Member for Ipswich West Wendy Bourne has used a speech in Parliament to call on the Crisafulli LNP Government to commit to infrastructure for the Western Growth Corridor before Rosewood, Walloon and Thagoona grow.
Ipswich City Council’s draft Western Growth Corridor Structure Plan plans for up to 20,000 new homes across the three communities, with the current population of 10,000 people expected to grow to almost 59,000 by 2041.
“These people will need more than just homes. They will need roads that can manage the traffic, health services they can rely on in an emergency and schools to teach their children,” Ms Bourne said.
“While council is planning for this growth, all we hear from the Crisafulli government is crickets.”
Ms Bourne said not one new major infrastructure project had been committed to support the corridor, whether schools, health services or road upgrades. Meanwhile, the area’s roads are already showing the strain.
The government is yet to commit to even a construction plan for the Amberley Interchange, which carries around 20,000 vehicles a day, despite the Federal Government putting $200 million on the table.
On the Warrego Highway, the intersection of Haigslea–Amberley Road and Schultz Road has seen 66 crashes in less than a decade, leaving people seriously injured and costing lives. For local families, the danger is personal.
“Last weekend, a young couple who use this intersection to take their children to school and are terrified each time they cross asked how many deaths, near misses and accidents have to happen before the government does something,” Ms Bourne said.
In Walloon, families are still waiting for a plan to fix the roundabout outside Walloon State School. Hundreds of homes have already been built around it, and thousands more are planned.
“These roads are already under pressure and we cannot wait for 10,000, 20,000 or 40,000 people to arrive before we start fixing these problems,” Ms Bourne said.
“We cannot afford another Crisafulli credit rating downgrade that puts these critical projects further out of reach. That is why I am calling on the Crisafulli government to step up and commit to the infrastructure the Western Growth Corridor needs before the families arrive, not years after.”
ENDS
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