Chermside to Magic Mile: Sneak peek at shape of Brisbane to come
November 2024
Chermside could become Brisbane’s mini Parramatta, while Moorooka’s Magic Mile could swap its car yards for bike paths under bold urban renewal plans.
What Chermside could look like along Gympie Rd looking north towards the Westfield shopping centre. Picture: Suburban Futures by MODE Design, source: Future QLD
Chermside could become Brisbane’s mini Parramatta, while Moorooka’s Magic Mile could swap its car yards for bike paths under bold urban renewal plans for under-utilised areas of South East Queensland.
The growing suburbs are among key areas identified by some of the city’s best planning minds that could be transformed into thriving suburban business centres.
Brisbane has grown faster than any other capital city over the past decade, with more than 400,000 people expected to move to the city by 2046.
This story is part of The Courier-Mail’s annual Future Brisbane series advocating for a focus on the right legacy outcomes from the hosting of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. You can read all our coverage here
Suburban Futures director Ross Elliott, who is also chair of the Lord Mayor’s Better Suburbs Initiative, said in the lead up to 2032 and beyond, Brisbane’s CBD needed to become less of a focus for urban renewal investment.
State budget papers reveal more than $20bn in capital purchases have been allocated to the “Inner City” between 2012-13 and 2024-25, compared to $18.6bn for the Brisbane North, South, East and West regions combined.
A Runcorn Central concept by ZENX Architects
“There’s been a lot of focus on what goes on within the inner city, and we forget, at our peril, that nine out of 10 people get up from a suburban bed, in a suburban home and go to a suburban place of work,” he said.
Mr Elliott said there were 16,000 jobs alone in Chermside, predominantly in health.
He said that could surge over time to 50,000 with the right urban planning.
“Chermside could be like a mini Parramatta to Brisbane, like what Parramatta is to Sydney quite easily,” he said.
“It’s got magnificent open space all around Marchant Park and Downfall Creek as an active transport corridor that has got very significant potential, like the Kedron Brook, to carry an awful lot of people and connect them to the precincts where most people work.
“We’ve got a housing issue, but my view is we also have to start with both jobs and social infrastructure.”
Rio 2016 organisers were determined to use their Games as a catalyst to improve the city’s urban quality of life, infrastructure and social cohesion.
Areas suffering from neglect, decaying infrastructure and abandoned buildings, including Rio’s old port district, were a target for revitalisation.
Mr Elliott said the opportunity for Moorooka was to transition from an automotive and industrial hub to a greener area with more housing density if it was rezoned.
An artist’s impression of the southbound side of the Magic Mile on Ipswich Rd shows a wider, greener, accessible path, planted median strip and possible developments.
Magic Mile Moorooka: Before
Magic Mile Moorooka: After, by Arcadia
“We changed the zoning way back in the day to allow more density in New Farm, but it took a long time so people that wanted to stay there could,” he said.
“The same could happen that at Moorooka. There are some very large land holdings in that area.”
More than 70ha of land have already been identified in Brisbane City Council’s Suburban Renewal Precincts Program including in Yeronga, Runcorn, Alderley, Moorooka, Kedron and Nundah.
Planning is advancing to transition a 16.5ha site – dubbed Runcorn Central – from heavy industrial use to a new transit-oriented, mixed use community with residential apartments, commercial spaces and new open space. It remains subject to a development application.
Runcorn Central Investments project director John Huang said: “It will deliver much needed, new and diverse housing, enhance employment opportunities and economic activity, and improve the vibrancy and amenity of Runcorn.”
Wynnum’s centre is also set to transform as the council’s next Suburban Renewal Precinct Plan with public consultation to begin in early 2025.
The vision for the Wynnum Centre includes new housing, a revitalisation of the town centre, more opportunities for employment, education and services, improved connectivity between the precinct, the foreshore and public transport networks and better public landscaping.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Brisbane had an exciting future and suburban renewal was a critical legacy the growing city needed.
“The steps we’re taking today will ensure Brisbane continues to be a great place to live, work and relax as it continues to grow,” he said.
“We’re striking a balance by encouraging more homes in well-located areas while protecting tin and timber suburbs.”
SOURCE: Suburban Futures