Three brand new cities will be built in South East Queensland to support population growth and combat housing shortages
May 26, 2010
Three brand new cities will be built in South East Queensland to support the region’s increasing population growth and address housing affordability issues.
Greater Flagstone and Yarrabilba (both near Logan) and Ripley Valley (Ipswich) will become home to Queensland’s first model communities, as announced today by Premier Anna Bligh.
The Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA) will be taking responsibility for three major greenfield areas.
Bligh says the major growth policy initiative will see the successful ULDA model used to plan whole cities in Queensland for the first time.
“These will be model communities where children can walk to school, workers can live near to their public transport and families will be guaranteed greenspace for recreation and the lifestyle that Queensland is famous for,” she says.
“For the first time the ULDA will be the ‘architects’ of entire cities and what that means is that these new cities, which will be home to around 250,000 people, will work better that anything we have seen in Queensland before.”
According to the Premier, driving population growth west will take the pressure off sensitive environmental and coastal areas.
Delivery of housing is also expected to provide a steady supply of affordable living to
tackle the continued high demand in SEQ.
PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT
Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe says once declared, the ULDA will become responsible for the planning and assessment for developments in the new cities.
“During the recent Queensland Government Growth Summit, the need to develop strategic growth centres to tackle the housing availability and affordability issues facing Queensland with a sustainable and coordinated approach was identified,” Hinchliffe says.
He says the government will now start the process to have the three SEQ sites declared Urban Development Areas (UDAs).
The ULDA will then have just 12 months to complete a development scheme for each of these areas once the UDAs are declared.
QUEENSLAND DEVELOPMENT
During the recent Growth Summit, the expansion of the role of the ULDA into greenfield sites in regional areas was announced.
Since then the ULDA has already progressed work rapidly on three sites in Townsville, Mackay and Gladstone with the proposed development schemes for the Mackay and Gladstone sites being released for public comment this week.
The ULDA will now work rapidly undertaking the necessary discussions with the Councils, infrastructure investigations and documentation on the proposed SEQ sites to allow for cabinet consideration by the end of September.