mrd

TROOP numbers in Townsville will swell by more than 1500 as part of a multibillion-dollar strengthening of defence bases in northern Australia. The National Security Council last week approved $206 million to fast-track refurbishment of Lavarack Barracks ahead of the relocation of Sydney’s 3rd Battalion to the city in 2010.

Townsville’s credentials as the nation’s premier defence base also will be bolstered by the deployment of a squadron of MRH-90 helicopters – the most advanced troop-carrying helicopter in the world. The new helicopters, to be built in Brisbane, will replace the existing Black Hawk helicopter fleet.

Up to 1000 new homes will be needed in Townsville to accommodate the defence force’s consolidation in north Queensland.

Have you seen our listing at Townsville?

INFRASTRUCTURE has been the buzz word on policy makers’ lips for the past couple of years.

Ministers and bureaucrats alike talk up the need for more dams, roads, hospitals, schools and everything else required to accommodate Queensland’s exploding population.

And it’s this seemingly recent revelation to plan for the future that is the core of the conundrum in which Queensland now finds itself. To its credit, the Beattie Government has addressed the problem. Its unveiling in early 2005 of a grand 20-year, $66 billion infrastructure dream was well received.

See maps of government infrastructure plans (Feb 2007) for SE Qld and Northern Queensland.

Source: Courier Mail Newspaper

The article comments that RTA figures show that more people are renting in Queensland than ever before , especially SE Qld. Bonds held there have grown by more than 21,000 in the past 2 years. RTA figures indicate that people are renting unbits and townhouses rather than houses and living in the more affordable suburbs outside the inner suburbs. They also report government figures that show Queensland population boom will continue for some time and the increasing tennant demand indicates higher rents. The highest increases are in Mckay where rents have increases 45% in 3 years!!

The magazine also comments on the growth in the Northern Gold Coast where Coomera is expected to double its population in the next 5 years. The new 22 hecctare town centre will be developed around the Coomera Railway Station (Dreamworld) ,will cost more than $100mil will be bigger than Southport.

http://www.propertylifestyle.com.au/

GOLD Coast Airport is to have a state-of-the-art $100 million terminal as the centrepiece of a sprawling $1 billion-plus business precinct with high rises, office towers and a train line.

Airport chief executive Paul Donovan unveiled the radical plans yesterday, saying the 460m runway extension under construction now was only the tip of the iceberg for the airport.

“It’s going to be a small city,” he said. “We are going to create a terminal and an airport precinct that has the ‘wow’ factor. Mr Donovan said the runway extension would be a huge money spinner for the airport and the Gold Coast, allowing in fully loaded Boeing 767s and 787s and luring carriers flying direct from the US, South-East Asia, Japan, China and the Middle East.

The bonanza would pay for a new $100 million terminal that is already in the design stages and is ‘just a few years away’, according to Mr Donovan. “In 10 years we should be satisfying the people in our catchment area with direct flights throughout Asia and connecting long-haul flights from there. Effectively you could fly everywhere,” said Mr Donovan