ON the front page of last week’s Local Ipswich News North Ipswich developer Geoff Booth labelled Ipswich Council as one of the worst in Queensland for delaying development approvals.
Council was asked to respond to the criticism.
Here is their statement in full: “In 2021, the Ipswich local government area had 86,581 residential dwellings; this is expected to reach 99,938 residential dwellings by 2026 alone, and 192,398 by 2046.
By 2046, Ipswich is expected to be home to 533,802 residents.
Council is committed to ensuring residential development continues apace to meet demand, and as an organisation we are always looking to improve and will continue to focus on doing all that we can within the legislative framework to consider and process development applications on a timely basis.
Council’s expert planning team processes thousands of development applications each year, from straightforward applications for home extensions to major and complex subdivisions for our rapidly growing population.
Major development in Ipswich is continuing at breakneck speed, particularly across our growth fronts of Ripley Valley and Springfield, while infill development continues in other parts of the city including the city centre.
Each development application is different and must be carefully considered.
Applications for particularly complex sites, such as that at North Ipswich, often require further information before a determination can be made.
This is important to ensure the best outcomes for the Ipswich community and the residents who will ultimately live in the proposed developments.
Every application is handled under the Planning Act’s legislated timeframes.
In 2021-2022, council’s planning team accepted and processed 1,300 development applications, up seven per cent from the year prior.
In the same time frame, council’s planning team determined 1,244 development applications – up 16 per cent from the year prior.
Full details of council’s planning and regulatory services performance is publicly available on our Ipswich Planning website.
Council’s planning team works daily with developers on major development applications that are frequently on highly complex sites with challenges such as complicated topography, restrictions such as flood zoning or heritage overlays, or other planning constraints.
It is understandable that in some instances it will take the development industry sometime to finalise their responses due to the nature of these complexities.
All documents for individual development applications are publicly available on council’s development.i website.
