Rental properties in Brisbane’s CBD are being built on a “poverty-proof” basis, and the first of those projects will see a massive expansion of rental housing in the city’s inner-city.
The Brisbane City Council will hold a public meeting on Thursday at 3pm in the Brisbane Town Hall to discuss a draft housing strategy, which will see apartments built on land currently held by the Queensland government.
The new plans will see up to 20 new apartments in a single building in the CBD, which would be the largest apartment block ever to be built in Brisbane.
The council will be aiming to increase the number of apartments in the area by 30 per cent over the next five years, with a total of 2,500 apartments being built.
“It is about affordability, not just in the property market but in the overall housing market,” Queensland Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes told Al Jazeera.
The plan has sparked a backlash from some residents in the inner-west of Brisbane, who have expressed concerns about the scale of the plan. “
When the people of Brisbane are able to afford to live in a city with a high housing demand, then the Brisbane City Government can also afford to build more housing, and that will be a benefit for everyone in the community.”
The plan has sparked a backlash from some residents in the inner-west of Brisbane, who have expressed concerns about the scale of the plan.
“This is an incredible thing,” resident Andrew Leopold told the ABC.
“I’ve been on the corner and I’ve never seen anything like this before, it’s like a building boom.
It’s fantastic.”
“We have a housing problem here in the outer suburbs, and we don’t have the infrastructure or the capacity to build housing for people here.”
‘We are in a transition’ While Brisbane City Councillor Mike Baird and Queensland Infrastructure spokesperson Michael Pert were quick to defend the plans, some residents said they were “uncomfortable” with the plan and had voiced their concerns in public.
“There is no evidence that this will work and this is all speculation at this stage,” the ABC reported Pert saying.
“The housing strategy is very complex.
There is no guarantee that it will work, but the council have committed to a high level of investment in the areas that are being developed.”
The plans have also sparked anger from a small group of people who live in the Bowen Hills neighbourhood.
“Our people are living on the streets,” Bowen Hills resident Tony Brown told the Brisbane Sun.
This is not a solution’ The plan is being presented as a way to tackle a “housing crisis” but some residents have voiced concerns about its impact on the existing population. “
To just see a big building, we have a couple of apartments that are already occupied, it just doesn’t seem right.”‘
This is not a solution’ The plan is being presented as a way to tackle a “housing crisis” but some residents have voiced concerns about its impact on the existing population.
“If you have a large number of people living in a small area, then there is a greater risk of violence and conflict,” Brisbane resident Tom McNeill told the Courier Mail.
“A lot of the people who are in the Inner East and inner West are already on the edge.
He said the plan was a “fantasy”. “
Why would they want to live here?”
He said the plan was a “fantasy”.
“I’m not sure if it’s going to solve the housing problem or not,” he said.
“For the council, this is a fantasy, and I think they’re being naive.” “
‘The problem is too big’ A spokesperson for the Queensland Housing Federation, which is pushing for the plan, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the government “has never really prioritised housing”. “
For the council, this is a fantasy, and I think they’re being naive.”
‘The problem is too big’ A spokesperson for the Queensland Housing Federation, which is pushing for the plan, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the government “has never really prioritised housing”.
“This strategy does not address the underlying problems that Brisbane is facing, and does nothing to address the problem of unaffordable housing, overcrowding and a lack of affordable, accessible housing,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the plans “will only help to exacerbate” the problem, and argued that it would “do nothing to improve the quality of housing”.
The Queensland Government’s Housing Plan has previously been criticised by residents, including a petition to remove the plan from the Queensland Government website.
“In our view, the proposed strategy for the Bowen Heights community is not the solution to Brisbane’s housing crisis,” the petition, which has been signed by more than 2,000 people, reads.
“Instead, this strategy would only help exacerbate the problem by adding hundreds of thousands of new residents, increasing homelessness and driving up rents.”