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A former state-owned energy site in Brisbane’s north will be converted into a mixed-use housing precinct with nearly 500 homes, the Crisafulli government announced, with work to begin on the vacant block within months.
The 6.4-hectare site on Blinzinger Road in Banyo was used by Energex as an electrical transformer refurbishment facility from the 1950s, but was decommissioned in 2007.
Demolition work to clear the site was done a decade later, but the block had sat vacant since.
On Monday, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie announced the site would be developed into a mixed-use housing precinct, featuring 207 townhouses, a 180-bed residential aged-care facility and 64 affordable units, delivered in partnership with Mission Australia Housing.
“People are going to see action on this site within months, and then construction early next year,” said Bleijie, who also serves as the state’s planning minister.
“We can’t get much quicker than this.”
However, the development has not been met with enthusiasm by all members of the north Brisbane community.
The Banyo site was earmarked for development by the government in February, as part of its newly announced Land Activation Program aimed at selling off state-owned land to boost housing supply.
Bleijie said the parcel, less than 15 kilometres from Brisbane’s CBD, had attracted 157 expressions of interest in the four months since it was put up for sale, which validated the government’s use of the private sector to boost housing supply.
“We have 21 hectares of land already out to market under the new Land Activation Program … [and] we have upwards of the possibility of unlocking 3000 hectares of state land that has been identified,” he said.
In February, a small group of locals gatecrashed the government’s press conference and told reporters they were concerned the development would add pressure to strained infrastructure.
“The roads are already blocked during peak hours around here. They’re only narrow streets,” Banyo resident Keith Bitossi said.
“[Bleijie] was just saying it’s meant to fit in with the community. Well, you look around here, it’s all low density. He’s talking medium density, and it’s all units.
“There are no units here. So how does this fit in?”
Bleijie said residents would have the opportunity to give feedback on the development, with all three developers behind the application to undertake consultation with the local community.
“[They] will put in development applications to EDQ [Economic Development Queensland], and that takes into consideration roads, traffic, transport, public transport networks, buses, trains,” Bleijie said.
“It also takes in sewerage, stormwater [and] flooding.”
The Banyo site was one of four areas declared a Provisional Priority Development Area by the government in May, allowing for local planning laws to be overridden to fast-track development.
Bleijie said the government was preparing to finalise the PPDA declaration “very shortly”.
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