Infrastructure deal paves way for communities to prosper

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The Palaszczuk Government, Logan City Council and nine key developers have signed a landmark agreement to deliver $1.2 billion of essential infrastructure for the Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone priority development areas (PDAs).

Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said the deal is the largest infrastructure agreement of its type to be executed by any government in Australia and will secure the infrastructure needs of the community over the next 45 years.

“Today’s announcement is about ensuring high quality infrastructure to support these growing communities over the next four decades,” he said.

“Flagstone and Yarrabilba are in Queensland’s fastest growing population corridor, with estimates that by 2066 there will be 200,000 people living in these areas.

Mr Dick said Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows during 2017-2018 Queensland had the highest interstate migration of 24,700 people.

“We boast amazing weather, beautiful natural landscapes and opportunities for employment and investment, it’s no wonder Queensland is a magnet for interstate migration.

“To support and service these emerging communities we need to deliver essential infrastructure, and this agreement proves the necessary funding and framework to deliver local roads, water and sewerage facilities.

“Some 170 kilometres of council roads will be upgraded through these developer contributions and over the next six years alone, the agreement will see up to $400 million in infrastructure investment, which will support more than 130 construction jobs each year.”

Across the two development areas, many services and facilities have already been delivered, including two primary schools, retail precincts, the Yarrabilba Family and Community Place, sports and community hub and major sports and recreational parks. A state primary and high school are scheduled to open in 2020 as well as independent schools.

There are two further schools (one state and one independent) each in the planning phase for greater Flagstone and Yarrabilba.

Logan City Council Interim Administrator, Tamara O’Shea, welcomed the agreement.

“The nine key developers will fund the infrastructure through upfront charges, over and above their development costs within the PDAs.

“This guarantees the roads, water supply and wastewater infrastructure needed to connect the emerging communities with the surrounding networks are delivered without placing an impost on existing ratepayers.

“These two PDAs will deliver a substantial portion of the new housing needed in South East Queensland over the next three to four decades.

“This historic agreement provides the foundation for these new communities to become part of the city of Logan,” she said.

Member for Jordan, Charis Mullen MP, who represents the Greater Flagstone area congratulated all parties on reaching an agreement.

“It’s always been a priority to ensure that the infrastructure required to meet the needs of the community keeps pace with these new development areas.

“The agreement paves the way for a strong and growing community in the area which will benefit new and existing residents.”

Member for Logan Linus Power, who represents the Yarrabilba area said the infrastructure will benefit all of southern Logan, not just the Flagstone/Yarrabilba areas.

“It is critical that new residents in these communities have the infrastructure to deliver reliable water supply, environmentally-responsible wastewater treatment systems, practical pedestrian and cycle linkages and an effective and safe road network,” he said.

“Developer investments will ensure the infrastructure is built to accommodate young families as they move in.”

Prominent Flagstone developer Peet Limited welcomed today’s announcement.

Peet’s Queensland General Manager Michael Stone said they are excited to be part of the partnership with the Logan City Council and the State Government.

“We are proud of our fast-growing Flagstone community, and our contribution to building critical infrastructure which will support families for many years to come, like the fantastic regional park we are meeting at today.”

Yarrabilba developer, Lendlease Communities General Manager for Queensland, Guy Gibson said the strong level of collaboration and commitment by all parties will see major infrastructure improvements and support the ongoing planning and servicing for the Yarrabilba community and Greater Flagstone.

“New, high-quality communities like Yarrabilba have a vital role to play in accommodating the continued growth of the region,” Mr Gibson said.

“The finalisation of these Infrastructure Agreements with the State Government and Logan City Council is an important milestone in ensuring that over the next 45 years the project continues to be well planned and appropriately serviced.”

Mr Dick said that the infrastructure agreement is sustainable, encourages appropriate development, and provides landowners and developers with certainty.

“We are delivering the essential services and infrastructure to ensure our state can grow.”

For more information about Greater Flagstone and Yarrabilba Priority Development Areas, visit www.edq@dsdmip.qld.gov.au

Logan Planning Scheme 2015 Version 6 released

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The Logan Planning Scheme commenced on 18 May 2015. Council has committed to ensuring that our Planning Scheme is a living and evolving document that responds to community, business, investment and environmental needs and changes.

