Ipswich City Council says it is taking in 30 per cent of new residents to south-east Queensland but state and federal investment in critical infrastructure is not keeping up.
Mayor Teresa Harding said the City of Ipswich had experienced the "most rapid population growth of any local government area in Queensland".
"In our most recent planning report card, there were close to 350 new houses completed in the first three months of the year – nearly four houses a day, every day of the week, during the quarter."
Ms Harding said the majority of residents were moving into greenfield master-planned communities in Springfield and the Ripley Valley, with some moving into brownfield and infill developments in Ipswich Central and suburbs in the city's west.
She said Ipswich's population was expected to more than double within 20 years.
The SEQ Regional Plan 2017 has the city earmarked to house 520,000 people by 2041, up from 240,000.
"Ipswich is doing much of the heavy lifting to deliver quality, affordable, and liveable housing solutions, but we're being let down by state and federal governments who aren't investing equivalent money in critical infrastructure such as road and rail upgrades, or on other critical infrastructure," she said.
Ms Harding said the Ripley Valley priority development area was likely the largest master-planned development in the country and provided opportunity for housing at a range of densities.
She said low density housing was in high demand but land was being preserved for higher densities.
But she said that land couldn't be developed due to a lack of transport infrastructure from the state and federal governments.
"At this point, Ripley Valley is only serviced by bus services that are failing to meet the needs of the residents," she said.
"Without reliable and efficient public transport, these residents are being cut off from access to jobs, education and essential services."
Ms Harding said the state government's $45 million investment fund for infrastructure in Ripley Valley was an important first step but was still "well short" of the $1.2 billion in essential infrastructure funding that was allocated for the Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone priority development areas in 2019.
State, federal governments have region on radar
A Department of State Development spokesman said the Queensland government had an "ongoing program, working with councils, to facilitate the development of affordable and high-quality housing across Queensland, including in Queensland's regions".
"For example, the Queensland government established the Growth Areas Team last year to address the challenges of growth, infrastructure delivery, housing supply and affordability," he said.
"We have also invested $5.91 million for catalyst infrastructure to support delivery of 3,000 homes in the Ripley Valley priority development area and a further $31 million invested to unlock 27,000 homes in the Greater Flagstone priority development area."
A Translink spokesman said a rail corridor with nine proposed stations remained part of the Department of Transport and Main Roads' long-term vision and was identified in the South East Queensland Regional Transport Plan 2021.
The initiative was listed in Infrastructure Australia's Infrastructure Priority List last year.
"The Queensland government and Ipswich City Council have committed $1 million and $500,000 respectively to progress the next phase of planning, recently matched by the Australian government committing $1 million under the SEQ City Deal," the spokesman said.
The Translink spokesman also said the department was continually monitoring growth and development in the Ripley Valley area.
He said several new bus routes and stops had been installed in the area since 2019.
New report encourages bespoke housing policies
The Regional Australia Institute this month released its Building the Good Life: Foundations of Regional Housing report to address affordability and supply issues in regional towns and cities across the country.
Chief executive Liz Ritchie said the report aimed to inform a way forward by identifying six distinct markets operating in Australia.
Ipswich, as well as all the regional council areas surrounding Brisbane, was put in the growth zone category.
The institute's report champions policies which could avoid the problem of blanket approaches which "bring more land to market to alleviate undersupply in fast-growing regions but will have no impact on low-growth regions where supply is already plentiful".
The report characterises the regions as having "more affordable housing markets" and recommended that "while more local land might be zoned as residential, state and local policy makers should consider policies that activate this land to be development ready".
"Local and state policy makers and local industry participants should also consider infill and brownfield sites that can be redeveloped into medium to higher-density housing," the report reads.
The report says ensuring diversity in the local housing mix is important for affordability for key workers.
"Policies need to ensure amenity and livability is maintained as these markets grow," the report reads.
"This includes the provision of infrastructure, services and enhanced employment opportunities."
