The construction of a new northbound bridge at the notorious Centenary Bottleneck Motorway over the Brisbane River at Jindalee has been delayed until 2023.
Key points:
The $244 million Centenary Bridge upgrade, in Brisbane’s west, has been delayed to 2023
Work to improve the major bottleneck was due to start this year
Transport Minister Mark Bailey says an alternate bid for the project has to be investigated
The $244 million project involves duplicating the Centenary Bridge and converting the existing bridge to a three-lane southbound route, with a new three-lane bridge traveling northbound.
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said contract issues had complicated the upgrade’s timeline, with delays due to an alternate bid being submitted for the project that required “thorough due diligence” before work could proceed.
“[The delay is] unfortunate but not a huge delay, so we’re getting it built as soon as we possibly can,” Mr Bailey said.
“We’ll certainly see construction start next year.”
He said the bridge upgrade was a critical part of the Centenary Motorway upgrades throughout the west of Brisbane.
“Without the bridge [upgrade] whatever other work you do is still going to grind to a halt with limited lanes across the river,” he said.
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crash zone
The Centenary Motorway currently carries 85,000 vehicles daily, with use expected to balloon out to 152,000 vehicles daily by 2036, as the population of Ipswich, Springfield and western Brisbane booms.
Between 2010 and 2016, the motorway recorded nearly 200 crashes.
The RACQ’s monthly travel speed data reported that in May 2022, Brisbane’s slowest inbound morning traffic was just 25 kilometers per hour on the Centenary Motorway from the Ipswich Motorway to Dandenong Road, adding nearly nine minutes to the morning commute.
The bridge upgrade, jointly funded by the federal and state governments, is one of several road upgrades along the Ipswich corridor, including a recently completed $80 million upgrade to the Sumners Road interchange at Jamboree Heights.
Another $10 million in federal funding has been set aside to investigate more upgrades along the Centenary Motorway through to Ipswich.
Mr Bailey said, to date, the bridge upgrade’s budget remained at $244 million, but department planners were closely monitoring the global inflation of construction materials.
A Brisbane school has clinched a deal with Manchester City to train the next generation of soccer champions through a new football program.
Key points:
Manchester City will establish a football school in partnership with St Laurence’s College, south Brisbane campus
It will include the coaching philosophy and methodology of Manchester City
A Manchester City coach will be employed at the school and students can train both during and after school
English Premier League’s Manchester City has established the state’s only Manchester City Football School at St Laurence’s College.
The football school will involve coaching programs delivered by a Manchester City coach for the St Laurence’s College students, making use of the FIFA-certified artificial football pitch at the college’s South Brisbane campus.
St Laurence’s College principal Chris Leadbetter told ABC Radio Brisbane the partnership had been in the works for some time, and he had struggled to not tell the students the exciting news.
Manchester City Football School has launched at St Laurence’s College in Brisbane.(Supplied: St Laurence’s College)
“They’ll implement a program in Year 5 to 7, it will be within the curriculum and also outside school hours,” Mr Leadbetter said.
“In Year 8 to Year 12 it will be a co-curriculum program, so before and after school, at our fields at the school or at our fields at Runcorn.
“So we’re very excited.”
While participation in the program is only open to St Laurence College students, budding soccer players from other schools will have the opportunity to participate in school holiday clinics.
“We are offering the program outside the school for next year and the year after, and there’s an information session at the college on September 7, to talk about the program,” Mr Leadbetter said.
The managing director of Football Education and Recreation for City Football Group Jorgina Busquets said it was a pleasure to bring the coaching philosophy and methodology of Manchester City to St Laurence’s College.
“As an organization we have a defined and innovative style when it comes to playing football and ensure that fun and development are intertwined as part of the experience,” she said.
The mayors of two booming south-east Queensland councils say funding for critical infrastructure to support hundreds of thousands of incoming residents is falling short of demand.