Over the past 4 years not only has significant development occurred across the City, the Planning Scheme has also been instrumental in achieving numerous community and environmental accolades as well. As part of Council’s commitment to ensuring an updated and responsive Planning Scheme, Council has released its most up to date Version 6.

This new version of the planning scheme will give effect to nine planning scheme amendments and is a milestone in the evolution of Logan’s Planning Scheme.

The City of Logan recognises the importance of niche culinary tourism. For this reason, an amendment to the planning scheme is reducing red tape for microbreweries and coffee roasteries. Where microbreweries were formerly subject to the highest levels of planning assessment in many parts of the city, the small-scale brewing of beer and cider is now widely supported with less undue regulation. This reduction in red tape will allow for the continued growth of this valued emerging industry.

Industry Thresholds

  • Allowance for water and emission-intensive developments (brewery, coffee roasting, garlic press, etc.) to be code assessable (formerly impact assessable).
  • Updated thresholds table to reflect current technologies (e.g. vehicle brakes no longer contain asbestos).
  • Support for niche culinary tourism industry uses by lowering them from High/Medium Impact Industry uses to Low Impact Industry uses.
  • Significant reduction in number of impact assessable development applications.

Hours of Operation in the Mixed Use Zone

  • The requirement for development in the Mixed Use Zone to restrict operating hours to 6am to 7pm where adjoining particular zones has been removed

Version 6 of the Logan Planning Scheme 2015 has taken into account feedback from our residents and other community members about the type and extent of future development in the city. In response to this feedback, this new version of the scheme addresses specific concerns including changes to auxiliary units and Logan Reserve.

Council has a responsibility to ensure that there is housing diversity and affordability options for existing and future residents. However, over the last few years there has been an increasing number of auxiliary units being constructed in the city. An increase in auxiliary units for investment purposes was never the intent of Council. Rather the key purpose was to make it easier for residents to build a secondary dwelling on their existing home sites for their families and extended families.

Council reviewed and revised its policy position on auxiliary units and in version 6 of the scheme there is increased requirements on developers in relation to minimum lot size, road frontages, and on-site car parking spaces as well as the siting of the dwellings. From the 1st July 2018 Council introduced the payment of infrastructure charges for auxiliary unit development to ensure that where development was increasing additional dwellings on residential lots that developers were paying for the increased demand being placed on our critical infrastructure such as roads, water, parks and sewerage.

Auxiliary Units

  • Minimum lot size requirement of 450m² is located in the administrative definition
  • Minimum frontage requirement of 15m (acceptable outcome)
  • Requirement for five on-site car parking spaces (acceptable outcome)
  • Requirement for 5.5m wide crossover and driveway
  • Siting performance outcomes have been revised to reduce ability for siting variations

Logan Reserve

  • A Land Use Area Plan for Logan Reserve is now located in the Strategic Framework. This guides the land uses and residential densities in the plan area.

For more information visit the Logan Planning Scheme 2015 website.

Council is committed to maintaining a current and contemporary planning scheme which reduces red tape and provides simpler and more consistent planning regulation and policy. This is in accordance with the community’s expectations to support greater economic development opportunities, while recognising and enhancing our key environmental and regional landscape values. Council has developed a program of regular future amendments and welcomes the feedback of the community.

GO1.com raises over $30 million in Series B round led by M12 & SEEK

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GO1.com, the world’s largest onboarding, compliance and professional development platform, has raised more than $30 million in a Series B funding round led by M12, Microsoft’s venture fund.

It includes participation from existing investors including SEEK (ASX:SEK) and Y Combinator. Larsen Ventures joins M12 as new investors in GO1.com.

Larsen Ventures is the investment arm of Peter Larsen, co-founder of Navitas, one of Australia’s largest education providers.

As part of its investment M12 will have a seat on the board.

“The investment aligns well with Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more,” M12 Principal Priya Saiprasad said.

Ms Saiprasad described GO1.com as “one of those rare companies that brings a consumer-led experience to an inherently enterprise product”.

“GO1 is redefining how enterprises procure training content and how employees in turn consume it via a modern user-experience and a single subscription. And while it was clear to us that customer love was responsible for GO1’s rapid growth, the incredible passion of the founding team to create an easier way to learn is what truly sealed the deal with the M12 team.

