Toowoomba council urged to pause development of Highfields town centre after new master plan criticised by residents

The Toowoomba council’s revamped master plan for Highfields’ new town centre has been slammed by some residents and community groups for significant changes.

Aerial shots of the land that will become the new Highfields town centre, with the Toowoomba Regional Council putting the project back out for consultation.

Highfields residents have urged the Toowoomba Regional Council put a temporary pause on its development of the community’s new town centre, following the release of a heavily-criticised master plan that they said went against the desires of locals.

Business groups and community organisers have raised serious concerns about the TRC’s handling of the project, which was to develop a new central space for Highfields on land it purchased in 2017.

This has been countered by one councillor, who said the organisation was balancing community expectations and fiscal responsibilities.

The outcry comes after the council released a new version of the town centre master plan, which features significant deviations from the document developed in 2018 with significant input from the community.

It had been backed by local MPs from all levels of government at the time.

The changes appear to have followed the council’s market-sounding phase, which resulted in a report by real estate services firm JLL in August that was based on feedback from local developers.

The 2018 plan included at least five stages featuring 29,000 sqm for retail, food and drink, office, medical and commercial uses and 41,000 sqm of residential space to create 136 shop-top units, apartments and low-density dwellings.

But the JLL report recommended scaling back of healthcare areas to make way for more big box retail, cutting the apartments for townhouses and reducing the amount of retail and office space to include more residential uses.

“There is no market support for this extent of non-residential floor space in the short-to-medium term,” the report said.

“However, the market considers that there are alternative uses such as large format retail (bulky goods eg whitegoods, homewares).”

Several of these recommendations appear to have been adopted in the 2025 revamp that was released to the community last month, with the consultation period ending on Monday.

Highfields Chamber of Commerce president Lisa Deeth said the new town centre plan was contrary to the consensus locals had reached six years ago, calling for the consultation process to be paused.

“We don’t feel there’s enough commercial space to support Highfields from a business perspective, and for our businesses to establish themselves there,” she said.

“I showed the concept to a number of local business owners and when I told them the space allocated for commercial uses was no bigger than the area around the Highfields Tavern, they said it wasn’t enough.

“The medical precinct is not big enough and we feel the land allocated to residential currently should be landbanked so we have that future growth there.

“The market sounding was put out to developers about what’s a viable financial element, and we don’t feel they have the heart of the original 2018 plan in mind.

“We’ve asked multiple times for it to be suspended — my belief is the community can’t respond because they haven’t been given the right information.”

In a letter to local government minister Ann Leahy, Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce chief executive Todd Rohl said the TRC had not been transparent with its community consultation.

“The proposed changes in the master plan do not reflect the previous eight years of community involvement and are not a true and correct representation of their input and aspirations,” he wrote.

“Many residents feel that their voices have not been heard and have been deliberately ignored and overridden by the Toowoomba Regional Council.

“This action has undermined the trust with the TRC due to the lack of meaningful engagement.”

Longtime Highfields businessman Jim O’Dea, who has heavily involved with community advocacy during the creation of the 2018 master plan, said the council had prioritised developers’ desires for “immediate returns” over what the community had endorsed.

Toowoomba Proterra Group owner Jim O'Dea. Picture: Supplied

“I really think the current plan is driven by council trying to find a more immediate return and failing to understand the philosophy of the original, which was a plan for this community for the next 100 years,” he said.

“It’s really disappointing, I don’t think council has realised the community has spent a lot of time into the plan and wanting to see the 2018 plan realised.”

Another major concern among residents was the preservation and expansion of the existing Highfields fire station on O’Brien’s Road within the town centre, despite the Queensland Fire Department looking at more than 20 other sites to relocate it.

It’s understood a town-hall meeting is being planned for early April, well after when community feedback could be factored into the design of the plan.

In response to some of the concerns, councillor Melissa Taylor said much of the areas deemed “mixed-use” under the 2018 plan had been converted to commercial uses.

Councillor Melissa Taylor during a council meeting to discuss the future of Toowoomba City Aerodrome (also know as Toowoomba Airport), Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“The council’s intent is to ensure that we get the right balance,” she said.

“We have to be very fiscally responsible, we have to balance the needs of the community as well as their wants and balance commercial, residential uses, future transport hubs and civic centres.

“When you compare the 2018 to the 2025 plans, we’ve taken out the mixed use area and actually increased the commercial area, so it gives more opportunity for businesses and people to do business in Highfields and that includes the local businesses and new businesses.”