infrastructure
Developer demands extension to Ipswich rail line
RIPLEY residents need access to effective and affordable transport, sooner rather than later.
That’s the message from Sekisui House the developers of major residential precinct Ecco Ripley who have joined calls from civic leaders for work to start on Ipswich’s rail line expansion now.
The Labor State Government maintains it will build the promised extensions to the rail network, including two new stations at Ripley; Ripley North and Ripley Town Centre.
No date has been set and no budget allocated, however, the land for a future passenger line has been preserved since 2009.
Ripley is among the fastest growing suburbs in the state and in 2013 was designated by the State Government as a priority area for development, destined to be home to 120,000 people in the next 20 years.
Ripley Town Centre development manager Taku Hashimoto said Ripley and the surrounding area was on the cusp of some of the most significant projected population growth in Queensland and even Australia.
“The corridor between Ipswich and Springfield is already experiencing a rapid pace of growth and that will only continue well into the future, so this will require a focus on public transport solutions, including rail transport, in a timely manner,” said Mr Hashimoto.
“Early provision of rail line service in this area is critical to support the growth agenda in the Ripley region.
“As the Ecco Ripley community continues to develop, and as future stages of Ripley Town Centre come to fruition, we want the community to have affordable transport choices that improve people’s access to services, employment and avoid social isolation, particularly for youth, seniors and other non-drivers.”
According to Ipswich City Council’s annual planning and development report, the top five areas for residential development in 2017 included Springfield Lakes, South Ripley, Ripley and Bellbird Park where a total of 1229 new homes were built.
Those suburbs also rank in the council’s top five suburbs for new lots created and new lots approved.
In 2020, two new schools will open in the Ripley Valley, according to a Labor election promise, catering for population growth. A third school will be built in Springfield.
But the corresponding transport infrastructure has not been prioritised by the State Government which says the extensions to the rail line, including adding stations at Ripley, Flagstone and Redbank Plains, won’t be built until after 2024, once the inner city Cross River Rail project has been finished.
Already more than 500 homes have been built in the Ecco Ripley community.
Last year, 183 new homes were built in Ripley housing 545 people, according to Ipswich City Council’s Planning and Development Annual Report Card. A further 301 homes were built in South Ripley, housing 956 people.
The $1.5billion Ripley Town Centre will be the beating heart of the $500 million Ecco Ripley community.
Developer Sekisui House has proposed to build a state-of-the-art transit hub in its town centre.
Without a shift in government long-term planning, that won’t include a rail line until 2031.
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
IPSWICH commuters will have to wait at least another six years before work starts on the local network’s long-awaited rail extensions.
The extension to the Ipswich rail network, including connecting Ipswich to Springfield and Redbank Plains, has been repeatedly promised by the Labor State Government.
Now, it has confirmed work will not start until after 2024, with the Government claiming “the extension(s) rely on the completion of Cross River Rail”.
That has been vehemently disputed by Ipswich Rail Advocate Robert Dow, who says work on the extensions should start immediately before the lack of transport infrastructure hits crisis point.
The Palaszczuk Government said this month it remained committed to the extension of the Springfield line and had set aside land for a future passenger rail.
But the Department of Main Roads did not say when the works would start and gave no budget details or an explanation as to why these extensions related to the city-centric Cross River Rail project.
Cross River Rail is a Brisbane CBD rail project that includes a 10.2km rail line between Dutton Park and Bowen Hills with a twin tunnel under the Brisbane River.
The inner-city transport project is due to be finished in 2024.
A spokesperson for the Palaszczuk Government said Cross River Rail would “provide the necessary capacity to expand the rail network, it is the key to unclog the bottleneck on our rail network and deliver additional services”.
According to a statement issued last year by Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, Cross River Rail will deliver new links to Flagstone and Ripley.
Rail Back on Track advocate Robert Dow said the Ipswich extensions could, and should, go ahead independent of Cross River Rail.
“The lines can simply be extended out to Redbank Plains and Ripley,” Mr Dow said.
“The roads are failing badly and there is a massive amount of development happening along that corridor. We need to get more people on to public transport and off the roads. The only way to do that is have public transport.
“Redbank Plains is one of the fastest growing residential areas in this country. This is just nonsense.
“We have consistently been far too late in matching our infrastructure needs to actual growth.”
What Main Roads said
“The Ipswich to Springfield Future Public Passenger Transport Corridor has been preserved since 2009 following extensive community consultation.
The corridor is also identified as a future rail corridor in strategic documents such as SEQ Rail Horizon and Shaping SEQ.
Transport and Main Roads is undertaking a study to review and update rail corridor planning in response to surrounding land use.
The required timing of the extension will be determined as part of a broader rail network investment strategy.
It will consider factors such as whole of network train operating strategies and capacity constraints, as well as population growth along corridors and associated demand forecasts, particularly in peak periods when demand is at its highest.
