Qut Carseldine Regional Proposal

REGIONAL PROPOSAL

MINISTERIAL REGIONAL COMMUNITY FORUM GREATER BRISBANE CLEVELAND – 22 SEPTEMBER 2008 POTENTIAL USES FOR THE QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (QUT) CARSELDINE SITE INCLUDING A BUSINESS/SERVICES HUB FOR THE NORTHSIDE OF BRISBANE Summary and Key Requests The report will: • highlight issues raised by forum members at the Ministerial Regional Community Forum held on 16 June 2008, in relation to the redevelopment of the QUT campus at Carseldine; • propose a range of possible uses for the site following consultation between forum members and the local community; and • table outcomes sought by the forum members.

Background In late 2007 Greater Brisbane Ministerial Regional Community Forum members became aware that the QUT campus at Carseldine would not be used by QUT for teaching beyond January 2009. Forum members have consulted with the community and believe that this presents a unique opportunity for the community to explore potential uses for the vacant site that will enhance Brisbane’s northern corridor. The Carseldine campus provides the only significant social infrastructure in the area including sporting facilities, walking tracks, bushland, library and office space and a professional standard theatre, gallery and exhibition spaces. The Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA) has recently announced that the QUT Carseldine campus is included in the new Fitzgibbon Urban Development Area (UDA). The development of the suburb of Fitzgibbon will ultimately include affordable housing, large tracts of green space and well planned transport links for the community. With the increase in the local population resulting from the Fitzgibbon development, the potential uses for the QUT site for the benefit of the local community require broad consultation and careful consideration to ensure maximum benefit for the local community is achieved.

Issues In a report presented at the forum in June, Greater Brisbane Ministerial Regional Community Forum members identified a range of issues in relation to the northern corridor and outlined several potential opportunities for future uses of the Carseldine site. The Northern Corridor of Brisbane has been identified by the Brisbane North Development Forum as an area warranting and requiring social and economic development and diversity, and this is consistent with the South East Queensland Regional Plan, which clearly shows GREATER BRISBANE REGIONAL PROPOSAL Page 1 of 4

fewer industry and economic centres on the north side of Brisbane than on the south side of the city. Through their consultations with the community, forum members have identified a need for innovative and diverse new enterprises along Brisbane’s northern corridor. Forum members have also become aware of areas of relative social and economic disadvantage along the Northern Corridor indicating the need for strategically located social services and linkages. The need for additional accommodation for community groups and non-profit organisations has been identified across the region and highlighted to forum members from a range of sources. This lack of accommodation is particularly significant in the northern region due to weaker interagency links and lack of government owned/developed infrastructure. The QUT campus at Carseldine is currently used by community groups including Catalyst Youth Arts which occupies office space for a meeting place for the North Brisbane region elders. Social enterprise is a growing sector across Australia which will grow more dynamically if appropriately resourced and supported as a legitimate business enterprise. Forum members have identified a variety of potential future uses for the facilities vacated by QUT including the possible establishment of a new and emerging business hub emphasising social enterprise and flexible space and facilities for small business. There is a café on the campus that could provide an ideal opportunity for a social enterprise or catering business incubator. The Aspley Special School next door to the site is already operating an environment and recycling social enterprise, and the site is in close proximity to the developing Chermside business activity centre. The QUT campus at Carseldine is connected via bus and train services to outer areas (into Moreton Bay Regional Shire, Caboolture and on into the Sunshine Coast) and by bus routes that connect to the CBD via Gympie Road, from Carseldine train station and Kelvin Grove Road from the Aspley Hypermarket. The site is also connected by train to the CBD and other transport nodes including Redcliffe via the Hornibrook Bus Line. There is a growing concern in the community about environmental sustainability in relation to urban planning and design issues in suburban growth areas. The Queensland Government is planning to develop a Design Centre in the inner city within an established creative precinct. Forum members have identified the need for a design centre and arts strategy for the whole community and the whole region, including the Northern Corridor, rather than an additional city-centric cultural institution. The QUT campus at Carseldine houses a professional standard theatre and art gallery that could be utilised to deliver some of the program activities of the Design Centre, particularly those concerned with environmental, urban design, architecture and sustainability issues. The Carseldine campus presents a vehicle for a more dispersed approach to environmental, urban and design education, particularly given the recent land release in the northern region. Recently the ULDA declared Fitzgibbon as an Urban Development Area which includes the QUT campus at Carseldine. The ULDA works with local and state government, community, local landholders and the development industry to deliver commercially viable developments that include diverse, affordable, sustainable housing, using best-practice urban design. In addition, the ULDA will develop key sites and priority infrastructure within the Fitzgibbon UDA, and forum members believe that an opportunity exists to pilot an approach to infrastructure at the QUT site that could be used to inform the development of infrastructure in the rest of the Fitzgibbon UDA. The Queensland Government’s recent review of the Smart State resulted in the establishment of a design strategy in Queensland that will ‘fuse design expertise with other industries to increase economic and industry competitiveness.’ This could provide opportunities to form links between manufacturing and the design sector, in addition to applying design thinking in interesting ways to drive economic development beyond the city centre. The South East Queensland Regional Plan identifies the northern corridor for

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manufacturing which provides the potential for consideration of a sub-regional interface with the design sector consistent with the Smart State initiative. Forum members are aware that the government is planning major road works for the northern corridor and are concerned that in combination with new land releases the conditions of urban sprawl, increased pollution and environmental degradation, eroded social capital and inaccessible local business areas will be exacerbated. Forum members believe that there is a need to mitigate these impacts and to perhaps seek new approaches to community and economic development. Forum members are aware that the land has been reserved for educational purposes and that the longer term future of the site is subject to the consideration of the Queensland University of Technology and hence may not be a viable long term option for alternative uses. However, the vacating of the Carseldine campus by QUT at the end of the 2008 academic year represents a unique opportunity for the local community and future development of the northern corridor and hence forum members are committed to ensuring that the community are consulted and that all possible uses of the site are given thorough consideration by government. The Greater Brisbane Ministerial Regional Community Forum members believe that consultation and collaboration between the government, the community and QUT to consider the possible future uses of the Carseldine campus will maximise the potential of this valuable asset and provide a unique opportunity for innovative approaches to urban, social and economic development in the northern corridor.

Community Interest and Consultation Forum members have consulted with and received expressions of support and interest from: • • • • • • • • • •

Brisbane Social Enterprise Hub Speak Out Edgeware Blak Business Smart Business SANDBAG Foresters ANA Brisbane City Council staff have expressed a willingness to investigate possibilities QUT have indicated a preparedness to listen to proposals and ideas Greater Brisbane Regional Managers’ Coordination Network have expressed an interest Feedback to the Smart State Review and Design Centre Plans by Ministerial Regional Community Forum members.

Outcomes Sought The Brisbane Ministerial Regional Community forum members request the following outcomes: 1) That the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning formally acknowledge Brisbane Ministerial Regional Community Forum members as interested stakeholders and include Brisbane forum members in consultations on the future proposed uses for the QUT campus at Carseldine. 2) That the Urban Land Development Authority and the Department of Infrastructure and Planning note the contents of this brief and give consideration to suggested future uses

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of the QUT site developed by Ministerial Regional Community Forum members in consultation with the community. This document has been endorsed by Frank Gilbert, Director, Office of Rural and Regional Communities, Department of Local Government, Sport and Recreation.

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