Highfields rising: Mayor Paul Antonio, chamber president join calls for infrastructure investment in Toowoomba’s fastest-growing community

It’s a community already the size of Warwick that is expected to explode in population over the next decade. Here are the key projects slated for its thriving future.

One of Toowoomba’s fastest-growing communities needs essential transport, education and business projects moved ahead to avoid “growing pains” over the next 10 years.

That’s according to community leaders, who say Highfields and its surrounding suburbs are set for a massive boom of population and commercial activity.

Census data and Toowoomba council projections indicate the area just north of Toowoomba could have more than 21,000 people in it by 2031.

Already the wider Highfields community (14,582) is more populated than the entire town of Warwick (14,110).

Nadine and Luke Richards with their sons Riley (left) and Charlie. The Richards family live in Kleinton in June 2022. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Residents are flooding into the area; Highfields and Kleinton saw more residential construction ($105m) in the past 12 months than any other suburb in the region.

Developers are already getting in on the action, with at least five subdivisions and housing estates either planned, approved or under construction across Highfields, Kleinton, Woolmer and Meringandan West to reportedly meet future demand.

These include projects by Ian Knox, the Avenues of Highfields, Clive Berghofer and Brisbane developer Bill Lambert, among others.

A new Highfields public primary school, the long-awaited town centre, more active and public transport and a second road to Toowoomba are among the projects that political and business leaders say should be fast-tracked in the coming years to support this need.

NEW PLANS: Concept art and layouts for the new Central Highfields Master Plan, which was completed across nine months based on community consultation.

Highfields Chamber of Commerce president Sarah Mengel said she was excited by the possibilities the new town centre, which has been in the works with council since 2017, could deliver for the community.

She also emphasised the need for more infrastructure that kept residents and businesses in Highfields, rather than requiring them to always travel to Toowoomba.

Highfields Chamber of Commerce president Sarah Mengel wants to see funding for construction of stage 2 of Highfields bikeway.

“It will be a huge and great opportunity for businesses, but we also have a lot of schools, two or three within a 10km radius, so this will provide opportunities for kids to work can provide more activity outside of school,” Ms Mengel said.

“We’ve been having regular updates with council about this and in our most recent discussion they’ve received funding for a project manager to be able to delegate what needs to happen.

“We have a great chance to make active (and public) transport a priority, along with creating new spaces for businesses.

“If I used an example, we have small businesses looking for somewhere to lease but instead they’re fitting out in Toowoomba (or setting up at home) because there’s nowhere to lease here.”

Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio said the Highfields town centre and second connection to the city, both of which are council projects, would remain high priorities over the coming years.

“One of the great legacies I’ve left is that I brought this town centre project to the table,” he said.

“The main thing we’ll be doing is getting the infrastructure in place (for the town centre) and we’ll be in total control and that is very powerful.

“The second road to Highfields is absolutely essential, it’s a critical bit of infrastructure, because Highfields will continue to grow.”

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts said he wanted the council and the state government to prioritise both the Boundary Road connection to Highfields and the heavy transport connection between Cabarlah and Charlton – the latter of which seemed to be moving ahead.

Toowoomba North MP Trevor Watts. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“Good governments plan for future growth, that way we can avoid the growing pains,” he said.

“Highfields is a great community with great opportunities, and council needs to get on with the centre that Highfields needs, it will breath new life into it.

“The most important thing for the council is to secure that corridor (along Boundary Road) so everybody knows where the road is going.

“The (commercial) road that goes from Cabarlah through to Westbrook is a state government road and I believe the minister and others are on that same page as myself.”

With the state government earmarking a new public school for Highfields by 2031, Mr Watts said now was the time to buy a suitable parcel for when the time was right.

“The demographics tell us we’ll need a new primary school at some stage in the future, and that’s including a new private school,” he said.

“I’m urging the government to buy that land and I’m telling them the land will never be as cheap as it is now.”

Toowoomba branch president of the Urban Developers Institute of Australia Edward Hodge said infrastructure investment would determine the true growth of Highfields over the next decade.

“Highfields is obviously one of the key growth areas for Toowoomba and one of our main sources of supply for dwellings,” he said.

“To keep up with the pace of supply, it needs to be supported with infrastructure, and that’s true for the entire region.

“There is growing interest in the town centre of Highfields and we’re keen to see what the council is proposing for its holdings in the town centre in the decade ahead.”