Steven Miles announces new land in Caloundra South Aura
Deputy Premier Steven Miles has announced 1100 new land blocks were now available on the southern Sunshine Coast but can’t say if a major rail upgrade will be done by 2032.
Sunshine Coast
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More than 1000 new homes will soon be built in the fast-growing Aura estate in Caloundra South raising concerns about the region’s public transport woes.
The approval of 1100 more housing lots was announced by Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Caloundra MP Jason hunt on Thursday, April 27, as the region battles an ongoing housing crisis.
The new lots will bring the suburb dubbed Aura closer to the goal of 20,000 homes, however concerns have been raised about the region’s public transport capabilities to serve the growing population.
The Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, a 37km rail line to connect Maroochydore, Caloundra and Beerwah to Brisbane, is currently still in a planning phase without any exact dates set for completion or whether the line will serve the Caloundra South areas.
The first study into the rail corridor was completed in 2001.
Rail Back on Track’s Robert Dow said the expansion of the Caloundra South housing development before the rail line is finalised will cause “more traffic, more local congestion”.
“The lack of decent public transport means car dependency becomes the ‘norm’,” Mr Dow said.
“It is essential that public transport, in this case the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, is in place before further development creates more public transport poor, car dependent residential regions that are not sustainable and tend to exclude anyone not able to directly access car transport.
“To support the rail line, frequent connected local bus services need to be operating as soon as residents move in.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the initial plans for the direct Sunshine Coast rail line should be completed by the end of 2023, but he could not say whether trains would be running by the Olympics in 2032 calling the previous federal government’s promise “irresponsible”.
“We support extending heavy rail to the Sunshine Coast but it is important that we get it right and we get the planning right and the staging right,” Mr Miles said.
“We have a study underway in conjunction with the federal government I think it is a $6m investment between both levels of government to do that study and once that study is completed we will be able to make decisions about the next stage.”
A retail centre has also been approved with 30,000sq m dedicated to building Aura’s new shops, restaurants and businesses.
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