Townsville’s North Rail Yards: Miles government pledges $35m to CBD development
Attracting young people to move into a vibrant city heart is the vision behind a multimillion-dollar promise to unlock a major housing project at Townsville’s North Rail Yards.
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Attracting young people to move into a vibrant city heart is the vision behind a multimillion-dollar promise to unlock a major housing project at Townsville’s North Rail Yards.
Touring the site on Thursday, Premier Steven Miles and Deputy Premier Cameron Dick confirmed $35 million is in the state budget for the site to be transformed into a housing project.
“More than 300 new residences will come out of the ground here but very importantly it will connect the Townsville of tomorrow with the history of Townsville,” Mr Dick said.
“This is an incredible part of Queensland history where we stand today and to see these old rail yards come back to life for mixed use development for commercial and retail and also for housing.
“That’s exactly why we can make these strategic investments to help the private sector move forward with more housing that will benefit Queensland and of course you can’t say the same thing for the LNP David Crisafulli.”
Most of the $35 million will go towards bringing the site up to scratch before the next phase of the project can move ahead.
“These rail yards behind me helped open up and build Queensland but sadly they’re now in a state of disrepair and I was really pleased to tour the site here with our local MPs a few weeks ago and hear about plans for a massive urban renewal project,” Mr Miles said.
“That’s why we put $35 million in the budget last week to support the early restoration and rehabilitation works that will allow for this site to be transformed for it to deliver housing in the CBD, active travel corridors, community use and open spaces.”
With Townsville’s population set to grow by 65,000 people over the next 22 years, the Rail Yards have been earmarked for a large-scale commercial and residential redevelopment.
The significant $35m cash injection from the 2024 State Budget will include remediation works and stabilisation of heritage infrastructure to ensure the railyards precinct is shovel ready.
Potential plans for future development are understood to include about 320 apartments in a location central to shops, employment, schools and the entertainment precinct.
Councillor Ann-Maree Greaney said that this project will be a game changer for the CBD with works set to begin before the end of the year.
“I think we can see what happens when we have levels of government that work together,
the North Queensland country Bank Stadium is a prime example,” she said.
“It has been a process to get to this stage, to get all the right people working on the project but as you can see this is the first time that we’ve had so much interest and that great injection of funds to get this thing off the ground.”
Townsville MP Scott Stewart said the city needed a vision “for the future where people will be able to live and play.
“That’s why we built Queensland Country Bank Stadium, the showpiece of the city, to help activate the CBD,” he said.
“As Townsville positions itself to take advantage of the next boom in mining through the critical minerals sector, people will need places to work, live and play and this is what this project will deliver.”
Mundingburra MP Les Walker said the Rail Yards Precinct, which could include affordable housing, was a unique opportunity to create a contemporary cultural hub celebrating the city’s rail history.
Townsville Enterprise CEO, Claudia Brumme-Smith said that this project would help attract young workers to the city.
“They want to walk to the stadium, they want to have the facilities that will be built here like function centres, breweries and things like that,” she said.
“We know that you need about 5000 new homes in the next 10 years to cater for the workers and this is an early start right here,” she said.
Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper investing in housing throughout the city, including the Rail Yards, would create additional housing options.
“I’m proud to be part of the Miles Government that is continuing to invest in Townsville and help with cost of living pressures through this State Budget.”
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Originally published as Townsville’s North Rail Yards: Miles government pledges $35m to CBD development
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