Urban sprawl in south-east Queensland will be prevented from choking out the green belts between Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine coasts by ecological "inter-urban" breaks, according to Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jackie Trad.
Ms Trad said the inter-urban breaks had been written into the South East Queensland Regional Plan for the first time.
![Deputy Premier and Local Government and Planning Minister Jackie Trad, with south-east Queensland mayors.](/web/20161026174937im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/r/a/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs6nmi.png/1476934036050.jpg)
"They are included on the map for the first time," she said.
Maps in the plan show them north of Caboolture and south of Caloundra, and towards the Gold Coast between Beenleigh and Coomera.
![Deputy Premier and Local Government and Planning Minister Jackie Trad discusses the plan with Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate.](/web/20161026174937im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/6/r/a/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs6nmi.png/1476948240217.jpg)
By 2041 south-east Queensland will have an extra two million people making it home to 5.35 million people.
Ms Trad said - as she launched the draft plan at the LGAQ conference on the Gold Coast - those inter-urban breaks would be protected by strategic assessment of the 50 year value of the land.
"Our long-term aim is to join them up in a corridor so it makes sense in a corridor of biodiversity."
The draft SEQ Regional Plan - the first since 2009 - again sets population and housing estimates for each of southeast Queensland councils.
It balances the proportion of new accommodation on existing allotments - infill development - with housing on stand-alone housing blocks, greenfield.
It estimates that 94 per cent of new accommodation in Brisbane City Council will be "infill" - a trend underway for the past decade, with lower proportions of infill on the Gold Coast (79 per cent) and the Sunshine Coast (65 per cent).
By comparison, "infill" development will be 26 per cent of new homes in Ipswich, 25 per cent of homes in Logan and 52 per cent in Moreton Bay Regional Council on Brisbane's northern fringe.
New elements
For the first time, mayors have themselves nominated towns in their areas they believe will boom.
The 55 towns - nominated as "Great Places" include Amity Point, Dayboro, the Redcliffe foreshore, Capalaba, Boonah, Rosewood and Tambourine Mountain.
The plan identifies an extra 8200 hectares of land in planned growth areas, outside of the already planned Greater Flagstone and Yarrabilba, Ripley, Caboolture and Southern Redland Bay areas.
This land is identified in most of the council areas ringing Brisbane.
The "future growth" areas are South Logan, Caboolture East, Southern Thornlands in Redland shire, Beaudesert East and Halls Creek and areas of Toowoomba.
For the first time it talks about a new form of housing; "the missing middle range" which offers a mix of "detached housing" and "medium rise apartments" and "row houses".
The plan adds new areas near Upper Mount Gravatt and Beenleigh as "new areas of regional economic significance" to the CBD and Australia Trade Coast near the Brisbane Airport.
The new Upper Mt Gravatt hub runs west towards Darra and out to Goodna and Ripley.
It also runs south along the Pacific Motorway towards Springwood and Logan Central.
Logan Mayor Luke Smith has proposed Logan as "southern CBD" to Brisbane.
It identifies Yatala-Stapylton, North Lakes-Mango Hill, Southport-Broadbeach, Robina-Varsity Lakes and Coolangatta-Tweed next to the Gold Coast Airport as other "areas of regional economic significance".
On the Sunshine Coast the new Maroochydore development stretching out to Buderim North, Kawana, Caloundra, Nambour and Caloundra South are identified as "prosper zones."
There is a new section on "affordable living", which factors travel time into the cost of housing.
Ms Trad said the planners wanted to unlock land that has been identified for urban development but has so far had not been used.
"The draft plan focuses on affordable living – not just affordable housing – and looks at the way that people interact with their community and the services around them."
What they said
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said the major issue on the Gold Coast was identifying areas for future jobs, outside tourism.
The draft plan marks out the section on the Gold Coast - around the hospital and university campus north of Southport - and running south to Broadbeach as "regional economic significance."
That is loosely termed the Gold Coast's health and knowledge precinct and is linked by the city's light rail.
"The key issue for us on the Gold Coast is to broaden our economy," Cr Tate said.
"So we become a city that no longer relies on tourism and development."
Mayors at the launch welcomed the plan as providing guidance and "flexibility" for the next generation.
Steve Harrison from Queensland's Urban Development Institute said the plan would provide direction for developers as Melbourne and Sydney became comparatively "unaffordable."
"It will give some direction for infrastructure and some direction for future economic direction in jobs."
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