Housing spike catches Logan council off guard

An unexpected residential housing boom last year has dumped $140 million into a local government’s coffers forcing the council to do some quick stepping to allow it to tap into developer money to build much-needed roads, footpaths and services.

LOGAN City Council has been caught off guard by an unexpected residential boom, which swept across the city last year.

The planning shortfall resulted in a backlog of $140 million from developers paid to council as infrastructure charges which have banked up in council coffers.

Council’s Economic Development branch conducted a review and recorded residential building outstripping growth projections with an extra 5000 dwellings built ahead of schedule last year.

Under the council’s current projections 114,587 residential dwellings were to be constructed across the city compared to the actual number of 119,491 new residential dwellings constructed.

A development on the border of Bahrs Scrub and Holmview. PHOTO: JUDITH KERR

To cope with the growth spike, Logan council this week voted to introduce a state-of-the-art plan to make sure the city’s services and infrastructure kept pace with development.

It also updated its forecast data on revenue from developers and land valuations so it could build infrastructure projects at the same time estates were being constructed.

The state used the updated residential dwelling growth to update its population and employment projections in December.

Those new projections highlighted Logan would need to accommodate an extra 22,000 residents by 2031.

Under Logan’s existing plans for infrastructure, population projections for 2031 were capped at just over 410,000 people.

But figures released by the state late last year forecast a resident population of just over 432,000.

Employment growth was expected to increase at a rate of 2.6 per cent a year over the next 25 years.

BURSTING AT THE SEWAGE SEAMS

Logan council city centres chairman Cr Jon Raven said the move would allow the council to access a pool of money from developer infrastructure charges so critical services, such as roads and parks, were built at the time estates were under construction.

“This means we can deliver infrastructure now for communities crying out for it rather than have to wait until 2022, when the council’s Local Government Infrastructure Plan dictates we can start using that money,” he said.

“But because we are growing so fast and our planning department is collecting so many infrastructure charges from developers, we have the funds to build more infrastructure than we are currently allowed to under our existing infrastructure plan.

“So it’s very important that we introduce this interim infrastructure plan so we can start putting in the roads and water supply that our communities are demanding.”

Roads chairman Cr Phil Pidgeon said the time lag between construction and development of amenities such as footpaths, roads, schools and parks, was affecting emerging growth suburbs such as Park Ridge, Logan Reserve and Bahrs Scrub.

Yarrabilba’s new state school. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

“It’s alarming to me when you see 6500 properties pop up … but these areas are not being built by one developer and so it’s difficult to get co-ordinated services provided immediately,” he said.

“There are a number of developers all trying to get their new properties to market and sold immediately and in the rush we are not seeing the necessary accompanying facilities being built — unlike in master planned estates such as Flagstone and Yarrabilba.

“We are behind in provision of infrastructure and council can bring forward road construction in some of these areas but federal and state governments need to look at provision of schools in these areas,” he said.

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