MEGA PLAN FOR ESTATE
A $1 BILLION masterplanned suburb will soon be marketed as the last chance to build the Aussie dream close enough to get views of the Glitter Strip.
But the Bulletin can reveal the 342-hectare Pacific View Estate at Worongary presents a dramatic change in planning direction for the Gold Coast.
Unlike the catch-up being played out in the city’s fastgrowing north, the State Government and Gold Coast City Council will do the heavy lifting on planning infrastructure before a sod is turned on the new 3500-home suburb.
A $1 BILLION master planned suburb will soon be marketed as the last chance to build the Aussie dream close enough to get views of the Glitter Strip.
But the Bulletin can reveal the Pacific View Estate at Worongary presents a dramatic change in planning direction for the Gold Coast.
As the new home for up to 12,000 residents, the massive greenfield site between Nerang and Mudgeeraba will ease population pressure.
But before much of the Hinterland super suburb is built, the State Government and Gold Coast City Council will do the heavy lifting on planning infrastructure.
Work is under way upgrading the area’s water and sewer system, commitments have been made for a new railway station and assessments are starting on a new school.
Unlike the catch-up being played out in the city’s fastgrowing north, the new Hinterland residents will not be queued on an off-ramp for up to an hour waiting to get on to the Pacific Motorway.
Families in the morning peak hour were taking 23 minutes to crawl 150 metres to reach an on-ramp from Yalwalpah Rd on to the M1 at Pimpama in the Coast’s north.
Pacific View Estate fronts an upgraded six-lane M1, residents will be able to cycle to a new railway station and arterial roads are being planned now to cater for expected traffic in 10 years.
The suburb was planned after the Perth-based Perron Group bought the 342ha parcel of vacant land that had belonged to reclusive millionaire Robert “Spiney Bob’’ Anthes, who died in 2004.
In March 2015, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad announced the government had approved the project after a call-in, predicting it would provide a $3.2 billion boost to the economy and about 2700 jobs during the construction phase
The project’s web page says the development is “planned to come to the market in 2018” and will be built over stages in the next 10 years.
The developer is reluctant to put up a set time line but council insiders forecast sales will begin next year and construction will start in 2020.
Hinterland councillor Glenn Tozer told the Bulletin: “In the 2016-17 budget, more than $14 million was allocated to the Merrimac west sewer augmentation project. The sewer and wastewater upgrade in that precinct was in anticipation of development like this.
“We have Hinkler Dve receiving future capital works, we have the M1 expansion done there, and we have the M1 works southbound in progress.
“We’ve done a number of significant projects to make the traffic much better. There is more to do and we need to spend more on the road network.”
Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon confirmed Education Queensland would continue to assess the needs of the new Coast suburb and monitor population trends.
“The Gold Coast’s population is expected to reach 928,000 over the next 25 years, with the area requiring approximately 159,000 new dwellings by 2041,” Ms Scanlon said. “It is anticipated Pacific View Estate will provide approximately 3500 dwellings.”
Documents show the government required the developer to complete several major technical studies.
The estate’s development code allows for lots ranging from 180sqm to 1500sqm and apartment buildings up to eight storeys.
A village centre with maximum ground floor space of 15,000sq m is likely to have a supermarket chain as an anchoring client.
The estate’s planning allows for an industrial precinct that would include manufacturing and storage facilities.
The east-west corridor provides for a “central green open space spine” to provide a breathing space across the suburb.
The government has asked the developer provide designs for new intersections along Hinkler Dve, the western arterial road running beside the M1. The plans would need to show what land had to be acquired and that the intersections would be safe.
Documents also show the developer must pay a road network contribution fee of $1169 per dwelling to Queensland Transport.
Project development manager Chris Alston, of CRA Group, declined to speculate on a starting date, saying “we are still in the planning approval phase”.
“We’re working through all that from a Federal and State Government perspective. Council commenced the sewer works. That was a good job that they did there,” Mr Alston said.
The developer was given no guarantee of timing of the planned Merrimac railway station, which is to be one of three new Coast stop-offs as part of the Cross River Rail upgrade.
But Labor says it intends to make good on its last election promise made by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The other new railway stations will be at growth areas Pimpama and Helensvale North.
While the developers had been given the tick for buildings up to eight storeys, they caution that the intensity of development would be dictated by market demand.
“Greenfield opportunities for house and land on the Gold Coast is a diminishing resource. It’s well placed with its centralised location, infrastructure rich with the motorway on front door,” Mr Alston said.
“This is about families, and giving the ability for people to secure the great Australian dream of a house on a block of land that’s usable with modern benefits of a true master planned estate.”
This is about families, and giving the ability for people to secure the great Australian dream