Population 30,000 (2013) LGA(s) City of Ipswich Federal Division(s) Oxley
Blair | Postcode(s) 4300 State electorate(s) Bundamba
Inala | |
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Location 20 km (12 mi) ESE of Ipswich
29 km (18 mi) SW of Brisbane | ||
Greater Springfield, also known as the Greater Springfield Development, is a general term for a group of suburbs in the City of Ipswich local government area, located in the south-west of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. It is the first privately built city in Australia and the country’s largest master planned community (tenth largest globally), encompassing 2,860 hectares (963 acres) designed to support population growth from Brisbane radiating out along the coastal strips from the Sunshine Coast down to the Gold Coast and west to Ipswich.
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In 2013, the population of Greater Springfield was estimated around 30,000, with a projection to grow to 105,000 residents by 2030. Community development is managed and coordinated by Springfield Land Corporation. The plan is to have a group of suburbs with the population of Darwin by 2030.
History
Greater Springfield was founded over 22 years ago. The land was originally purchased for A$7.9 million in 1992 by Maha Sinnathamby and Bob Sharpless. Sinnathamby and Sharpless assembled a team and developed Greater Springfield masterplan based on interconnected pillars of health, education and information technology.
The Local Government (Springfield Zoning) Act 1997 was gazette in view of the long term nature of development being undertaken across Greater Springfield. This Act gave rise to a unique Planning Regime which provides certainty to the developer. The Structure Plan established a unique assessment process that ensures the intentions, provisions and understanding in and behind the Springfield Structure Plan are not to be overreached or changed through Local Planning Policies so to adversely affect the development entitlements conferred by the Structure Plan. All levels of Government recognise that the achievement of this goal is essential to ensure the certainty of the development rights. From Springfield Land Corporation’s (SLC’s) viewpoint such certainty is essential to the future proofing of the project.
Suburbs of Greater Springfield
The suburbs of the region generally known as Greater Springfield are Springfield Central, Springfield Lakes, Brookwater, Augustine Heights, Spring Mountain and Springfield itself. 30 per cent of Greater Springfield is dedicated to absolute green space.
Facilities
The Springfield College has a campus on Springfield College Drive, with a second campus (Middle & Senior) on the Springfield–Greenbank Arterial road. The University of Southern Queensland has a campus in Springfield. Classes began in February 2006. TAFE Queensland South West, previously Bremer Institute of TAFE also has a campus in Springfield.
The first stage of Springfield's largest shopping centre, Orion Springfield, has been open since 15 March 2007. Major tenants include Woolworths and Big W. 600,000 square metres of land has been set aside for commercial space, which is called the Parkside business precinct. The precinct already contains a 10-storey tower which cost $60 million to build.
In late 2011, a Masters Home Improvement store opened next to the Orion centre and was one of the first Masters Home Improvement stores in Queensland on opening. The Polaris datacentre was built at Springfield, opened in 2009 and was soon filled to capacity. The datacentre cost $220 million to construct and was designed by Strategic Directions.
Transport
Springfield is connected to Brisbane CBD by the Centenary Motorway and the Springfield railway line, a branch of the Ipswich railway line that starts at Darra station, and extends to Springfield.