Councillors unite to seek State support for city’s boom

Townsville City councillors have united in a bid to boost housing stock across the city, unanimously endorsing an application for State funds that would deliver essential trunk infrastructure to more than 20,000 homes, including 5,000 greenfield sites.

At today’s Ordinary Meeting elected officials debated Council’s application to Round 2 of the Queensland Government’s Residential Activation Fund, agreeing to seek funding across four projects.

The projects nominated would be co-funded by Council and, in order of priority, are the:

1. Upper Ross Trunk Sewer and Water Infrastructure Package;
2. Bohle River Estates Trunk Road Infrastructure Package;
3. Lionel Turner Drive Package;
4. Northern Beaches Trunk Water Infrastructure Design Package.

The Upper Ross and Bohle River packages would unlock around 3,000 and 2,000 new residential lots respectively, and would both involve developer co-contributions.

The Bohle River, Lionel Turner Drive and Northern Beaches packages would support approximately 3,600, 835 and 12,000 lots respectively, enhancing liveability and significantly easing pressure on current road, water and sewer infrastructure.

Mayor Nick Dametto said the projects nominated were strategically selected based on community need and population growth, with the specific focus on the northern suburbs in line with the rapid expansion of the area.

“Townsville is the capital of northern Australia, and we are expected to gain an additional 50,000 residents in the next two decades,” Councillor Dametto said.

“With this kind of boom on the horizon, now is the time to be prioritising the works that are essential to making this kind of growth a reality.

“Council is committed to ensuring the trunk infrastructure required to meet both developer and community need is delivered on our end and programs, such as the Residential Activation Fund, divide the financial burden associated with accommodating such growth.

“With support provided through this fund, Council will continue to work with local developers to enable thousands of new homes to be delivered to the Upper Ross, and to ensure the ongoing development of the northern suburbs can occur seamlessly.”

The Residential Activation Fund is a $2 billion Queensland Government initiative that seeks to accelerate the delivery of critical infrastructure necessary for residential housing development.

The fund is available to local government authorities or private sector developers to facilitate design or construction of trunk infrastructure or essential community infrastructure.

Council was successful in securing $29.5 million in funding in Round 1 for trunk road infrastructure in the Northern Beaches which will support the delivery of approximately 4,000 residential lots.