Article: Estate near CBD praised for design

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Estate near CBD praised for design

Estate near CBD praised for design
Ellen Lutton
May 22, 2011

A HOUSING estate 12 kilometres from Brisbane's central business district has been hailed for its cutting edge design and planning in residential development.

It has been eight years in the planning but the highly-anticipated Rochedale Estates, in Brisbane's south, has finally been released to the public.

Developed by property group FKP, Rochedale Estates is the largest residential development to open up so close to the CBD in many years.

Rochedale is expected to experience major growth from 1200 residents to more than 17,000 within the next 15 to 20 years after Brisbane City Council approved the predominantly farming community as a major growth area.

Set on 160 hectares on Gardner Road, it has been carefully planned and offers a variety of allotment sizes, 37 hectares of parkland and a lifestyle centre with a pool, tennis courts, gym, meeting room and cafe.

Residents will pay a fee similar to that of a body corporate to have unlimited use of the facilities, as well as round-the-clock security and landscaping maintenance. The estate has also been fully equipped with its own version of the national broadband network, with optical fibre giving residents high-speed access to broadband and digital TV.

Andrea Blake, senior lecturer in property economics at QUT, gave her tick of approval to the estate and said it was exciting to see Rochedale on the map for cutting-edge urban development.

"It looks to be well considered on a number of levels, particularly with its smart technology and environmental considerations; those things aren't always top priorities for developers so it's great to see they've been thought of," she said.

Ms Blake said the location of the estate was essential to its success. "With the other big suburban developments we've seen in recent years, like your Springfield Lakes or North Lakes ... they have been 30 or 40 kilometres from Brisbane's CBD and they are not actually part of the city.

"The fact that this is only 12 kilometres from the city centre and has such good access to infrastructure such as major roads, shops and bus terminals means it has social sustainability. People will want to live there because it's already an active, thriving community. It's not in the middle of nowhere," she said.

Executive general manager of FKP Evian Delfabbro said: "People have been waiting for this development for a long time and we're so excited to finally be moving forward and selling land."

Ms Delfabbro said the sales figures were "doing well" and the most sought-after land was the traditional-sized blocks up to 700 square metres.

"What we're aiming at here is not first-time buyers but more like second- and third-time buyers, possibly investors and downsizers."

She said making the estate environmentally sustainable and using smart technology was a big priority. "Yes it has cost us a lot more but we just bit the bullet and did it because how can you expect people to build a house in 2011 and not have access to the latest technology?" Ms Delfabbro said.

"Moreover, we were determined that people wouldn't just see this as a cookie-cutter estate with no green space. We've got parks, playgrounds, running tracks ... this will be a sustainable community with community events like Christmas parties, Australia Day barbecues and neighbourhood fanfare days.

"We hope that this can be a model for how modern housing should be."

It is expected that building will start in July.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/estate-near-cbd-praised-for-design-20110521-1ey4u.html#ixzz1N1I951Br

[Stillwater]

That is what the Sunshine Coast Regional Council had planned for Caloundra South -- a more sustainable (and smaller) community .... until the state government took over.  The council cannot appeal the SG plans.