Toowoomba development: 221-lot housing estate with new park in Westbrook planned

More than 200 lots could be added to one of Toowoomba’s key growth areas as evidence mounts of the growing need for new housing across the city.

More than 200 lots could be unlocked in one of Toowoomba’s growth corridors, with the proposal outlining the true extent of the city’s housing shortage.

Pengelly Truck and Trailer owner Scott Pengelly and fellow applicant Mandy Robbins have lodged plans with the Toowoomba Regional Council for a variation request to a 22-hectare lot on Bunkers Hill School Road in Westbrook.

If approved on the rural-zoned land, it will pave the way for a 221-lot subdivision called Hillhaven Estate.

According to the planning report by Revolution Town Planning’s Peter Swan, the new estate would create lots between 500 and 700 sqm in size, designed for low-density residential housing that is popular in Toowoomba.

An application for been lodged to the Toowoomba Regional Council that will pave the way for a new 221-lot subdivision on Bunkers Hill School Road at Westbrook.

The plan would also include a new one-hectare park as part of the development.

“A high level of residential amenity is provided and maintained within the Hillhaven residential estate and land uses that may unduly adversely impact the residential amenity of the estate are not established,” the report said.

“Development maintains and celebrates views of the surrounding rural landscape and its features including the fertile agricultural plains and prominent ridge lines which surround the site.

“Streetscape treatments create and reinforce a strong sense of place, particularly, along Bunkers Hill School Road which forms a gateway entrance to Westbrook from the west.”

An application for been lodged to the Toowoomba Regional Council that will pave the way for a new 221-lot subdivision on Bunkers Hill School Road at Westbrook.

The application included a residential need analysis of Westbrook by Urban Economics from April 2024, which concluded the current rollout of residential lots in the community would not meet the future demand for housing.

“Westbrook has been identified by multiple planning strategies and documents as a potential future growth area and is expected to contribute to the Toowoomba Urban Area’s supply of detached housing over the coming decades,” the report said.

“Forecast growth necessitates an additional 2000 houses for the Westbrook area over the next 30 years, with 700 of those required by the year 2036, an average of at least 60 each year.

“The existing supply of residential lots within Westbrook would represent only one years’ supply of residential land.

“There is a clear imbalance between the demand for and supply of residential land in the Toowoomba urban area and a clear and pressing need for the release of additional growth fronts to ensure a balanced delivery of residential product for the Toowoomba area.

“The Toowoomba residential market remains concentrated in select locations and estates, limiting choice for residents in where they are able to live.”

The new application comes just a couple of months after Ian Knox restarted efforts to develop his Fernleigh master plan at Westbrook, lodging an initial application for 100 lots to the council.

The application is impact assessable, meaning a public notification period is likely to be required as part of the assessment process.