Public consultation will open next month (April) for Ipswich City Council’s Riverview Urban Village planning and development guidelines.
Planning, Development and Heritage Committee Chairperson Cr David Morrison said landowners in the core study area and the wider community would be given 20 business days to make submissions.
“The Ipswich Planning Scheme seeks to foster the development of strong, compact and connected mixed use activity centres and complete communities through transport and land use integration,” he said.
“Accessibility to railway stations has been a key focus of public transport opportunities and is a particular feature of the established neighbourhoods along the railway line to the east of the Ipswich City Centre.
“The area surrounding the Riverview railway station, and particularly the area located between the railway line and the Ipswich Motorway that is currently included in a Local Business and Industry Zone has seen very limited development in recent years.
“The area comprises a mixture of service and trades and light industrial uses that are relatively limited in number, interspersed with housing and vacant land, including areas where demolition of housing and a former local centre has occurred.
“Recently, council has received an application to develop medium density dwellings on a vacant large 2.5hectare site located on McEwan Street between Station Street and Endeavour Road, and the Ipswich Motorway.”
Division 3 Councillor Kerry Silver said the draft guideline had been prepared to provide planning and development guidance to transition the existing local business and industry area and the surrounding area immediately to the north of the railway station into an urban village with excellent access to public transport.
“The guideline, while recognising existing uses, allows for the transitioning of the area to medium to high density residential uses in the form of a broad, non-prescriptive framework to guide the redevelopment of the area that is responsive to future market investment,” she said.