Key points:
Ipswich, Logan and Moreton Bay are bearing the brunt of south-east Queensland’s booming population
Mayors say they need more funding to cope with infrastructure shortfalls
The region’s population is expected to grow by 2 million people to 5.3 million by 2041
Ipswich, Logan and Moreton Bay councils on the west, south and north of Brisbane are all doing the “heavy lifting” of welcoming south-east Queensland’s booming population.
But Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding and Logan Mayor Darren Power both say they need more funding to build trunk infrastructure — roads, stormwater, public transport and community facilities — to cope with the influx of new residents expected over the coming decade.
“To me there’s an inequitable distribution of how the money is being spent,” Ms Harding said.
“We’re the fastest growing area in Queensland yet we’re not getting that corresponding funding.”
Masterplanned communities are seeing rapid growth as more residents flock to Queensland.(ABC News: Elizabeth Pickering)
Mr Power said Logan was “getting the rough end of the pineapple” without any major infrastructure commitments such as new sporting facilities.
“We’re [welcoming] 10,000 people a year, Ipswich is doing 6,000 a year, Moreton is probably doing more than us, and … we’re not even getting the infrastructure,” Mr Power said.
“They’re putting all the Olympic facilities in and around the city [but] forget Logan — you’re going to do the heavy lifting, but we’re not giving you anything.”
Population on the up and up
South-east Queensland’s population is expected to grow by 2 million people to 5.3 million by 2041.
Moreton Bay’s population will rise by 210,000 to 690,000 by 2041.
Ipswich is predicted to increase from 240,000 to 520,000 people by 2041.
Logan expects to grow from 345,000 in 2021 to 500,000 in 2036.
All three councils are now developing new planning schemes as they grapple with where to house so many new residents.
Priority Development Areas were designed by the state government to house thousands of new residents.(ABC NewsAlice Pavlovic)
Councils are also working with the state government on a new regional plan to replace 2017’s Shaping SEQ, expected to be finalized in the next two years.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said almost 50,000 new residential lots had been unlocked since October 2020.
“We understand that it’s not just about unlocking new lots to help with housing availability, we also need to ensure that people, goods and services can efficiently move around and that there is access to affordable housing, green space, schools and health services,” Mr Miles said.
Priority development areas
State agency Economic Development Queensland manages three 12-year-old south-east Queensland priority development areas (PDAs): Ripley Valley in Ipswich, and Greater Flagstone and Yarrabilba in Logan.
Ripley Valley is set to house 131,000 people, Flagstone 138,000, and Yarrabilba 50,000.
The newest PDA is Caboolture West in Moreton Bay, set to house another 70,000 people, with negotiations now focused on the suburb’s critical infrastructure.
The planned Caboolture West PDA could house up to 70,000 people in Moreton Bay.(Supplied)
The state charges property developers in PDAs a per-lot infrastructure contribution.
Flagstone’s is set at about $47,000 per residential lot, of which $5,000 is a “catalyst” charge for critical infrastructure, and $1,000 for public transport.
In Ripley, the developer charge is about $35,000 per lot.
distant communities
Caboolture West and Ripley Valley are within 15 minutes’ drive of their city centers, but both Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone PDAs are 20 to 30 kilometers south-west of Logan Central, nearly 30 minutes’ drive.
“We would never, never develop Flagstone and Yarrabilba, because it’s too far away and it’s stretching our resources,” Mr Power said.
“[EDQ is] expecting us to fill in the gaps between where the developer [contribution] ends and where Flagstone and Yarrabilba starts.”
Darren Power currently serves as the Mayor of the City of Logan.(ABC News: Chris Gillette)
Mr Miles said a $150 million Catalyst Infrastructure Fund provided money to developers to “accelerate” infrastructure within PDAs.
“To date, EDQ has provided $45 million to the Ripley Valley PDA and $106 million to the Greater Flagstone PDA in catalyst infrastructure funding to assist in providing significant trunk infrastructure to facilitate development,” Mr Miles said.
