New housing and infrastructure coming to Waraba

• Waraba to become Queensland’s 36^th Priority Development Area (PDA), unlocking land for 30,000 new homes and supporting the Homes for Queenslanders Plan
• Minimum of 25% will be affordable and social housing
• PDA will also support 17,000 local jobs
• Comprehensive infrastructure planning and funding arrangements to ensure delivery of essential water, roads, and other services

Minister for State Development and Infrastructure Grace Grace has today announced the Miles Government’s intention to declare Waraba as Queensland’s newest Priority Development Area (PDA), providing a clear pathway to deliver vital new housing and infrastructure.

The Waraba PDA in the City of Moreton Bay will include almost 3,000 hectares of land and deliver around 30,000 dwellings for an estimated 70,000 people.

Waraba, formerly Caboolture West, will play a central role in supporting the forecast population growth Moreton Bay City while also providing opportunities for an estimated 17,000 local jobs in well planned retail, industrial and commercial activity centres.

The Miles Government has also committed $100 million to the delivery of critical road, water and sewer infrastructure required: some of this funding is already delivering water and sewer infrastructure that is unlocking more than 2,000 lots in the suburb of Lilywood.

Once the PDA is declared and an Interim Land Use Plan introduced, EDQ will develop a PDA development scheme and infrastructure plan in consultation with Moreton Bay Council, the community, the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Planning, the Department for Transport and Main Roads, and other stakeholders.

Quotes attributable to Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Grace Grace: 

“Our Homes for Queenslanders Plan is all about building more homes, faster, and declaring Waraba as the state’s newest PDA will do just that.

“The PDA approach is well established and will provide the development industry with the confidence to invest and do business. This will bring significant benefits to the community in the form of additional housing, jobs, and infrastructure.

“PDAs are one of our most powerful tools for delivering affordable housing. Crucially, from day one, there will be a requirement that 25% of all dwellings must be delivered as a mix of affordable and social housing.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Housing, Meaghan Scanlon:

“As our population continues to grow, we are pulling every lever through our Homes for Queenslanders plan to deliver more homes in areas where Queenslanders want to live. 

“This PDA provides a clear blueprint for a thriving future community in the Moreton Bay region and shows the Miles Government is committed to getting more shovels in the ground and tradies on the tools. 

“That’s in stark contrast to the LNP, who are right now locking 8,000 Queenslanders out of a chance to their own home by blocking the Help to Buy shared equity scheme.”

Quotes attributable to City of Moreton Bay Mayor, Peter Flannery:  

“We welcome the declaration of Waraba as Queensland’s newest PDA, and the assurance that City of Moreton Bay will retain authority for development assessment.  

“The Waraba PDA will drive collaboration between all agencies and stakeholders to address critical planning and key infrastructure requirements that City of Moreton Bay has raised are necessary to deliver a well-planned community at Waraba.   

“Moreton Bay is one of the fastest growing cities in the state, so it’s vital we have these robust planning, development assessment and infrastructure funding processes in place, to ensure growth is sustainable.  

“In this regard, given the criticality of the timing and delivery of the key infrastructure to the future success of this PDA, I continue to advocate for the timely delivery of critical infrastructure in conjunction with the declaration of the PDA by the Queensland Government.  

“I look forward to working with the Queensland Government to enable the future city of Waraba to reach its potential, building on the lead role Council has taken in the first stages of Waraba by approving over 2,000 lots and overseeing the start of construction of the first communities in Lilywood.  
   
“We look forward to working with the state on infrastructure requirements that will escalate future development applications under the PDA framework.” 

Additional information:

• Priority Development Areas (PDAs) are areas of land within Queensland identified for development to deliver significant benefits to the community.
• A PDA is a proven planning pathway for resolving complex planning and development matters that unlock value for the surrounding communities.
• Providing a place-based and streamlined development assessment process, EDQ have issued development approvals for over 60,000 dwellings across the State’s 35 PDAs, and of these, a combination of over 36,000 completed dwellings and new home lots have been delivered.
• Declaring the Waraba PDA enables the Government to deliver planning that is commercially feasible, sustainably managed and balances economic, social and environmental considerations.

ENDS