Ministerial Statement: Concrete approval for Coomera Town Centre

[ozbob]

Minister for Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe
07/09/2010

Concrete approval for Coomera Town Centre

Development of the long awaited Coomera Town Centre is one step closer after Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe endorsed the Structure Plan today.

"This will become a major centre providing a range of employment and services for the northern part of the Gold Coast, so it's great news that this milestone has been reached," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"It's no secret Coomera has presented very difficult planning challenges over a long period of time but finally there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"I would like to thank the Gold Coast City Council for working so hard alongside the State Government to assist in delivery of a positive forward plan that will help alleviate housing pressure in South East Queensland and promote more jobs on the Gold Coast."

The proposed Structure Plan's 600 hectares (approximate) identifies conservation or environmental areas for protection plus precincts for education, open space, sporting facilities and new homes. It is also details the roads, parks, business and industry areas and sets infrastructure objectives to guide the overall development of the new community.

Mr Hinchliffe said the Gold Coast City Council was now required to adopt the Structure Plan within 15 business days.

"Once the Structure Plan is adopted developers can submit master plan applications for sites within the centre, which means construction could start as soon as the applications have been approved by the Council," he said.

"It' snow up to Council and the land owners to progress the master plans as quickly as possible where they are required.

"The centre's landholders and the development industry will determine when they begin work and having the Structure Plan in place is a concrete step forward to achieve development on the ground."

It is anticipated Coomera's population could be about 50,000 living in more than 19,000 new homes.

The Coomera Train Station will be at the heart of the town centre, which will support the anticipated population growth through the provision ofhigh density residential situated around public transportation networks, entertainment, education, health, industry, commercial, leisure and tourism-related facilities.

Coomera will evolve over the next 20 years into a vibrant, open-plan community.

The Coomera Town Centre will include a TAFE campus and schools, police, fire and ambulance services, a health and government precinct, aquatic centre, branch library, and a community hub to support social and community services in the region.

The proposed Structure Plan also encourages the town centre to be linked with Dreamworld and seeks to protect Dreamworld's existing development rights, to ensure the long term viability of one of Queensland's premier tourist attractions.

About 136 hectares have been designated for recreation, open space, urban park linkages, and ecological or nature conservation areas, including 57ha of dedicated conservation area.

Mr Hinchliffe said the Coomera Town Centre would provide much needed services to support the Gold Coast's Northern Growth Corridor, one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing new regions within South East Queensland.

"Situated between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Coomera is ideally located for growth and will fill the gap between the nearest retail and business precincts at Helensvale and Logan," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"Many households in the area are facing very high housing costs while having limited access to transport, health and welfare support services, and social and community facilities.

"The Coomera Town Centre will alleviate these issues by providing key concentrations of business, service and retail as well as local government offices.

Mr Hinchliffe said the Coomera Town Centre was a part of the Queensland Government's Growth Management Response.

"A critical part of the government's approach to growth management was establishing Growth Management Queensland this year as the nerve centre of the government's growth management response.

"The magnitude of the government's growth management response - coupled with Queensland's wealth in natural resources and skilled workforce - position the State strongly for a prosperous and sustainable future.

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[Stillwater]

The railway station will be at the heart of a new Commera Town Centre with a population of 50,000, Mr Hinchliffe says, yet CAMCOS will skirt around the Caloundra South development and won't be at the heart of this new 'town' on the Sunshine Coast.  Mr Hinchliffe has threatened to use his call-in powers and ovderricde the Sunshine Coast Council to approve the Caloundra South development, without its rail spine.  Why?

[#Metro]

This is very interesting.
PT on the Sunshine Coast is the lowest in SEQ IIRC. They need to get CAMCOS, all the way to Noosa.

Background on Caloundra:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2010/04/08/2867182.htm
http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/coast-told-its-crunch-time-for-caloundra-south,16813