Three-scheme Ipswich
For Ipswich, planning problems are three-fold.
Ipswich has two masterplanned communities — Ripley Valley, and the city of Springfield, masterplanned by a private owner to become an entire city.
Only last week, the council sent off a fast-tracked new planning scheme to Mr Miles for review, to replace its current 16-year-old scheme.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding says money is not being spent equitably.(ABC News: Rachel McGhee)
“That’s three planning schemes for us to work with, three different ways to interact with the state government, and developers as well,” Ms Harding said.
And while more new homes means more rates in council coffers, it will still take decades to recoup millions spent now on new roads, water and sewers.
regional funding
Ms Harding said she wanted a clear commitment that the regions facing the most growth would receive funding proportional to their needs.
“If there’s a regional plan where a council is being asked to commit to certain population growths, I would like some type of commitment for a corresponding amount of money or proportion of money spent on trunk infrastructure,” she said.
“Because it’s not happening at the moment.”
Mr Miles said the $50 million Growth Acceleration Fund would help fund critical trunk infrastructure outside of PDAs, including Caboolture West.
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles.(ABC News: Lucas Hill)
He also cited the $1.8 billion City Deal, which includes a $210 million “growth areas compact”, funding Caboolture West infrastructure, and business cases for Logan and Ipswich transport corridors to Flagstone, Yarrabilba and Springfield.
“I look forward to continuing to work with all Mayors to plan for and invest in South East Queensland’s growing future,” Mr Miles said.
The Queensland premier has flagged the cost of redeveloping the Gabba for the 2032 Games could increase beyond the proposed $1 billion price tag.
Key points:
The Queensland government had originally proposed a $1 billion redevelopment of the Gabba for the 2032 Olympics based on cost estimates at the time
The Premier has acknowledged there has been an increase of supply and material shortages
Ms Palaszczuk said the final costings would be made public
It comes after Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was comfortable with plans for both the Gabba and Brisbane Live after concerns were raised last week additional construction was needed to allow the venues to be built for the 2032 Olympics.
Speaking at a media conference yesterday Ms Palaszczuk said there would be a business case for the Gabba redevelopment, with the government “working through all those issues at the moment”.
When asked how the government had determined the redevelopment would cost $1 billion, Ms Palaszczuk said it was based on cost estimates at the time.
“Of course now we understand that there’s been a lot of increase in … shortages of supply and materials, they’re worldwide issues,” she said.
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Should the Gabba be demolished and rebuilt for the Olympics?
When the premier was asked if she anticipated the redevelopment would cost more than $1 billion, she said they do not have the final costs yet.
“But of course we’ll absolutely reveal those to the public,” she said.
Speculation about the size of the Gabba redevelopment has increased in recent weeks with concerns the planned upgrades will impact the local road network including Vulture and Stanley Streets, key thoroughfares through Woolloongabba.
Last week, it was reported a proposal to tunnel under the streets had been put forward but that would significantly increase the $1 billion cost of the Gabba redevelopment.
Meanwhile, the question of East Brisbane State School’s future remains unanswered. The heritage school tucked under the shadow of the Gabba stadium will have to be relocated to make way for the stadium expansion.
At parliamentary estimates hearings last week, ministers were grilled on plans for the school’s future.
Education Minister Grace Grace admitted there are still no concrete plans for the school, as the Gabba redevelopment is in such early stages of planning.
“We do not know the footprint. We do not know the design. We have a schematic sketch,” Ms Grace.
“We are still stabbing in the dark. It is still 10 years away, but I recognize that the stadium probably needs to build for the future,” she said.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles told estimates that the education department “has been undertaking long-term planning for the East Brisbane State School and the surrounding primary school network”.
The proposal also involves a 50-50 spending split with the Commonwealth and Queensland government.
