Editorial: Future Brisbane needs careful consideration
TO ANYONE who has watched the growth of Brisbane into a large, modern, vibrant city over the past quarter of a century, the scale and speed of transformation has been startling. That’s why protecting what makes it so great now is so important.
Opinion
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TO ANYONE who has watched the growth of Brisbane into a large, modern, vibrant city over the past quarter of a century, the scale and speed of transformation has been startling.
But the truth is we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Queensland’s capital city faces enormous challenges over the next 25 years or so as it attempts to balance rising population and demographic changes with maintaining the lifestyle that makes it such a wonderful place to reside.
The state’s population hit the five million milestone just last month.
Almost half that total live in the Greater Brisbane region and about 1.2 million in the Brisbane City Council (BCC) area. By 2041 – just 23 years from now – an additional 386,000 people are expected to live within BCC boundaries.
An additional 180,000 dwellings are expected to be required.
It is not just the sheer numbers that demand attention from planners and politicians, but who those people will be and what sort of housing needs that will generate.
An ageing population will mean many more people living alone, creating demand for apartments and townhouses.
There will always be an inevitable friction between increasing density within existing areas, with the risk of overcrowding and changing the character of neighbourhoods, and allowing greenfield development, bringing ever more urban sprawl, loss of green space and longer commutes.
All too often we have seen, and continue to see, massive housing developments up to and including communities the size of small cities approved and built without provision of essential transport and other supporting infrastructure.
Get the planning wrong and you risk overwhelming existing infrastructure and services, reducing quality of life and planning an expensive game of catch-up for years to follow.
The State Government’s “Shaping SEQ” regional plan, which came into effect just under a year ago, is clear – setting a target of 60 per cent of future residential development to be within existing urban footprints.
While the unprecedented period of apartment construction in inner-city Brisbane may be coming to a close, make no mistake: The future of the city’s growth will be as much upwards as it outwards.
We’ve seen the tensions play out in place such as West End and South Brisbane as quaint worker’s cottages give way to high-rises.
It is a theme repeated to some extent in many of the city’s other suburbs as existing residents rail against greater density and loss of privacy and sunlight.
That is why the Brisbane City Council’s new planning rules – to be released on Friday – are critical.
This blueprint may be the most important document our city leaders produce in the next decade, helping to shape how and where Brisbanites live for years to come.
Choosing where to buy a property is one of the biggest decisions most of us will make in our lives.
What people crave more than anything is clarity and some certainty.
While cities inevitably evolve, residents want some reassurance that the essential character of the neighbourhood they have chosen to call home, or to invest in, will not be lost.
For some people, the single-storey house with a back yard remains the great Australian dream.
For others, the convenience of an inner-suburb apartment close to cafes and entertainment is their version of paradise.
The council’s new charter of principles to guide development should ensure both have that choice and certainty by clearly identifying zones where the construction of apartments and townhouses will be banned, and others where higher-density dwellings will be encouraged.
The iconic Queenslander home remains a much-cherished part of our urban landscape and greater powers to protect them would be welcomed by many.
The new rules will also set limits on the replication of the type of “cookie-cutter’’ townhouse developments we already see popping up across the city. Their unrestrained spread can create only a suburban blandness.
Brisbane is a unique city and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to preserve and enhance its character and appeal. Let’s seize it.
CONSOLATION WIN FOR NSW
IT IS quite a novelty isn’t it? Watching NSW supporters indulging in that rarest of activities – celebrating a victory over Queensland.
What’s it been now? Oh yes, that’s right, 13 games out of the last 37.
It’s become almost an endearing annual tradition for the Blues to pinch one consolation win among each series defeat – just enough to stop the populace of the southern state throwing in the towel altogether and calling off the tournament.
Out they came yesterday with their boasts of a changing of the guard, the dawning of a new era for NSW.
Have they really forgotten how quickly they were forced to eat their words after they thumped us 28-4 in the first game of last year’s series, only to lose the next two.
Enjoy it while you can, southerners.
The mighty Maroons, who were depleted in Game One by last-minute injuries after a string of star retirements, will be back stronger and angrier in Game Two at ANZ on June 24, ready to settle the score and set up a momentous decider, and farewell game for Billy Slater, under the lights at the Suncorp Stadium cauldron on July 11.
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