Ipswich to manage growth with new planning scheme
30 June 2022
Ipswich is the fastest growing city in Queensland and the 2022-2023 Budget includes funding to progress a new Ipswich Planning Scheme and associated documents to guide development and infrastructure planning.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said Ipswich’s continued population growth is a vote of confidence in the city’s affordability, abundant lifestyle offerings and exciting new businesses and industry possibilities.
“More than 241,400 residents call Ipswich home and we are growing at a rate of about 3 per cent, the highest in the State with suburbs like Ripley growing at 19.4 per cent,” Mayor Harding said.
“This presents many opportunities and challenges and we want to make sure we are growing sustainably and responding to issues that impact on development and the community, such as flooding, to maintain our values and way of life.
“There is more than $850,000 allocated in the Ipswich City Council 2022-2023 Budget to undertake continued work on a new Planning Scheme and the Local Government Infrastructure Plan (LGIP).
“Importantly, this funding will ensure council can undertake comprehensive community and stakeholder engagement to put residents at the forefront of the planning process.
“The population of the Ipswich is projected to grow to 520,000 people by 2041. To manage this growth, the Ipswich will need to generate at least 61,000 extra jobs and provide for an extra 112,000 dwellings and the new Ipswich Planning Scheme will ensure we have the right framework, overall policy direction and direction for the city moving forward.
“The planning scheme is one of the oldest in the State – it is well overdue and needs to be renewed so it continues to keep up with planning for our rapidly growing community.”
In addition to the new Ipswich Planning Scheme, a Local Government Infrastructure Plan is being prepared to plan for the network of roads, open space and land for community facilities across the city to accommodate our expected growth.
This is a massive piece of work and is one of the core strategic documents for the council to use in guiding its investment decisions.
In addition, iGO is council’s masterplan for Ipswich’s transport future which outlines actions to advance the city’s transport network, working in parallel with the LGIP.
“iGo guides the development of transport infrastructure priority and investment plans, promotional activities for cycling and road safety, and various advocacy efforts for infrastructure funding,” Mayor Harding said.
“As Ipswich matures, we need good roads - but we also must evolve to using different transport modes. Public and active transport are critical to keep a growing city moving. iGo is focussed on how we can leverage all modes of transport to evolve as a modern city.
“We have allocated $180,000 in the Ipswich City Council 2022-2023 Budget to continue planning activities to ensure the outcomes of iGO can be delivered over the coming years to shape a sustainable transport future for Ipswich.”
For more information about Ipswich City Council’s 2022-2023 Budget, visit Ipswich.qld.gov.au/budget