Ipswich City Plan 2025 Unveiled to Build 100,000 New Homes
Ipswich, Queensland – May 30, 2025 – The City Of Ipswich is poised for a major transformation with the adoption of the Ipswich City Plan 2025. This enterprising plan aims to facilitate the construction of 100,000 new homes over the next two decades, directly addressing housing affordability and catering to the city’s rapidly growing population. The plan,recently endorsed by the Ipswich City Council,also incorporates a new Local Government Infrastructure Plan (Lgip) to support this unprecedented growth.
A Bold Vision For Ipswich’s Future
Mayor Teresa Harding emphasized that the Ipswich city Plan 2025 represents a notable milestone, the culmination of seven years of diligent work. the plan directly confronts the challenges and capitalizes on the opportunities presented by the city’s anticipated population boom. Ipswich’s population is expected to more than double by 2046, reaching over half a million residents. The city Plan replaces a planning scheme that is two decades old with a contemporary,fit-for-purpose scheme that will better allow Ipswich to respond to growth over the next 20 years.
“this New Planning Scheme Will Allow Ipswich, As One Of Australia’s Fastest Growing Communities, to Capitalise On The Opportunities And Address The Challenges that Come With Rapid Growth,” Mayor Harding Stated.
Key Components Of The Ipswich City Plan 2025
The Ipswich City Plan 2025 incorporates several key strategies to achieve its ambitious goals:
- Increased Housing Diversity: The plan seeks to diversify housing options to alleviate the housing shortage, homelessness, and overcrowding. It aims to increase the citywide housing stock from 92,700 to 192,400 homes.
- Focus On Building Up, Not Out: A key tenet of the plan is to promote vertical growth rather than urban sprawl. The streamlined approval process for secondary dwellings, such as granny flats, could potentially add 22,000 homes across Ipswich.
- Strategic Infrastructure Development: The Lgip is designed to ensure that necessary infrastructure keeps pace with population growth.
Balancing Growth And Character
Councillor Andrew Antoniolli,Chairperson Of The Infrastructure,Planning And Assets Committee,highlighted that the Ipswich City Plan 2025 represents a major upgrade from the previous planning scheme,which was established in 2004 when the city’s population was just 140,000. The new plan aims to strike a balance between residential, commercial, industrial, and green spaces.
Extensive community consultation played a crucial role in shaping the Ipswich City Plan 2025. With nearly 100,000 people engaged during the consultation period and over 500 submissions received, the plan reflects the community’s desire for affordable housing, streamlined development processes, and appropriate land zoning.
Did You Know? Ipswich is strategically located near Brisbane, offering residents access to urban amenities while maintaining a more affordable cost of living.
Gentle Density And Strategic Land Use
The Ipswich city Plan 2025 aligns with the South East Queensland Regional Plan (Shapingseq 2023) by promoting a greater range of housing forms, including increased gentle density housing between one and three storeys. This approach allows for increased densities in well-located areas near transport and services, such as Booval, Dinmore, Bundamba, Ebbw Vale, Riverview, Goodna, and Wulkuraka, while preserving the conventional character of established suburbs. The Ipswich City Plan allows well-located areas close to transport and services such as parts of Booval, Dinmore, Bundamba, Ebbw Vale, Riverview, Goodna and Wulkuraka to increase densities in the right locations, while protecting the traditional, detached-house character of established suburbs.
Council Plans To Collaborate With Other Levels Of Government To Attract Investment In Housing And Secure Funding For Essential Infrastructure, particularly Transport.
Ipswich City Plan 2025: Key Objectives
The Ipswich City Plan 2025 is built on several core objectives. The plan also has a modern approach to consideration of natural hazards, including flood and bushfire, meet the Shapingseq 2023 policy provisions for gentle density while exceeding targets for the number of medium and high-rise dwellings in the right locations, provide land for future employment to cater for the doubling of local jobs.
