Council backs revamped Highfields town centre masterplan after community backlash

The Toowoomba council has unanimously endorsed a revised masterplan for Highfields' new town centre after 230 submissions helped reshape the long-awaited development. See the final plan here:

The final design of the Highfields town centre.

Highfields’ new town centre will include more commercial and retail space, expanded mixed-use zones for ground floor activations and higher-density living opportunities.

The final masterplan for the belated project near the centre of the growing community was endorsed unanimously by the Toowoomba Regional Council at Tuesday’s committee meetings.

The ultimate design comes after nearly 230 submissions were received from residents and business owners.

The proposed 2025 revamp of the project, which has been earmarked for a site on the corner of Highfields and O’Brien’s Rd since 2018, was met with significant concerns from the Highfields community when presented to the public in February.

Alarm bells revolved around the scaling back of medium-density residential development and certain commercial zoning within the precinct, following a market-sounding exercise that drew on the advice of local developers.

Concept art of the Highfields town centre master plan, which was revamped by the Toowoomba Regional Council following a market-sounding report that saw input from developers.

The Highfields Chamber of Commerce even went as to devise an alternative master plan to mitigate what it called unacceptable design outcomes.

It also commissioned an economic needs assessment that slammed the council’s methodology as “fundamentally flawed”.

The Chamber of Commerce’s president Lisa Deeth praised the revised plan and the council’s willingness to listen to community concerns.

“This plan takes into account the needs and wishes of our community and provides a clear pathway for managing the strong growth Highfields is expected to experience in the years ahead,” she said.

“We appreciate the constructive engagement from council and its officers throughout this process and look forward to seeing the masterplan progress from vision to reality.

“The Highfields Chamber remains committed to working collaboratively with council, local businesses and the wider community to ensure the vision outlined in the masterplan delivers long-term benefits for Highfields and its residents.”

Ed Johnson, general manager of planning and development at the Toowoomba Regional Council.

Addressing councillors at the meeting, planning and development general manager Ed Johnson argued the latest masterplan “maintains the original intent for the site but has made some improvements to align with the feedback that we received through the engagement effort”.

“The updated plan reflects six years of change and growth in Highfields and has been shaped by both extensive community feedback and rigorous market testing,” he said in his report.

“The distribution of commercial and civic land has been informed by independent market and economics advice, ensuring that future investment in Highfields complements the broader regional centre hierarchy and supports a vibrant, self-sustaining community hub.

“The master plan continues to prioritise high-amenity, civic square, green and connected spaces, with a large district park, which retains existing native vegetation, and opportunities for future memorial and community events are to be explored.”

Of the 228 submissions received, respondents were most concerned about the mix of residential offerings, the location of the fire station, new road linkages to Hitzke and Bronwyn Cts, and the perceived lack of parking.

The latest version retains the new Highfields fire station as well as the previously-introduced public transport node, but also expands the commercial/retail zoned land to 33,000 sqm and allows development of up to four storeys across the zones.

The mixed use area has been expanded to 27,000 sqm, which will “facilitate ground floor

activated commercial/retail opportunities and medium density residential offerings above”.

The new document also offers an insight into the potential rollout, with Stage A relating to the new creation of the parkland, the new fire station and public transport node.

A potential staging plan for the new Highfields town centre.

When asked by councillors Kerry Shine about how fixed the plan was, Mr Johnson said it likely be reviewed in the future.

“It’s as fixed as any planning process, is what I would say – that is to say that it is our best guess today based on the technical advice of our supporting economists, urban designers, planners, all of the aspects of council and external that have fed into that process,” he said.

“(Just) as we have reviewed this master plan six years after the first version, I would anticipate … future changes within the local context or changes within the macro retail economic market or any other sort of global shift would enliven a reason to have another look and review things (in the future).”

Mayor Geoff McDonald supported the new plan, arguing it mitigated many of the concerns members of the community had about the project’s future.

“I just wanted to place on record the council’s thanks to the community and to our officers in the way we’ve worked through this,” he said.

“Many thousands of people have actually been involved in this in one way, shape or form and stakeholder groups (like) Highfields Chamber of Commerce, and acknowledging (president) Lisa Deeth (is) here today.

“This started back in 2017 and in fact before then, when the encouragement was given to council to purchase this block of land for future development of a Highfields town centre.

“We should never let perfection get in the road of progress.”

The state government has given the council $20m towards the upgrade to the intersection of Highfields, Kratzke and O’Brien Rds.