“We’ve got an infrastructure spend from the Commonwealth and state but let me say very clearly that what we signed up to with the International Olympic Committee — we will be delivering,” Ms Palaszczuk said yesterday.
The Brisbane Times reported in July the Australian government was still considering the Queensland government’s proposed package for transport and infrastructure projects to support the Games.
On Monday Ms Palaszczuk said the Commonwealth and State have “agreed with the infrastructure spend”.
“A lot of our infrastructure spending, over $50 billion over four years is actually already factored in when you’re talking about transport, Cross River Rail, Road upgrades,” she said.
Queensland councils want to mandate flood risk disclosures for property buyers, with one south-east mayor describing the move as “common sense”.
Key points:
A property’s flood risk should be disclosed to potential buyers, Queensland councils say
The new push comes as hundreds of homeowners register for voluntary buy-backs after the recent floods
The government is considering a statutory disclosure scheme but the LGAQ says it’s not strong enough
Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Peter Flannery said his council would take the proposal to the Local Government Association of Queensland conference in October.
“Personally, I think this is common sense and some property buyers are entitled to know prior to purchase,” Mr Flannery said.
“This might be as simple as mandatory disclosures of flood and other natural hazard risks during the property conveyancing process or other due diligence searches.
“I think this is an important and easy change for the state government, and I’m confident of getting the support of Queensland’s other councils.”
So far, more than 4,250 residents have registered their interest to have their homes raised, rebuilt or voluntarily bought back under the state’s $741 million Resilient Homes Fund, announced after the February floods.
Of the 443 home owners registered for a voluntary buy-back, 70 per cent live in Brisbane and Ipswich.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner threw his support behind Moreton Bay’s proposal.
“You wouldn’t buy a home without first getting a pest inspection, yet flooding risks can be so much destructive and costly than termites,” Mr Schrinner said.
“It makes sense that buyers should be fully aware of any flood or natural disaster risks before buying.”
Proposed seller disclosure program
Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles says Queensland “has to do better” to account for the impacts of climate change.
“In the short term, we’re looking at ways to make it easier and quicker for local governments to change their local planning schemes to respond to the effects of flooding,” he said.
“We’re also looking at ways to make sure natural hazard risk is disclosed to prospective buyers, so they’re aware of potential risks.”
Queensland is calling for submissions on a proposed statutory seller disclosure program.
Currently, it has no formal system, with sellers having to meet a mix of common law, statutory and contractual obligations.
Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Alison Smith said mandating flood risk disclosure would put Queensland on a par with NSW and Victoria.
“The state is currently calling for submissions on its proposed statutory seller disclosure requirements, and the LGAQ and its member councils will be submitting that the current draft does not go far enough, and should include floods and other natural hazard information,” she said.
Flood mapping complicated
But Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella said while mandating disclosure sounded simple, it could become complex when determining what a property’s level of flood risk was.
Ms Mercorella said local governments already provided detailed flood mapping, but even so, some residents were still caught by surprise when floods hit.
“Flooding happens for a number of reasons, so we need to be careful about what even constitutes a flood, what are the causes of a flood,” she said.
“Flood mapping is becoming more sophisticated. It’s becoming more reliable, but ultimately Mother Nature keeps surprising us.
“Just because a property hasn’t flooded previously, I don’t think that necessarily means it won’t flood in the future.
“And similarly, just because a property has flooded in the past doesn’t necessarily mean it will flood again in the future.”
A commercial landfill company blamed for a rotten egg smell causing chronic problems for Ipswich residents since the February floods may have to permanently close and rehabilitate the affected landfill cell.
Key points:
A landfill site in Ipswich has been blamed for a ‘rotten egg’ smell for months
The site flooded in February and the Department of Environment and Science has been investigating
The department has indicated they want Cleanaway to close and remedy the cell permanently
Cleanaway’s New Chum landfill site was overwhelmed with stormwater during the floods earlier this year, inundating a newly excavated landfill cell with 140 million liters of water.
