Toowoomba council endorses 30 year annual growth plan for region, prepares for 66,000 new residents

More than 66,000 new residents will call the Toowoomba region home in less than 30 years — and it’s a challenge the council hopes to overcome with a new growth plan. CHECK OUT OUR INTERACTIVE MAP HERE.

Toowoomba will become a city of more than 200,000 people in less than 30 years, according to a new document that will guide the council’s development of the region.

Councillors will on Tuesday endorse the Toowoomba Region Growth Plan, which explores how many residents, workers and dwellings are expected to be situated within the local government area in 2051.

The wide-ranging document, which sparked significant discussion and debate within the chamber at committee meetings last week, will not only guide the council’s new planning scheme but also its existing infrastructure plan.

It has found the existing Toowoomba urban area is projected to have 204,000 residents by the halfway point of the 21st century, while the overall region will have to cater for 241,000 people.

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Key to the report is a hybrid-model approach to catering for this growth, which includes a mix of new urban sprawl in three key corridors as well as increasing population density within existing areas by incentivising medium-density housing and unit developments.

The TRGP said the current planning scheme would not be able to “effectively accommodate” the future growth, arguing “both expansion and consolidation” would be required.

Research from Bull and Bear Economics has projected the statistical areas of Highfields (including Highfields, Kleinton and Cawdor) and Toowoomba West (including Glenvale, Torrington, Westbrook, Wellcamp, Charlton and Cotswold Hills) will be the fastest-growing areas in existing urban area.

In total, more than 37,000 people area expected to occupy these areas by 2051 — worth about 56 per cent of all new residents to the region.

“In the context of steady growth, with a significant increase in demand for housing through the COVID-19 pandemic, and an ongoing pipeline of major infrastructure and employment projects, a medium-high population projection was used for the purpose of preparing the TRGP,” the report said.

“This means that in 30 years’ time the region will be home to approximately 66,500 new residents and 35,900 new jobs.”

Outside of Toowoomba, communities like Pittsworth (1000 new residents), Millmerran (500 new locals) and Oakey (2000 new people) are set for major growth spurts.

Balanced against this growth was the feedback from residents and business owners, who prioritised green spaces and natural environments, convenience of services and facilities and the preservation of heritage and character buildings as key values.

Interestingly, residents were not concerned by a more competitive job market or a lack of affordable and diverse housing options, instead focusing attention on water security, traffic congestion and the loss of vegetation and natural assets.

Megan O'Hara Sullivan, TRC councillor.

Planning and development chair councillor Megan O’Hara Sullivan said the document was a culmination of the council’s commitment to a “balanced approach” between new and existing land.

“The plan was to try the hybrid approach, which is focusing on both new communities and existing development,” she said.

“We have to get this right, because this guides the local government infrastructure plan (LGIP)— that’s how the puzzle fits together, with the LGIP and the planning scheme.

One in four Toowoomba residents to live in units

Nearly a quarter of Toowoomba’s housing will be units by 2051, according to the council’s 30-year regional growth plan.

The latest report, which will guide council’s population growth over the next three decades, has indicated a shift in housing within the current Toowoomba Urban Extent (TUE).

While currently less than 20 per cent of the city’s housing was in units (out of 58,500 dwellings), this was expected to increase to nearly 24 per cent by 2051 (out of a forecast 82,800 dwellings).

This means developers would need to create 7600 new units over the next three decades, along with 16,500 detached dwellings.

“While detached dwellings are the dominant and generally preferred type of housing in the Toowoomba Region, there will be a continued need to provide attached dwellings such as townhouses, villas, and units,” the report said.

“This is because attached dwellings provide greater opportunities to be developed in proximity to centres, with good access to services and facilities through their smaller development footprints.

“An increase in different types of housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and units, allows for increased choice and plays an important role in providing new homes at various price points.”

Planning and development chair councillor Megan O’Hara Sullivan said higher-density living would need to become more common in Toowoomba, as a complement to further urban expansion.

“The recommendation from the consultants was (increased density) was inevitable,” she said.

“We’re limited to the east because of the escarpment and we’ve only got north and south.

“It’s inevitable we’ll have to focus on consolidation.”

Outside of Toowoomba, rural communities would see 2700 extra dwellings built, the vast majority of them detached.

In total, it is predicted 27,000 new dwellings would be built across the region by 2051, with the key areas of focus being western Toowoomba and Highfields.