Moreton Bay Approves First Development in Waraba (Caboolture West)
Published 14 June 2023
Moreton Bay approves first development in Waraba (Caboolture West)
Waraba will eventually become home to a city the size of Mackay with 70,000 residents, and it all starts today with the approval of this historic first development application.
Mayor Peter Flannery said Stockland will now be able to build 2,050 dwellings over a 175.4 hectare area located at 60-172 Litherland Road (Upper Caboolture) after a unanimous vote of support from Council.
“Beyond the historical significance of this I’m most excited that the design of this exciting new community will preserve more than one-third of the developable area as greenspace, and we’ve conditioned the developer to get started on infrastructure works first,” Mayor Flannery said.
“Getting our infrastructure planning right from the start will not only make this future community a success, but it will provide people living in existing communities around the Upper Caboolture area with infrastructure improvements to benefit their daily lives - in particular upgrade works to Caboolture River Road.
“The development we approved today will feature six distinct residential villages and a neighbourhood hub based on a series of walkable neighbourhoods, so there will be a green network linking all this together to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle for residents.
“It will deliver major upgrades to Caboolture River Road and see 52.7 hectare of open and green space be transferred back to public ownership, which includes 32.3 hectares of conservations area, 17.5 hectares of district linear parkland and the provision of seven new local recreation parks.”
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said he was thrilled to see Council acting so swiftly, following the release of the Caboolture West Interim Structure Plan earlier this year.
“Queensland’s population is booming and this has had an impact on housing supply, which is why our government has fast tracked the planning for this community,” he said.
“Our plan sets out spaces for homes, schools, neighbourhood facilities, parks and other recreational areas, roads and transport corridors as well as areas protecting environmentally valuable land and this is a huge step in the right direction.
“The Palaszczuk Government committed significant funding to deliver water and sewer infrastructure that will support development of new homes in Caboolture West, including $10.5 million from the Building Acceleration Fund and $15 million from the Growth Acceleration Fund, so it’s great to see movement at the site.”
Mayor Flannery said Stockland is not taking the usual cookie-cutter approach that might come to mind for locals when thinking about other major developments they've seen in recent decades.
“There will be a broad distribution of lot sizes, lot mix, and housing types to achieve housing diversity, and there will also be a variety of block shapes to facilitate an efficient neighbourhood pattern and scale,” Mayor Flannery said.
“So in addition to provided much needed affordable housing, there will also be a wide variety of detached, semi-detached and attached residences to allow different lifestyle choices at different stages of life.
“The design of this new community is centred around safety and convenience, with a focus on sub-tropical design principles and aesthetics.
“The street design incorporates active transport linkages so that pedestrians and cyclists can easily nip around the neighbourhood via laneways, interconnected streets, and green spaces.
“At the heart of it all will be the centrally located Neighbourhood Hub, with small-scale retail and commercial operations.
“The green network that’s a prominent feature of the community’s design will consolidate and rehabilitate fragmented land parcels to create a connected network of quality environmental areas for recreation, conservation, biodiversity, and habitat values.
“Importantly, the green network precinct will preserve the major Caboolture River open space as well as connecting Small Creek, and the Powerlink Corridor.”
This neighbourhood will offer low-to-medium density with between 11-30 lots per hectare over the 175.4 hectare development area, consistent with Council’s Planning Scheme.
It is just the first development within the broader Waraba area which covers 3,156 hectares, and will eventually be home to 70,000 in around 30,000 dwellings. Waraba could take up to 40 years to fully develop.
The development includes an Infrastructure Agreement that will see:
- The provision of seven local recreation parks, district open space and conservation areas totalling 52.7 hectares of public land.
- Rehabilitation of 17.7 hectares of land to be part of a green network precinct.
- Provision of all internal stormwater infrastructure necessitated by the development.
- Financial contributions towards a future district sports park and future regional sports park.
The Infrastructure Agreement also provides for major improvements to Caboolture River Road including:
- Provision of land to eventually allow the duplication of Caboolture River Road.
- Upgrading the section between Walkers Road and Grant Road to four lanes.
- Construction of a three-way signalised intersection at Cresthaven Drive.
- Intersection upgrades to improve safety and efficiency at Virginia Road, Forest Park Place and MacGinley Road.
- Creation of a hybrid 2-lane roundabout at Albert Circuit.
- Decommissioning of the intersection at Litherland Road.