The plan also protects regionally and locally significant environmental corridors through a new biodiversity overlay, waterways and wetlands overlay, and conservation and environmental management zones. Include modernised development codes providing a best-practice approach to promote good development design,dwelling design and distribution,this will protect the lifestyle of Ipswich communities,including our established suburban and character residential areas,through appropriate zoning.
Pro Tip: Residents can access Ipswich City Plan 2025 online for interactive details on planning schemes and mapping.
Addressing Flood Risks
Given Ipswich’s susceptibility to flooding, the Ipswich City Plan 2025 places a strong emphasis on mitigating flood risks. New developments must not pose an unacceptable flood risk to people and property, or overburden disaster management capabilities. The Plan Ensures Developments Do Not pose An Unacceptable Risk To People And Property From Flooding, and also Not Putting Additional Burden On Our Disaster Management Capacity.
The urban Development Institute Of Australia (Udia) Has Welcomed Council’s Aim To Ensure Its Planning scheme Keeps Up To Date With The Ipswich Community’s Needs. The Ipswich city Plan 2025 Will Come Into Effect On July 1, 2025.
How Will This Ambitious Plan Impact The Character Of Ipswich? What Measures Are In Place To Ensure sustainable Development?
The Broader Context Of housing affordability In Queensland
the Ipswich City Plan 2025 arrives at a crucial time,as queensland grapples with a statewide housing crisis. According to a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare published in March 2024, housing affordability continues to be a significant challenge for many Queenslanders, particularly first-time homebuyers and low-income families. The situation is further compounded by rising construction costs and supply chain disruptions, which have made it more difficult for developers to deliver affordable housing options.
Recent Data From The real Estate Institute Of Queensland (reiq), Updated In April 2025, Shows That Median House Prices In Many Parts Of The State Have Increased By Double-digit Percentages Over The Past Year, Putting Homeownership Out Of Reach For Many. the Ipswich City Plan 2025 Represents A Proactive Step Towards Addressing This Challenge By Increasing Housing Supply And Promoting Diverse Housing Options.
Comparing Ipswich City Plan 2025 With Other Queensland Initiatives
Several other Queensland councils have also implemented initiatives to address housing affordability. Brisbane City Council, for example, has introduced incentives for developers to include affordable housing units in new developments. The Gold Coast City Council is focusing on increasing density in key areas to create more housing options. However, the scale of the Ipswich City Plan 2025, with its goal of adding 100,000 new homes, sets it apart as one of the most ambitious housing initiatives in the state.
| City | Key Housing Initiative | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Ipswich | Ipswich City Plan 2025 | 100,000 new homes over 20 years |
| Brisbane | Developer Incentives for Affordable housing | Varies by development |
| Gold Coast | Increased Density in Key Areas | Targeted density increases |
frequently Asked Questions About The ipswich City Plan 2025
- What Is The Main Goal Of The Ipswich City Plan? The main goal is to facilitate the construction of 100,000 new homes over the next 20 years to address housing affordability and cater to the city’s growing population.
- How Does The Ipswich City Plan Address The Issue Of Urban Sprawl? The Ipswich city Plan promotes building “up, not out,” encouraging vertical development and streamlined approval for secondary dwellings to reduce urban sprawl.
- What Is The Role Of The Local Government Infrastructure Plan (Lgip) In The Ipswich City Plan? The Local Government infrastructure Plan (Lgip) is designed to ensure that necessary infrastructure keeps pace with population growth in Ipswich.
- How Did Community Feedback Influence The Ipswich City Plan? Extensive community consultation, involving nearly 100,000 people and over 500 submissions, shaped the Ipswich City Plan to reflect community needs and preferences.
- What Measures Are Included In The Ipswich City Plan To Address Flood Risks? The Ipswich City Plan emphasizes mitigating flood risks by ensuring new developments do not pose unacceptable risks to people and property and do not overburden disaster management capabilities.
What are Your Thoughts On The Ipswich City Plan 2025? Share Your Comments Below!
