Ipswich copes with boom

Paul Tully

IPSWICH welcomed nearly 21 new residents a day for the last 12 months according to council statistics.

Figures from the Ipswich City Council’s population modeller reveal that in the year up to September 30 2009, 7602 people moved to our city.

While the Urban Development Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) latest Queensland report shows that state-wide there is not enough housing to deal with the influx of people, council are confident Ipswich can cope.

With the city’s population surging to 164,683, council’s Planning and Development Committee chair Paul Tully believes Ipswich is building enough homes to cater for the boom.

“It doesn’t come as a surprise really, because despite the economic downturn, in the last 15 months we have seen lots of building approvals and buildings going up around the place,” Cr Tully said.

“The first half of next year might slow down, but then it will pick back up again. The whole Western Corridor is going to continue its boom.

“I think Ipswich and the Western Corridor will be Queensland’s pre-eminent area for development for the next 25 years.”

The UDIA report states that housing approvals dropped by 25% on average for the last decade across Queensland.

With Greater Springfield and other residential developments surging in Ipswich, Cr Tully said the city would feel the benefits of the population boom.

“Not only do you have Springfield, but places like Augustine Heights, Bellbird Park and Redbank Plans have a lot of development going on at the moment,” he said.

“With places like the Ripley Valley still to come, we can expect to keep this steady growth.It brings more money into the area, it creates jobs and creates more opportunities.”

Real Estate Institute of Queensland Ipswich zone chairman Peter Mendoza said Ipswich’s abundance of industrial land would propel growth in the years to come.

“There’s more industrial land here than anywhere else in south Queensland, and we’ll see more businesses move out here to take up that land,” he said.

“That will create more jobs and in turn get more people moving out here to fill that position. I think the demand for housing will continue to be strong – I can’t see it slowing.”