This is an opinion piece by Peter Hyland, Urbis Regional director.
THE State Government is focused and very serious about scrutinising its needs as both a property owner and tenant.
Tuesday’s unveiling of Premier Campbell Newman’s vision for the revitalisation of the George and William streets government office precinct clearly signals to the broader industry it’s serious about setting an agenda of cultural change in Queensland starting directly with its own centres of control and influence.
The announcement, coupled with last week’s scrapping of the Bowen Hills office precinct project where Queensland Health was previously committed as a tenant, decisively heralds Premier Newman’s needs and expectations of the Government property portfolio.
The new precinct is a shot in the arm for Brisbane’s CBD, with the potential to transform a key city tract, and it should be welcomed as both visionary and confidence-building.
The transition of the Urban Land Development Authority’s power back to local authorities is another example of the State Government moving quickly to walk its talk. The Premier has taken a sensible and measured approach to make good on his election promise.
The ULDA, created to cut through red tape and speed up the approval process to bring affordable product to market, taught important lessons that fast and effective outcomes were possible. However, just as it was appropriate to create the ULDA, with a job well done it’s now also appropriate to transition some of its powers back to local authorities.
While Queensland waits for the outcome of the audit of government finances to discover the state’s true capacity, the property industry eagerly awaits guidance on four key areas of consideration for the Government’s policy makers. These decisions will shape and impact every aspect of the industry for the next decade.
Firstly transport infrastructure, particularly around rail capacity, remains a pressing issue while understanding the new Government’s property requirements as an owner and tenant will influence projects in Brisbane and our major regional centres.
We also urgently need to come to grips with the associated planning issues around the resource boom to ensure the best outcomes for our state’s regions and towns. Finally housing affordability, and its associated ripple effect, will be central to creating the momentum and confidence needed to revitalise Queensland’s property market.
To date the moves have been big and bold but the State Government is not acting impetuously, it is simply seeking to make immediate change.
The property industry expected hard decisions, which would inevitably impact some businesses, but were prepared to accept those with the pay-off of good economic growth and development a key fundamental that underpins a healthy Queensland property sector.
With a string of strong and confident decisions the Queensland Government’s ship has set its course and it would appear there is indeed a captain at the helm.
Originally published on couriermail.com.au on June 1, 2012.