Walker Corp’s Robina Precinct Wins Fast-Track Assessment

A 2750-home proposal by one of Australia’s biggest developers has been earmarked as the first to be assessed under the Queensland Government’s new fast-track process.

Walker Corporation’s build-to-sell project at Robina on the Gold Coast was one of two revealed at the weekend to pilot the program.

The proposal for the site at 154-170 Highfield Drive and Lot 1 Breakwater Road, Merrimac, and 172-182 Highfield Drive, Robina would include 15 per cent affordable housing—about 550 homes.

The site already holds approval from 2012 by the Gold Coast City Council for three floodproof building pads.

Walker Corporation director Peter Saba said the pathway, dubbed State Facilitated Development (SFD) and promising application assessment within a minimum of 75 days, was “an excellent way of cutting red tape and getting homes delivered on the ground”.

He said the new process was important as “we see time and time again projects being delayed”.

“The pathway also brings in the affordable housing component which isn’t seen anywhere else in terms of local authorities,” Saba told media at the announcement of the first two projects approved for the pathway.

“It delivers housing, close to infrastructure but, more importantly, affordable housing.

“And when you look at this site and its proximity to the town centre, the train station, the buses and the 250ha green heart proposed by the Gold Coast City Council on our doorstep, this site is one of the best infill projects I believe within South-East Queensland.”

Also confirmed to be assessed under the SFD pathway is a build-to-rent development at Wakerley, about 16km east of the Brisbane CBD, comprising 45 homes a 17,300sq m site at 652 New Cleveland Road, owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

▲ The site earmarked for Walker’s build-to-sell development at Robina. Image: Near Map

The Robina and Wakerley proposals are among 12 sites currently being considered for pilot projects under the SFD pathway.

Queensland housing minister Meaghan Scanlon said that if all were declared, the pilot projects would unlock more than 4945 homes “in places that are well-located to the transport, schools, jobs and services that people need”.

“This process isn’t a free pass, though. Buildings are required to be substantially under way within two years,” she said.

Among the proposals are a 525-home development at Indooroopilly and a 305-unit project at Milton.

Others are at Redland Bay, Forest Lake, Toowoomba, Lutwyche, Pallara, Tewantin, Noosa Heads and Woolloongabba, where a 435-home project is planned near the Buranda public transport hub.

The pathway is among initiatives the state has launched under its Homes for Queenslanders plan, including the $350-million Incentivising Infill Development Fund.