Rental crisis: Weir hits out over land issue

Condamine MP Pat Weir took a swing at the State Government and Toowoomba Regional Council, blaming them for the “rental crisis” gripping Toowoomba.

Pat Weir took aim at the Toowoomba Regional Council and State Government over the rental crisis.

Condamine MP Pat Weir has taken aim at the State Government and Toowoomba Regional Council over the “rental crisis” gripping the region.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Weir said the Toowoomba region had been experiencing high demand for land and houses to purchase, a rental crisis, and a significant social housing shortage.

He said the pressure on housing and land had been evident for more than five years.

“Currently, a stock of 3200 residential lots is on hand but of those only 858 have approval for operational works. In reality, that means the area has two years’ worth of supply.”

He accused the council’s planning department of “lacking foresight” and said the solution lay in investigating the Toowoomba regional Priority Infrastructure Area zones and making amendments where needed to ensure suitable areas of land were available for development to meet the housing shortage.

Responding to Mr Weir, planning and development committee chair Councillor Megan O’Hara Sullivan said Toowoomba was “well-placed” to supply new housing for at least the next five years.

She said the council was monitoring the stock of land available for new housing and taking steps to consider the complex issues of land supply and demand.

“Council is also ensuring there is no delay in approving new home lots through the normal approval processes,” she said.

Mrs O’Hara Sullivan said demand for new housing had fallen in the past three years, but the market situation had changed “drastically” in the past six months, with a significant surge in land sales for new homes and existing dwellings off the back of home building grants.

She said infrastructure charges for developers building outside the PIA were about balancing the needs of the community.