Ipswich residents wary as Stockland acquires 77ha South Ripley site

Ipswich residents have had mixed reactions to news a major Australian developer has purchased yet another site at Ipswich to turn into a masterplanned community.

A prominent Australian residential developer has snapped up yet another site at Ipswich, where it plans to develop 1100 homes, a state primary school, and a number of community facilities.

Stockland — a company which has delivered 50 communities across the country — has purchased the 77ha residential development site at 944 to 1024 Ripley Rd, South Ripley.

The group’s announcement of the acquisition was met with mixed reactions from local residents, with some expressing relief at the prospect of more housing and others expressing disappointment in the imminent reduction in green, open space that would come with it.

“Good thing. (It will) hopefully get some people in houses and not living in their cars or whole families sleeping in one room of family members’ (homes),” one woman wrote in a Facebook group. “Hopefully they start soon.”

A second Facebook user wrote that the proposed development would ‘destroy’ artefacts and heritage as elders have been buried on the subject site. Another shared her worries about what it would mean for wildlife.

“Happening everywhere. Animals have nowhere left to live, no trees for shade. (Concrete) jungles where you can touch your neighbours,” she wrote.

A long-term family holding, the South Ripley site is located less than 300m from Providence; another masterplanned community developed by Stockland.

Stockland’s CEO of Communities Andrew Whitson said the acquisition “aligns with our strategy to restock our masterplanned community pipeline with market-ready projects on capital efficient terms”.

“We are excited about increasing our residential footprint with zoned land and the opportunity to build on the success of our Providence community, which has a very strong brand in the South East Queensland corridor,” he said.

“South East Queensland remains significantly undersupplied, and we expect the new community will be highly sought after by homebuyers who value quality masterplanned communities in attractive settings with community facilities and infrastructure on their doorstep.”

The new proposed community is expected to house 3000 residents who will have access to a range of current and planned features at Providence, such as the Providence Town Centre, Splash ‘n’ Play Adventure Park, sports and recreational grounds, Ripley Valley State and Primary School, childcare services, and a satellite hospital.

The site is elevated and mostly cleared, meaning future residents will have long views of the Ripley Valley.

Subject to approvals, Stockland is aiming to commence work on the project after site settlement in 2024.

The developer now has almost $3.6 billion invested in Queensland from Townsville to the Gold Coast including ‘Aura’ on the Sunshine Coast, the largest masterplanned community currently being developed in the country.