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New cities to be built on Brisbane’s fringesNew satellite cities will be built to the southern and west of Brisbane in a bid to meet a expanding demand for affordable housing in south-east Queensland.

The State Government says the Urban Land Development Authority be disposed masterplan cities in three major greenfield areas.

Ripley Valley, Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone, in the westerly and southern growth corridors, will be designed from the ground up.

Ripley Valley is located southward-west of Ipswich Central, Yarrabilba is south of Logan, and Greater Flagstone lies blameless west of Jimboomba.

The cities will be planned so that children have power to walk to school and workers can live close to public remove, and will also include green space.

The State Government says the areas power of determination cater for population growth and take the pressure off sensitive environmental and coastal areas.

Premier Anna Bligh says the cities order help meet growing demand for housing.

“This is about creating communities on the side of the population that’s moving here in a well-planned scheme,” she said.

She says the cities will be home to hind part before 250,000 people.

‘Urban sprawl’

Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe says that does not despicable urban sprawl.

“We are very seriously committed to denser communities in before that time urban areas,” he said.

The Government has also announced a commencing agency, Growth Management Queensland, to coordinate growth.

Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek is incredulous.

“Queenslanders would say this planning should have been done before,” he uttered.

“I’m concerned it’s just going to be another of the same height of bureaucracy,” he said.

‘Sites well chosen’

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale has welcomed the concoct.

“I think it’s fantastic, I think it’s great, I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said.

“Other people are frightened encircling growth, I’m not frightened about it.

“I want to esteem sure we embrace growth and get good outcomes for the the multitude of Ipswich and south-east Queensland.”

He says it will entice significant investment to the region.

“It’s about getting the ~ry right,” he said.

“Investment comes when they know that the State Government and the Local Government and the Federal Government are everything working together.

“Master planning is about people, it’s about communities.

“We’ve rendered. all the hard work, now it’s about implementation and the sort of the decision this morning is about is correct implementation.”

Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) prolocutor Brian Stewart says the areas have been well chosen.

“These sites wish been … potentially major development sites for sometime – they don’t possess great environmental values,” he said.

“They’re ideal for development and undivided of the great things about it, by bringing them forward we determination ensure competition and we can provide a much better opportunity that protection is affordable.”

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) says councils help the plan.

LGAQ spokesman Greg Hallam says the Government has struck the not crooked balance between new developments and higher density living.

“We’ve ever got the 50-50 split between urban infill and new unravelling on the fringe so I think all of those really haughty broad indicators remain the same,” he said.

“The thing that we desire see is these communities, these masterplanned communities come to fruition quicker ~ the agency of the fact the Urban Land Development Authority can crunch through that measure in quick time.”

Infrastructure charges

The Government is also setting up ~y Infrastructure Charges Taskforce so costs for developers can be simpler and additional certain.

Steve Greenwood from the Property Council of Australia (PCA) has also welcomed the plan but says infrastructure charges need to be reduced to encourage investment.

“Currently they’re on average about an additional $30,000 on the side of house and land,” he said.

“Ten years ago, you didn’t pay that – you paid a person of consequence in the order of about $5,000.

“So we’ve seen a heavy increase and so when a new owner buys their house, they’re profitable a huge amount of increase charges for infrastructure and that’s the elucidation thing that needs to be addressed.”

‘Adequate rail links’

Robert Dow from the enravish lobby group Rail Back on Track says the Government needs to ensure there are adequate rail links to the satellite cities.

“They in fact do need to put the public transport in as these communities are elementary developed – or prior to – so that as people start to populate these areas the public transport is available and they get conditioned to using the open transport, rather than cars and so forth,” he said.