Brisbane City Council followed by public consultation commencing in October," Mr Lucas said.

"They will be working towards developing it into the Bowen Hills Development Scheme to become effective in late March next year.

"By making better use of this site through strategic infill and redevelopment we believe we can make a real contribution to addressing the issue of inner city housing affordability."

11 August, 2008

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[ozbob]

Map of the area:

[ozbob]

From Courier Mail click here!

Ekka precinct to open to the public all year round

Ekka precinct to open to the public all year round
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Patrick Lion and Rosemary Odgers

August 12, 2008 12:00am

THIRTY-storey buildings will dominate Bowen Hills under a proposed redevelopment that also opens up the Ekka to the public all year round.

Tree-lined boulevards, restaurants and shops will form part of the RNA Showgrounds facelift included in the 108ha Bowen Hills Urban Development Area released yesterday.

Taller residential and commercial buildings will be focused on the area around Bowen Hills railway station, including up to eight 30-storey buildings. Most buildings in the inner-north city suburbs will be 13 to 18-storey blocks while smaller buildings of nine to 12-storeys will be closer to the showgrounds.

With State Cabinet meeting onsite at the Ekka yesterday, Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Paul Lucas said the number of buildings and their height would ultimately depend on public consultation from October.

"This is an area that could significantly deal with a facelift," he said. "The more people who are here activating the place, the better it will be."

The precinct, expected to take shape in the next 15 years, will include 4500 new dwellings to accommodate 10,000 residents. It will also include about 400,000sq m of commercial space supporting more than 20,000 jobs.

However, construction at the Ekka is not expected to start until September next year with a redevelopment beginning with the Industrial Pavilion, the home to showbags.

Improvements will include better grandstands and facilities, particularly around the perimeter, with floor space increased from 65,000 to 75,000sq m.

RNA Council president Vivian Edwards said the redevelopment, funded by the RNA, was one of the most significant changes in the venue's 132-year history. "The Ekka as we know it will remain the Ekka ... but we will be able to open up the showgrounds for the other 50 weeks of the year to the people of Queensland," he said.

Bowen Hills has been targeted by the Government as one of several declared high-density areas aimed at planning for population growth. Residents and workers will be encouraged to use public transport, with the precinct to be supported by a new northern busway at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and Bowen Hills railway station on the eastern side of the suburb.

Meanwhile at the Ekka yesterday, Premier Anna Bligh was stirring things up - not in the Cabinet meeting, but at the cooking competition where she won her challenge.

Details of plans click here!  (external link)

[Derwan]

My comment from the Courier Mail Website:

"Residents and workers will be encouraged to use public transport" and yet there is no mention of having the Exhibition Station opened permanently or building additional stations along the Exhibition loop.

Such a large development requires appropriate public transport infrastructure in place. Relying on major bus/rail corridors either side of the development is not enough. Local streets will become clogged with traffic.

We have the prefect major corridor running right through the middle of the development. Why not use it?

[stephenk]

My comment from the Courier Mail Website:

"Residents and workers will be encouraged to use public transport" and yet there is no mention of having the Exhibition Station opened permanently or building additional stations along the Exhibition loop.

Such a large development requires appropriate public transport infrastructure in place. Relying on major bus/rail corridors either side of the development is not enough. Local streets will become clogged with traffic.

We have the prefect major corridor running right through the middle of the development. Why not use it?

But as Bowen Hills is within 15mins walk of all of the development, that we don't really need to use Exhibition station do we?

[Derwan]

But as Bowen Hills is within 15mins walk of all of the development, that we don't really need to use Exhibition station do we?

Then why do we use it at Exhibition time? 

[ozbob]

Utilising our public transport asset is smart. But, are we going to see regular utilisation of the Exhibition loop line? I certainly hope so, and re-establish the railway station at Normanby and integrate with the bus station there. This would be real smart! And as the spin merchants like to say - a real congestion buster! Buster!

That was my blog comment, 

I wonder about the long term future of the Mayne rail yards. Although there is no apparent plan to take up that space and relocate these development proposals do raise it as a possibility I guess.

I look back at Flinders Street station yards in Melbourne in years gone by, huge and similar in some respects to the situation with Mayne with the holding capacity for the peak services.  Deployment of these holding areas to outer places on the network has actually improved efficiency.  Will it happen in SEQ?  Time will tell.  The land must be worth a fortune, that alone may be the driver.

[ButFli]

Roma Street Parklands and associated development is on the site of old rail yards, isn't it?

[Derwan]

I wonder about the long term future of the Mayne rail yards. Although there is no apparent plan to take up that space and relocate these development proposals do raise it as a possibility I guess.

The area to the north of the Ferny Grove line looks particularly bear - apart from storing sleepers, etc.  It'd be prime for development - including building over the main line.  An alternate development would be building a new Bowen Hills station there - with up to 6 platforms.  Go up one level and you have platforms to/from Ferny grove on the overpass.  (This would mean inbound trains would wait at the platform instead of between stations during times of congestion.)  Above that you could have a multi-storey building.  The possibilities are endless!