Social, affordable housing development by Full Circle Projects planned for North Toowoomba

A charity has laid out plans for a $24m housing project to help some of the city’s most disadvantaged residents is taking shape after it was submitted to the council. See the proposal here:

Homes for more than 100 struggling Toowoomba residents are set to be built in the city’s northern suburbs, in a $24m project the developers say is social housing done correctly.

Brisbane charity Full Circle Projects (FCP) has lodged plans with the council to create 54 social and affordable units along Ruthven Street in North Toowoomba, near the corner of Hawson Street.

The homes, which will be split between rent-controlled residents and people on the social housing register, will form part of a new precinct that includes green spaces, 24/7 concierge services and access to public amenities.

The Aspect Architects-designed development, made up of one, two and three-bedroom units, is described in the application by Precinct Urban Planning as “accommodation that ensures an inclusive and supportive integration of people”.

Concept art for a 54-unit social and affordable housing precinct proposed by Full Circle Projects for a large parcel of land along Ruthven Street in North Toowoomba.

“The buildings have been architecturally designed to achieve a high standard of streetscape appeal with variations in building materials as well as the use of balconies and feature screens,” the report said.

Charity chief executive Noel Herbert, who has worked in affordable housing for 20 years and was behind the successful Common Ground mixed-housing high-rise development at South Bank in Brisbane, said he wanted the project to look like private housing from the street.

Full Circle Projects chief executive Noel Herbert.

“Our new housing initiative reflects our commitment to providing homes for those in need and creating a stronger, more inclusive community,” he said.

“It’s a new way forward, it’s combination of social and affordable housing.

“You’ve got to get the mix right, (it’s not like) in the old days (because) you don’t want to promote a ghetto where it’s all just low-income tenants.

“It will be built to a higher standard, and in 50 years it will still look good.”

It comes as charities and not-for-profits like the Salvation Army, Brisbane Housing Company (BHC) and Mission Australia put forward their own proposals offering a mix of social and affordable housing.

Coincidentally, FCP’s Common Ground development was one of the projects toured by the Toowoomba Regional Council ahead of its partnership with BHC.

This led to the council selling part of its Station Street car park in the city to BHC, which will eventually become a 75-unit mixed-tenant development.

Mr Herbert said this new philosophy around low-income housing was not only a win for families doing it tough but also the wider communities.

Concept art for a 54-unit social and affordable housing precinct proposed by Full Circle Projects for a large parcel of land along Ruthven Street in North Toowoomba.

“The council is very supportive of it, and they understand the Common Ground method, they went down to Brisbane and looked at what we had done,” he said.

“You’ve got a good mix of people there, and we find everyone in that environment benefits.”

Alongside securing the approval from the council, Mr Herbert said FCP was now working to create both public and private partnerships for the project.

“So we’re sourcing partners, we’d love to get public and private interest, (like) a community housing provider,” he said.

“Partnering with the government will be a core element (because) community housing providers can get loans, so that’s what they’re starting to do now (across Australia).”

Because the application is code-assessable, FCP won’t need to run a public notification period and the project won’t need to come to a special meeting of council.