Ministerial Statement: Regional Plan says Go West

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Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Paul Lucas
07/12/2008

Regional Plan says Go West

An increased proportion of South East Queensland's future growth will be accommodated in the region's western corridor under the Draft South East Queensland Plan 2009-2031 released today.

Made up mostly of the Ipswich City local government area, the western corridor is characterised by large tracts of land suitable for urban development.

"SEQ's population is heavily urbanised and is generally concentrated along the coast between Noosa and Coolangatta," said Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Paul Lucas.

"In a continuation of the policy introduced in 2005, when the SEQ Regional Plan was first released, the intention is to reduce the development pressures on the coast by encouraging growth in the western corridor.

"We are doing this by giving priority to infrastructure and services in the western corridor, which is attracting new residents, businesses and industry to places like Springfield, Ripley and Swanbank.

"Because this corridor is relatively undeveloped, it allows us to masterplan whole communities-to ensure we get the balance right in terms of housing, jobs, transport and social infrastructure.

"An estimated 116,000 new dwellings will be required in Ipswich City by 2031.

"In 2006, Ipswich City accounted for just over 4.5 per cent of all dwellings in South East Queensland.

"However, its share of new dwellings over the next 20 years or so will be nearly 16 per cent, illustrating the dramatic increase in the proportion of SEQ's growth that will be accommodated in the western corridor.

The major broadhectare growth areas are at Springfield, South Redbank Plains, Ripley Valley.

Ebenezer, an existing regional business and industry area, has also been designated an urban growth area.

A proposed employment and enterprise area at Purga has been added to the Urban Footprint.

"Purga has the potential to be developed as an extension to the Amberley Aerospace and Defence Support Centre and as an inland port, including logistics, distribution, warehousing and associated activities.

"The timely provision of transport infrastructure will be vital to lead the planned growth of the western corridor, including the upgrading of the Ipswich motorway and rail line, and improved road and rail access to Springfield.

"Although the western corridor is destined to grow significantly, the draft regional plan protects its rural landscape and regional production area from incompatible urban development, including rural-residential.

"However, in a significant shift from the original regional plan, there is now greater flexibility for tourist and rural enterprise activities in this area."

For more information call 1800 070 609 (freecall) or visit www.dip.qld.gov.au

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From the Courier Mail click here!

Ipswich region to need 116,000 new homes by 2031

Ipswich region to need 116,000 new homes by 2031
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Robert MacDonald

December 07, 2008 11:00pm

THE number of new homes in the Ipswich local government area will treble over the next 20 years if the State Government's forecasts are right.
Its draft regional plan for southeast Queensland, released yesterday, predicts that the Ipswich region will need 116,000 new dwellings by 2031.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale's reaction was to declare: "Bring it on.

"Ipswich wasn't ready 10 years ago, but we are now."

The new regional plan, which will be open to public comment until April next year, proposes that Brisbane's western corridor be the area's next major population growth.

Premier Anna Bligh said: "This plan identified enough land to provide the 735,500 new houses and units we will need to house our expected population through to 2031.

"The focus will remain the western corridor where the population will expand twice as fast as Brisbane and the coastal areas each year on average."

The new draft plan has substantially higher housing growing projections than the original plan drawn up in 2004, which predicted that southeast Queensland would need only 575,000 new homes over the following two decades.

The Government now predicts that southeast Queensland's population will climb from 2.8million in 2006 to 4.4million in 2031.

Strategies to accommodate growth include increasing the density of urban redevelopment by requiring new residential projects to achieve a minimum net dwelling yield of 15 dwellings a hectare.

New developments close to transport hubs will have at least 30 dwellings a hectare.

At the same time, the draft plan has made only small adjustments to the overall urban footprint, but it has also identified land that could be included after further investigation.

Ms Bligh said that under the new plan, the area of land off limits for development increase from 1.88million hectares to 1.93million hectares.

Areas added to the protected list include conservation areas in Brisbane, Springfield and the southern Moreton Bay islands.

A spokesman for Council of Mayors chairman and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said councils had worked in "close partnership with the State Government" for the plan.

"We now urge the community to have their say ... to make it an even better document," he said.

"The consultation is an important process to explain to the community why it's necessary to have transport oriented developments and infill targets to prevent effects like urban sprawl and to enable us to continue to save bushland from development."