“We are excited to partner with existing investors SEEK, YC and individuals like Steve Baxter, who have helped the company from inception in 2015.

“Our goal is to leverage Microsoft’s broad reach, including our portfolio development team and co-sell programs, to be the accelerant in the next part of GO1’s journey as they transform the way people learn across the world,” Ms Saiprasad said.

According to SEEK chief executive Andrew Bassat, the company was pleased to support GO1.com’s Series B funding round.

“We have been working closely with the GO1 team for some time and are really pleased with the terrific progress in that time. GO1 have a very strong team and do a great job of offering access to content and courses to allow people to up-skill and re-skill themselves for work.

“Our increased investment reflects our ongoing commitment to scale-up innovative businesses across the human-capital market that are helping people to remain relevant in the workforce and reach their career aspirations. We look forward to leveraging our experience, technology and relationships with millions of people and organisations across the globe to help GO1 achieve its potential,” Mr Bassat said.

Larsen Ventures investment director Andrew Larsen said he was excited to be a part of GO1.com’s growth journey.

“I’ve seen GO1 grow from strength to strength and have wanted to be involved with the company for a while now,” Mr Larsen said.

“We’re really pleased to be involved in this funding round and are excited with where the company is headed. They’ve proved their ability to execute every step of the way, and their vision and continued results are a great fit with Larsen Ventures.

GO1.com CEO and co-founder Andrew Barnes said: “we’re excited to have the support of M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, and we’re looking forward to what we can achieve with this new investment”.

“We see many opportunities on the horizon given our mission to improve workforce productivity is a view shared by GO1.com, SEEK and Microsoft,” Mr Barnes said.

“Professional development is critical to any organisation and GO1.com helps some of the largest brands and government agencies fulfil workforce training needs.

“We continue to attract leading content partners from around the world aimed at boosting the depth and breadth of our courses,” Mr Barnes said.

GO1.com has more than 500,000 courses and learning resources in total from a variety of content partners. More than 22 million users have access to GO1.com’s content through its platform and integrated partner network.

Customers include ANZ Bank, Delta, Hasbro, NBC Universal, St John Ambulance, Suzuki and Thrifty.

Last year, GO1.com was named in the Top 25 most sought-after startups in Australia by LinkedIn.

New planning and development portal leads the way

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Logan City Council recently launched the Logan PD Hub, replacing the Logan Interactive Mapping Tool as a next generation online service to support planning and development in the City of Logan.

The PD Hub preserves existing functionality, such as the popular Property Report, Infrastructure Charges Estimator and the award winning Environmental Offset Estimator, and delivers some great new functions and usability features.

These new functions includes a free Flood Level Report as well as the Planning Enquiry tool. The Planning Enquiry tool was made possible by a grant from the Queensland Government’s Innovation and Improvement Fund.  As well as identifying the zones and overlays for a property, the tool makes key elements of the planning scheme easier to understand, by helping users find a site for a proposed activity or figure out what activities can be carried out on any site in the city, and what development ‘rules’ apply. This tool is a Queensland first.

The Logan PD hub allows you to:

  • Obtain a free flood report for your property (or the one you’re looking to buy….).
  • Find a property suitable for an activity you have in mind, or find out what you can do on a selected property (e.g. build a child care centre, subdivide it, open a car yard)
  • View interactive maps from the Logan Planning Scheme (zones, overlays, etc.) and find out what zone your property is in, and what overlays/constraints apply (e.g. flooding, bushfire, biodiversity etc.).
  • View development applications (planning, plumbing or building) in your area.
  • Developing in Logan?  Find out the application fees and what infrastructure charges may be applicable.
  • Get fast, free access to the As-Constructed plans Council holds for your property.
  • Clearing vegetation?  Get an estimate of the applicable financial offset.
  • Link directly to Logan’s open data portal to view/download datasets and find more apps (e.g. Park Finder, MyProperty, art and heritage trails)
  • Access other useful info and tools quickly (e.g. Logan Planning Scheme, development application lodgement, economic / investment and business support services).

For more information visit the Logan PD Hub information page.