Developer brings bold new ideas to table in design process for masterplanned community
A major southeast Queensland developer has taken extraordinary steps to ensure residents of this growing region can have their say on a new masterplanned community. Youth design workshops were a key part of the process and will help shape the open space, nature reserves and recreational areas.
Redlands Coast
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Capalaba developer Fiteni Homes has undertaken groundbreaking community consultation for its new Victoria Point housing project, generating feedback from thousands of local residents.
The Woodbury development will take place within the 175ha Victoria Point Structure Plan area, in the southern Redlands Coast region.
Fiteni has 80ha on four land parcels within the structure plan area, which is bounded by Bunker, Cleveland-Redland Bay and Double Jump roads, 2km southwest of Victoria Point Town Centre.
Another four developers have total land holdings of 52ha, while the remaining 44ha is privately owned.
Woodbury is expected to become home to 800 families.
Fiteni Homes land development manager Vaughn Bowden said it was an exciting time for the Redlands Coast as the community could finally see how its input would help shape the future of the area.
Fiteni’s comprehensive community engagement program went well beyond traditional developer processes, with stage one – which was conducted over eight weeks – recording more than half a million points of contact with residents.
The figures, from the Woodbury Community Engagement and Structure Plan report, are excluding any billboard advertising.
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Consultant Brooke Williams from CoDesign Studio said the engagement process was created to bring together the development industry, designers and the community to develop a shared vision for Woodbury.
The program engaged with as many people within the Redlands Coast as possible, including local community groups, businesses and families.
Mr Bowden said the program had actively sought input from the “silent majority” – the families, teenagers and children who often did not engage in planning matters.
The consultation process included setting up an engagement hub within the Victoria Point cinema complex, which alone attracted more than 10,700 visitors.
There were also two “vision workshops” attended by local residents, full-day primary and high school design challenges, a photo competition, survey, pop-up engagement hub at the Redlands Easter Family Festival and an extensive advertising campaign including billboards, cinema, print, radio, letterbox and direct mail.
About 50 community groups were also invited to participate in the consultation process.
Face-to-face feedback at the engagement hub and workshops indicated a strong preference for Woodbury to be a traditional Redlands Coast community.
Achieving a balance between land available for homes, open space and community facilities was important to 93 per cent of survey respondents, scoring 4.57 out of 5, with little variation across locations or age groups.
The results showed a strong preference for traditional houses on larger blocks, with 69 per cent of respondents rating this as being highly desirable.
There was a secondary preference for homes on smaller blocks, but townhouses and apartments received very low levels of support.
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Among the list of priorities for residents were road and intersection upgrades and diverse recreational facilities.
Mr Bowden said Fiteni had been “delighted with the feedback from local residents”.
“The community engagement program was an unprecedented initiative to create a shared vision for the future of a new community,” he said.
“As Woodbury will be home to the next generation of Redlands Coast residents, it was important that local residents had the opportunity to help design the new community.
“Feedback received during the community engagement program confirmed the overwhelming majority of those who participated believed Woodbury should enhance the natural beauty of the Redlands, provide traditional detached homes and offer a diverse range of recreational and community facilities.
“It also confirmed that it was extremely important that road and traffic upgrades were provided around Victoria Point.
“The majority of people told us they wanted a community that is connected, a community that is creative and a community that celebrates and enhances the local environment.
“And that’s what we’re proposing.
“We are committed to involving the local residents in every aspect of our plans, turning their thoughts and ideas into reality to ensure Woodbury is a place inspired by nature and the community.”
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