Redbank Plains’ road network is mostly council.”
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
A LETTER in the mail will be the first notice residents receive that their home is ready for the National Broadband Network.
The infrastructure project continues to roll out across Ipswich and is expected to connect 26,500 properties within the next few months.
NBN Co spokeswoman Lynette Keep said people could check the status of the network by visiting nbn.com.au/check.
“Once your premises is ready for services, you will be able to see a list of the available providers in your area to assist with choosing the right NBN provider and plan for you,” she said.
“To get the best NBN experience, contact your preferred service provider about the options that are available to your premises.
“It’s important to think about choices you have not just on price and data, but also speed tiers available.”
The package selected by residents will affect the speed of the property’s internet.
“It’s important to talk to your preferred service provider about finding the right package and plan to suit your needs,” Ms Keep said.
Once the network becomes available at a home or business people will have 18 months to make the switch before the existing network will be turned off.
“If you choose not to switch to the NBN, ask your preferred service provider about options such as mobile phone and/or mobile broadband,” Ms Keep said.
With existing copper scheduled to be switched off, Ms Keep reminded residents the network could also affect residents’ other services.
“It’s critical that you talk to your device providers for any other landline services such as medical alarms, eftpos, fire and lift, or fax machines,” she said.
“It’s vital that people understand that switching to the NBN is not automatic – residents and businesses need to contact their preferred service provider and place an order to move their landline phone and internet services over to the NBN.”
She said once a premises had switched, the NBN would “provide a range of benefits for homes and businesses such as improved opportunities to work from home, better access to online education tools and more options for on-demand entertainment”.
“For businesses, be it e-commerce, sending and receiving files, accessing online services – all aspects will be faster and more efficient with the NBN.”
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
WASTE NOT: Landfill sites, such as this one in Ipswich, would become a source of electricity under a proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in Ipswich.
THE disgusting stench that has plagued Ipswich residents for years would disappear under this man’s $1 billion, job creating project.
Independent candidate for Bundamba Trevor Judd has been silent so far in the election campaign but now the tradie has revealed his grand pitch to the people of Ipswich.
It’s not a series of policies either, but one big pitch – supported by engineers and CEOs – that could eliminate Ipswich’s dumping problem, turning the stench into energy, while creating jobs and cutting power bills.
Mr Judd, a 62-year-old Brassall resident and air conditioning mechanic, wants to build a power plant fuelled by burning rubbish.
It’s an industry, described by the CSIRO as clean and efficient, that already exists in the Americas and Europe.
A similar, although not as detailed, idea has been put forward by The Greens candidate for Ipswich Brett Morrissey.
Trevor Judd, independent candidate for Bundamba, says his proposal would create hundreds of jobs.
But Mr Judd has been hatching his plan to build a waste-to-energy plant for almost a year.
The goal is to build and operate a plant that would create about 1000 construction jobs, 60 to 80 full-time positions, and consume 1 million tonnes of rubbish, such as household waste, each year.
He estimates the project’s worth at $1 billion with a plant that could process 1 million tonnes of waste each year.
Mr Judd says material put into landfill can easily be harvested and used in electricity production, alleviating the unpleasant smell many have been forced to live with.
The State Government has reportedly been investigating the source of the stench since at least 2013 but among residents, the smell is widely believed to be arising from decomposing waste at the large landfill sites.
Engineer Andrew Hedges says to build the plant, between 8-10 hectares of land would be needed.
Mr Hedges explained that while the technology is not in use in Australia and is still considered ’emerging’, it’s not new.
“It’s essentially the same process as a coal fired power station,” Mr Hedges said.
“You burn the garbage to create heat, which boils the water in the boiler to create steam. The steam drives the turbine, to generate electricity.
“All we’d be doing differently is burning waste instead of burning coal.
“The problem is you need more waste than coal.”
Mr Hedges has calculated the amount of rubbish already coming into southeast Queensland and there is enough to fuel the proposed plant.
“In the Brisbane area alone there is about 2.7 million tonnes of urban waste per year available (not including construction or agricultural waste),” Mr Hedges said. “The useable part is just over 760,000 tonnes per year.
“At the moment that’s just going straight into landfill.”
Mr Judd said the people of Bundamba, where he believed this idea would be most relevant, had identified the smell, the volume of trucks, the cost of electricity and unemployment as the major issues for the area.
“I chose the seat of Bundamba to represent because I can see the problems associated with the area from an outsider’s perspective,” Mr Judd said.
“The end result would be less landfill, less greenhouse gas, more electricity and jobs for locals.”
Mr Judd has been in contact with Francois Screve, president and founder of Deltaway, a company which delivers waste-to-energy power plants around the world.
Originally Published: www.qt.com.au