The water quickly fermented into leachate, causing an unbearable smell that prompted Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding to call for a health inquiry.
The Department of Environment and Science demurred on that point, but launched a formal investigation into the issues and recently notified Cleanaway that it intended to change the environmental regulations governing the site.
A department spokesperson said Cleanaway had until September 6 to respond to the notice of intention to amend the environmental authority.
Ms Harding said it was a “good outcome”.
“Cleanaway will have to go to the state with their plan of what they’re going to do, but the state has directed them to close that cell, to not receive any waste, and to make sure it’s fully rehabilitated,” she told ABC Radio Brisbane.
Clean-up underground
At parliamentary estimates last week, the director-general of the Department of Environment and Science, Jamie Merrick, confirmed the department planned to amend Cleanaway’s environmental authority.
“No waste would be permitted to be deposited in the cell,” Mr Merrick said.
“Cleanaway would be required to remediate it fully and see those works peer-reviewed to prevent any ground and surface water infiltration into the cell to prevent erosion and restore it, resulting in a safe, stable and non-polluting landform condition.”
Mr Merrick said the compliance response to the flooding issue in February was one of the largest in the department’s history, with more than 60 staff involved and daily reports from Cleanaway.
Cleanaway’s general manager of solid waste services for Queensland, Suzanne Wauchope, said the company had been notified of the environment department’s proposal but had not yet been directed to close the cell.
“We received the notice to say they’re proposing to change our environmental authority, but nothing has actually happened as yet and it won’t until that process is complete,” she said.
More than 60 environment department staffers have worked on the response.(Supplied: Department of Environment and Science)
Ms Wauchope said the amount of water in the affected cell was down to just 11,000 megalitres, but since then Cleanaway had been successful in reducing the smell and impact on local residents.
“Our stormwater management system was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of water that actually fell in February,” Ms Wauchope said.
“It just so happened that, at the time, we were doing some construction works, which does mean we created a big hole and we were busy lining that hole ready to take waste.”
costly exercise
In a June update to investors, Cleanaway said remediation costs for the site were estimated at $30–40 million.
The company closed the entire New Chum site in April, with investors told it was unlikely to be reopened until 2023.
Ms Wauchope said the company expected the last 11,000 megalitres to be gone from the cell by the end of August.
The contaminated water is being treated and taken to sewer points off-site, with air monitoring data reporting steadily lower discharge levels of hydrogen sulphide.
She said the company was fully committed to working with the environmental department and the community to resolve the issue.
“We want to do the right thing by the environment at the end of the day,” Ms Wauchope said.
“We deliver a really important public service to the community, which is to help the community remove their waste and deal with it appropriately, which is exactly what we seek to do in our landfill.”
Ms Harding said Ipswich City Council had been contacted by the Department of Environment and Science regarding potential breaches of Cleanaway’s operating permits.
“An initial review of the department’s request indicates there is no evidence to support council taking compliance action against Cleanaway,” she said.
“Of course, we will continue to monitor and review the situation closely.”
Taxpayers have forked out $3.8 million to remove a flood-damaged restaurant from Brisbane’s Bicentennial Bikeway and river after it was damaged in this year’s floods.
Key points:
The 200-tonne structure was pushed up onto the Bicentennial Bikeway during flooding earlier this year
The state government in March instructed the Queensland Reconstruction Authority to use its powers to remove it
The lessee said he had not been contacted by the state government regarding the $3.8m removal
The structure of the former floating restaurant known as Drift was swept onto the Bicentennial Bikeway during the late February floods.
The state government then enacted special powers to remove the 200-tonne pontoon in late March, under the Queensland Reconstruction Authority Act, which had only been exercised once before following the 2011 floods.
The state government in late March said an independent engineering report had found serious safety issues with the structure, warning “in its current state, the pontoon is considered to be at risk of immediate and sudden collapse.”
Workers in April began cutting the structure into several sections in order to remove it from the bikeway.
