Council launches audit on land supply on the Gold Coast due to development and population pressure

The Gold Coast is growing at a rapid rate – faster than anyone predicted – and with an influx of interstate buyers, land is scarcer than ever, leaving council to audit growth areas.

The Gold Coast Council is to conduct an urgent investigation into the city’s residential land stocks.

A review in 2016 showed the city could meet growth targets set by the state government. However, Covid-19 and a rush from interstate buyers has council planning officers and developers worried.

The Bulletin can reveal early investigations show the Coast is not meeting targets in growth areas such as Coomera, and more smaller dwellings like units and duplexes are required.

Hinterland councillor Glenn Tozer said his division could supply only a fraction of the dwellings to meet government targets.

His area includes the massive Skyridge residential project in Worongary.

“My personal view is that the state should lower their growth targets for our city, or spread them out over more time,” Cr Tozer said.

The Gold Coast is projected to have another 351,100 residents by 2041. This would require another 158,900 dwellings – 127,000 in the “consolidated area” of existing suburbs and 31,000, or 20 per cent, in an “expansion area” in the city’s north.

Updated mapping shows the expansion area is north of Helensvale and includes cane land.

The 2016 assessment concluded that the city had adequate planned residential land supply to support the anticipated new dwelling growth, but the South East Queensland Regional Plan then changed.

“A key concern of development industry groups is the availability of land for new residential subdivisions, and the city’s performance against Shaping SEQ dwelling supply benchmarks has come under question,” the council report said.

Peak development industry groups had lobbied council in the past two years to review its strategic planning in the expansion area, council officers wrote.

A review of recent development approvals and a state land supply report found Coomera, Pimpama and Ormeau had mostly detached houses within the medium-density residential zone.

The initial aim was to provide a range of “missing middle” residential products, including apartments, townhouses, terrace homes and duplexes.

Council officers found “there is lack of housing diversity and choice” and the plans for high- density around the Coomera Town Centre “have not been realised”.

The audit project would focus on the expansion area and look at Coomera, Pimpama, Ormeau and Hope Island. “It is considered premature to include the entire city in the initial project scope,” officers wrote.

The reason is they are undertaking other planning investigations, including the effects of the light rail Stage 3 corridor meeting population targets.

Planning chair Cameron Caldwell told the Bulletin: “The City will be engaging an expert consultant to undertake the work and the work will also be peer reviewed.

“This will help the City better understand current residential land supply and help inform future policy considerations.

“The expansion area forms part of the housing supply mix for the Gold Coast with most of the remaining housing supply occurring as infill development within the city’s more established urbanised areas.”

The project is scheduled to finish in July 2022. Part of it will include a workshop and councillors to discuss findings on the residential market.

Cr Tozer said there was a high demand for properties in the central and southern hinterland, only 10-15 minutes west of the beaches and close to great schools and parks.

“I expect that’s why Skyridge is so popular, and we are seeing other development applications lodged in Gilston,” he said.

“Currently, there are about 200 lots being considered by council in Division 9 beyond the 3500 dwellings captured in the Skyridge state government preliminary approval.

“Council’s recently resolved residential land supply study will wrestle with this and other sites throughout the city, assessing the availability of land supply inside the urban footprint.”

Cr Tozer confirmed there were no plans to explore outside that area for land supply to meet the state growth targets.

“If the state wants to expand the urban footprint at a date in the future, whether in Division 9 or elsewhere, that will be up to them.”

Follow @PaulWestonGC