Work begins on Caloundra South, and its 20,000 homes

YOU may know it as Caloundra South but the Coast’s new city, set to be the size of Gladstone, will be offically called Aura.

FRESH AURA: At Bells Creek yesterday are (from left) Stockland managing director Mark Steinert, Sunshine Coast Regional Council Mayor Mark Jamieson, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, Stockland Queensland general manager Kingsley Andrew, Stockland board director Tom Pocket and Stockland residential CEO Andrew Whitson. Picture: Greg Miller

YOU may know it as Caloundra South but the Coast's new city, set to be the size of Gladstone, will be offically called Aura.

After infrastructure agreements were reached yesterday morning, the green light on a project 11 years in the making was given, delivering housing for 50,000 people over the next three decades.

The 20,000-lot site had been the subject of robust discussion, particularly over the past three years, as the path towards a suitable Infrastructure Agreement was navigated.

While initial reports of a $500 million-plus shortfall infrastructure surfaced, the figure was recalculated in 2012, revealing $268 million which still needed to be negotiated.

Ongoing communication with the Sunshine Coast Council, Stockland and the State Government resulted in the $268 million being covered by both the State Government and Stockland, at no cost to Coast ratepayers, Mayor Mark Jamieson said yesterday.

Stockland will make a total contribution of $1.3 billion in local infrastructure over the life of the project.

That commitment included a local roads network, parks and open spaces, more than 200km of cycleways as well as a water quality treatment system to protect Pumicestone Passage and more than 700ha of land dedicated to conservation and environmental protection.

"Effectively, we'll have a population the size of Gladstone moving to the Sunshine Coast," Cr Jamieson said at yesterday's launch on the old farmland site.

"Council's main objective all along has been to ensure the project went ahead and we captured all of the benefits it will bring to the region - but that there would not be any residual costs for ratepayers beyond those that would normally be the responsibility of the council."

Stockland general manager of Queensland residential Kingsley Andrew said he was ecstatic to have reached agreement for the game-changing development to take shape.

"The outcome is that Stockland will be funding all of the infrastructure necessary to bring this community online and that's a great outcome for the residents of the Sunshine Coast and it certainly puts to bed any concerns that there's an infrastructure shortfall," Mr Andrew said.

"This is something that changes the scope of community creation in Australia and will have an impact on what's done globally."

From an environmental education centre, to a state-of-the-art regional sporting facility and a research centre, the "city of colour", as it was dubbed yesterday, looked set to shape the face of future urban development. "We are witnessing the birth of a new city," Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said.

Originally published as Work begins on Caloundra South, and its 20,000 homes