While the structure blocked the bikeway, Brisbane City Council converted one lane of Coronation Drive into a two-way bikeway and introduced a 40 kilometer per hour speed limit in the area.
The bikeway fully reopened on June 10.
The lessee, Brisbane businessman Ken Allsop, told ABC Radio Brisbane in March that he had wanted to reopen the venue.
Speaking today Mr Allsop said he had not been contacted by the state government regarding the cost of the removal, and would not be paying for it.
“I haven’t been asked to pay it. They decided to do it, and I wanted to put it back together,” he said.
Commuters using the new Cross River Rail network will face “wins and losses” when traveling from 2025, a rail lobbyist says.
Key points:
The new network plan for the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail was released on Tuesday
Transport Minister Mark Bailey says the program is on budget and on schedule
Rail routes through the CBD will be significantly shifted from 2025
Under the new South East Queensland Rail Connect plan released on Tuesday several existing rail lines will be rerouted.
The Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines will bypass Central station and travel directly through the Cross River Rail tunnel to Woolloongabba, Albert, and Roma Street stations before continuing northward to the Sunshine Coast.
The Ferny Grove line will be linked up with the Cleveland line instead of the current Beenleigh line, and the Airport line linked up with the Ipswich line.
‘Sound’ railplan
Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow, who received a briefing on the plan before it was published, said overall the new network would allow significantly more trains to run daily.
“We think [the plan] is the best structuring in terms of how the tunnel is configured with the track layouts north and south of the tunnel,” he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
“It will mean that people in some cases will have to change how they travel.”
The switch of the airport line onto the Ipswich spine will require travelers from the north to change at Eagle Junction or Roma Street to get to Brisbane Airport.
Southern travelers to the airport will also need to change at Roma Street.
The new rail network that will operate from 2025 when Cross River Rail comes online.(Supplied: Queensland Government)
Overall, Mr Dow said, the new network was sound, noting bus connections would also need to change to match the new system in 2025.
Gold Coast concerns
But Gold Coast Major Tom Tate questioned why the new network ended the direct line between his city and the Brisbane Airport.
“Something isn’t right when the two biggest cities in Queensland, with two major international airports, won’t have a direct air train service,” Mr Tate said.
“I accept that the services from the coast to Brisbane city will be faster but having to change for an airport connection is a huge disincentive.
“The whole intent of Cross River Rail is more services, faster services and greater reliability. That seems to not apply to the critical airport direct services.”
core promises
Transport Minister Mark Bailey said there was “a lot of logic” in the new network which made the most use of the new underground tunnels.
He said the new network would significantly improve access to The Gabba for sporting and cultural events while CBD workers would find it more convenient.
A concept image of the Albert Street Cross River Rail station in the center of Brisbane.(Supplied: Queensland Government)
“A lot of people, for instance, get out at South Bank and South Brisbane at the moment and walk across the bridges because the current system is so circuitous,” he said.
“They’ll be able to go directly to Albert Street, get out and go to their place of work within a block or two. It’s going to be fantastic.”
On Tuesday, opposition transport spokesman Steve Minnikin grilled Mr Bailey on the total cost of Cross River Rail during parliamentary estimates, questioning the project’s $5.4 billion price tag.
Mr Minnikin said the “core” cost of Cross River Rail did not include millions for additional projects that were critical to the network’s future success, including $301 million for the Clapham Yard Stabling in Moorooka and $327 million for a new European train control system.
Mr Bailey said his advice was the project was “on budget” and his department was monitoring the impacts of rising inflation on construction materials.
Meanwhile, Brisbane City Council recently launched a review of its bus network ahead of the $1.7 billion Brisbane Metro coming online in late 2024.
The on-demand Metro buses will run regularly along the south-eastern busway and connect with Cross River Rail at Roma Street and Woolloongabba.
Plans for exactly how the Metro will integrate with those two rail stations are still to be determined.
