Logan Central is set for an upgrade.
To some, the precinct is a run-down part of town, rife with crime and home to a vibrant weekend market.
But the area has been identified as a key multicultural hub with potential, offering entertainment, arts and recreational activities.
Now, a draft plan is in place to develop a safe, accessible community and a strong local economy over the next 20-30 years.
The draft Logan Central Civic and Community Precinct Plan has been developed to “create a place where the city’s diverse and vibrant communities come together to learn, do business, celebrate and socialise”.
There has been some community engagement, but Logan City Council chiefs say there will be more.
Deputy mayor Jon Raven and mayor Darren Power are talking about comparisons to New York.
Ambitious, yes.
“This precinct plan outlines a vision for a civic and cultural hub integrated with beautiful parkland, almost like New York’s Central Park for Logan Central,” Cr Raven said.
“The plan identifies options to unlock that land to build new community infrastructure and help improve existing facilities and services.”
So, not the same scale as New York. But the thought process is similar – turn an undesirable area into a thriving economic hub for all people within the city.
The draft plan includes:
- Easier access to more than 7000sqm of public open space in Logan Gardens, which includes the $3.3 million water play area opened in January
- Providing amenities and services that attract more people to live, work and relax in Logan Central. It is hoped to increase the permanent population of the suburb by up to 300 people.
- Creating up to 400 permanent job opportunities and over 100 construction jobs on various projects within the long-term plan
- Increasing local health services and provision for higher education to help build a stronger community hub
- Proving a framework for future private and partnership arrangements to foster, and benefit from, a more appealing and vibrant precinct
- Adding more than 330 new car parking spaces and improving accessibility and lighting along more than 9km of pedestrian and cycle paths
- It is hoped the upgrades across in the precinct can help lift local property values by between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent
Projects to be implemented in the short-term (one to 10 years) could include:
- New road connections, including a possible ring road, that stitch together Logan Gardens and the civic and cultural areas.
- Development of an upgraded forecourt for the Logan Entertainment Centre (LEC) featuring seating and shade
- A new plaza and open space area at the Wembley Road entrance to the precinct
- A new convenient access into the precinct
- Exploring opportunities for the Council-owned 27 Jacaranda Avenue site as a potential mixed-use development or trade and vocation school
Division 2 Councillor Teresa Lane, who lives in Woodridge, said it was important the local community provided feedback on the facilities and services they want in their neighbourhood.
“Bringing residents along on the journey of planning their suburb is the most important part of the Civic Plan,” Cr Lane said.
“Exciting concept ideas aside, local residents are the ones who will be living with the plans and they have the capacity to shape how we proceed with this masterplan.
Meanwhile, the next three-month phase of a Logan “community visioning strategy” will take place from now until February.
The plan is to determine what the future City of Logan should look like.
Logan is growing at the fastest rate of its 40-year history, and sits under an $18 billion infrastructure budget.
City Lifestyle Committee Chairperson Councillor Laurie Koranski said it was important to listen to those who live and work here.
“We want to understand the kind of city they want Logan to be,” Cr Koranski said.
“Having a shared vision will help us put the values and aspirations of our community at the heart of Council’s decision-making.
“It will influence Council’s annual budget and operations over the next five years guiding what we do, why we do it and when.”
Ideas from the first phase of consultation would now be collated and analysed.
A panel will be established to represent the Logan community’s many faces and voices.
The panel, supported by content experts, will create a vision of shared hopes and aspirations which will be the starting point for the development of Council’s new five-year Corporate Plan.
