Fastest growth in Queensland comes with pros and cons

The City of Logan is officially the fastest growing city in Queensland, recording an estimated 4.1 per cent growth since 2022.

Experts say the extra crowds will add to the city’s “uniquely diverse nature”, but also strain local services, roads and public transport.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics population figures estimate Logan’s population is 377,773, up from 363,059 in 2022.

Mayor-elect Jon Raven said growth was good for the city, “provided it was well managed”.

“It brings new opportunities, investment and employment to our city,” Cr Raven said.

“Infrastructure always lags behind growth, we need to do better long term planning to reduce that lag and get better value for money.

“Our community is experiencing the pressure of that growth, you can see it on our major roads every day.”

Chambers Flat and Logan Reserve recorded the highest growth (18.4 per cent), followed by Greenbank and North Maclean (12.9 per cent), Boronia Heights and Park Ridge (9.3 per cent), and Yarrabilba (7.9 per cent).

Dr Elin Charles-Edwards, a demographer at the University of Queensland, said demand on local services like schools and healthcare would increase.

“A lot of Logan’s growth is driven by the major greenfield developments around Flagstone and that area,” Dr Charles-Edwards said.

“When you’ve got that large-scale greenfield development, it puts a lot of pressure on infrastructure.

“Road infrastructure is the first thing people notice, because you’ve suddenly got a population using roads that didn’t exist previously.”

She said, “all things go well”, the city would gain “better access to services and more diverse communities”.

“… but you’re losing open space and bushland, so it comes at a cost,” she said.

“With places like Yarrabilba and Flagstone, Logan is actually doing the heavy lifting for the growth around south east Queensland.”

Cr Raven also agreed Logan was “doing the heavy lifting”.

“We have three of the fastest growing suburbs in the country and they’re all crying out for public transport,” he said.

“We are building our way out of this housing crisis which is exactly what the State Government wants.

“I want to see them reward that effort by investing in our infrastructure and helping people who need homes into affordable housing.”

Recently the city has seen major progress fighting unemployment.

While much higher than the national average, Logan’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 per cent – the lowest figure this century and possibly the lowest “ever on record”.

“A lot of the people will likely be commuting to either the Brisbane metro region, Ipswich or the Gold Coast for work,” Dr Charles-Edwards said.

“However, as population grows, it does create local job opportunities with services that need to be provided.”

Cr Raven said construction and logistics were the city’s two biggest industries.

“That is good for right now, but it won’t be forever,” he said.

“We need to start attracting investment that will create jobs for when this growth slows down so that more of us can live and work local.”

Dr Charles-Edwards said targeted industrial developments and diverse economic land-uses would help boost local employment.

Logan also recorded one of the highest overseas migration numbers in the state.

“Logan has a wonderfully diverse community already and I think that’s a real strength of Logan already,” Dr Charles-Edwards said.

Local sales agent Jett Jones said she witnessed a significant “growth shift” in the last year, particularly with young families.

“In the last couple of months we’ve seen a lot more families moving into Logan Reserve and a lot of investors cashing in on their investments,” Ms Jones said.

“We are finding that there are a lot of first home buyers looking to move into Logan Reserve – some coming from Brisbane, or others moving inland to get their foot in the door.

“There is going to be a lot more traffic and infrastructure coming into the area, and council is trying to move as quickly as they can to cater for that.”