Published Wednesday, 25 July, 2007 at 12:04 PM
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure
The Honourable Anna Bligh
BEATTIE GOVERNMENT USHERS IN NEW ERA FOR INNER-CITY LIVING
Two of Brisbane’s inner suburbs will be transformed into state-of-the-art examples of modern urban living under a multimillion-dollar component of the Beattie Government’s Housing Affordability Strategy.
Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba have been earmarked for fresh new commercial and residential developments which take advantage of their fast, reliable transport links and proximity to the CBD.
The Bowen Hills railway station will be the focal point for a transit oriented development that will encourage vibrant medium to high-density living combined with a mix of shops, restaurants, offices and public spaces. The Woolloongabba site will capitalise on the Busway Station.
The redevelopments will provide a wide variety of accommodation styles, including affordable housing, to cater for Queensland’s shifting demographics. At the same time, TODs will help to curb urban sprawl and preserve green open space.
They also make more efficient use of land and infrastructure, and reduce dependence on cars, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and easing traffic congestion.
The Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba projects, to be undertaken in partnership with the Brisbane City Council, will improve community awareness of transit oriented developments and showcase their benefits.
They create energetic communities in which people can live closer to work, shops and community facilities, and give them the freedom to choose their preferred transport, be it walking, cycling, buses or trains.
Transit oriented development is a key component of the SEQ Regional Plan, which provides a framework for ensuring the region’s growth is properly managed and our quality of life is protected.
While Brisbane’s limited remaining greenfield sites and heavy concentration of state-funded public infrastructure make Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba ideal places to begin, the State Government plans encourage TODs across the state.
$9 million had been allocated in the 2007–08 State Budget to plan the Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba developments and to establish a TOD coordination unit in the Office of Urban Management. The funding is a portion of the $45 million identified in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2007–2026 to facilitate TODs in the region.
We will need to accommodate one million more people in the region by 2026. This population growth and the trend towards smaller household sizes means we will need around 575,000 new dwellings.
To prevent urban sprawl from swallowing our remaining open spaces, the SEQ Regional Plan proposes nearly half will be situated in existing urban areas.
Transit oriented development will be critical to the achievement of more compact towns and cities in the region. TODs will help the region’s 18 councils to meet their dwelling targets in strategies that are currently being developed.
Over the next two years, the coordination unit will focus on:
• major transport nodes and state landholdings within 10km of the Brisbane CBD
• key Regional Activity Centres identified in the SEQ Regional Plan, and
• major new state public transport infrastructure.
The existing Transit Oriented Development Task Force—comprising representatives of State agencies, local government, academia and the development industry—will continue in its role as a high-level advisory body.
25 July, 2007
Media inquiries: 3224 4500
Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba have been earmarked for fresh new commercial and residential developments which take advantage of their fast, reliable transport links and proximity to the CBD.
The Bowen Hills railway station will be the focal point for a transit oriented development that will encourage vibrant medium to high-density living combined with a mix of shops, restaurants, offices and public spaces. The Woolloongabba site will capitalise on the Busway Station.
The redevelopments will provide a wide variety of accommodation styles, including affordable housing, to cater for Queensland’s shifting demographics. At the same time, TODs will help to curb urban sprawl and preserve green open space.
They also make more efficient use of land and infrastructure, and reduce dependence on cars, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and easing traffic congestion.
The Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba projects, to be undertaken in partnership with the Brisbane City Council, will improve community awareness of transit oriented developments and showcase their benefits.
They create energetic communities in which people can live closer to work, shops and community facilities, and give them the freedom to choose their preferred transport, be it walking, cycling, buses or trains.
Transit oriented development is a key component of the SEQ Regional Plan, which provides a framework for ensuring the region’s growth is properly managed and our quality of life is protected.
While Brisbane’s limited remaining greenfield sites and heavy concentration of state-funded public infrastructure make Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba ideal places to begin, the State Government plans encourage TODs across the state.
$9 million had been allocated in the 2007–08 State Budget to plan the Bowen Hills and Woolloongabba developments and to establish a TOD coordination unit in the Office of Urban Management. The funding is a portion of the $45 million identified in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2007–2026 to facilitate TODs in the region.
We will need to accommodate one million more people in the region by 2026. This population growth and the trend towards smaller household sizes means we will need around 575,000 new dwellings.
To prevent urban sprawl from swallowing our remaining open spaces, the SEQ Regional Plan proposes nearly half will be situated in existing urban areas.
Transit oriented development will be critical to the achievement of more compact towns and cities in the region. TODs will help the region’s 18 councils to meet their dwelling targets in strategies that are currently being developed.
Over the next two years, the coordination unit will focus on:
• major transport nodes and state landholdings within 10km of the Brisbane CBD
• key Regional Activity Centres identified in the SEQ Regional Plan, and
• major new state public transport infrastructure.
The existing Transit Oriented Development Task Force—comprising representatives of State agencies, local government, academia and the development industry—will continue in its role as a high-level advisory body.
25 July, 2007
Media inquiries: 3224 4500