Australian Property News
Action needed on high-density ‘go zones’
Posted on Thursday, March 18 2010 at 10:54 AM
The Queensland Government must follow up talk of creating 'go zones' and 'no-go zones' for high-density development with action to make it easier for developers in the green-lighted areas, the Property Council of Australia says.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has flagged a proposal to create new zones along public transport corridors that would allow for higher-density development, while also creating 'no-go zones' to protect the low-density nature of established suburbs.
The Property Council's Queensland executive director, Steve Greenwood, says the plan is a positive move in response to community concerns that they'll end up with high-density apartment buildings springing up all over the place.
"What the government is responding to there – and it's a good thing to do – is there's a growing level of concern in the community that all the suburbs could go to high density," Greenwood says.
"That's clearly not what's envisaged by moving to a high-density form of living in Brisbane."
Instead, higher-density development will be focused "around your bus stations, rail stations and major road networks", Greenwood says.
The government's masterplan for southeast Queensland calls for half of all new residential development to occur in existing suburbs, with the other half in greenfield areas.
Bligh says the planning timeline for new developments in 'go zones' could fall from years to months.
Greenwood says the government needs to follow through with action in order to meet its infill development target.
"In the go zones, the go must happen a lot more quickly because at the moment even around those transport nodes it's still very difficult for high-density development," he says.
"There's a desperate need for some genuine government intervention to make development easier around those transport nodes."
Bligh has written to all southeast Queensland mayors seeking their views on the proposal, which will be considered at the next SEQ Regional Planning Committee meeting.
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