By Tyson Parker
LOGAN City Council is facing a $1.2 billion funding gap over the next eight years, raising the risk of delays to infrastructure upgrades and putting pressure on existing services.
The council’s Strategic Asset Management Plan 2026 says service and funding for current infrastructure lifecycle costs “cannot be maintained for the next 10 years.”
It states: “some activities may need to be deferred or adjusted”.
This could mean delays to upgrades and pressure on maintenance for roads, parks, water mains and other infrastructure residents rely on every day.
The council is already under increasing pressure from residents to upgrade infrastructure to cater for ongoing growth in the fastest growing city in Queensland.
Logan’s population was 392,339 in June 2024 and is forecast to hit 662,000 by 2046.
Logan resident Kyla Campbell has started a petition on Logan City Council’s website, listing housing growth, insufficient planning and investment and limited access routes in and out of suburbs as key issues.
“Despite increasing population, property development and rising council rates, there have been no meaningful road capacity upgrades delivered to support this growth,” Ms Campbell said.
“Community members have also raised concerns about developer infrastructure contributions and the apparent lack of visible investment in transport upgrades,” she said.
The council is balancing the cost of new infrastructure for a growing city with the cost of maintaining and renewing older assets already in service.
Division 11 councillor Natalie Willcocks said the current challenges weren’t unique to Logan and long-term forecasts were inherently uncertain because they depended on evolving circumstances.
“The biggest constraints on our funds and our capacity for asset maintenance or upgrades are likely to come from external pressures, particularly rising construction and infrastructure costs,” Cr Willcocks said.
“We know this isn’t an issue unique to Logan and councils around Australia are feeling the same pressure,” she said.
The council puts the current replacement value of what it manages at $12.2 billion.
However, the city’s infrastructure bill is rising faster than its available funding, compounded by rising supply costs and population growth.
Council documents indicate up to $472 million in projects could be delayed over the next decade if sufficient funding is not secured, though this does not necessarily mean new projects will be halted altogether.
Cr Willcocks said the council was investigating “alternative income opportunities,” to bridge the funding gap.
“At this point, there are no changes planned to current maintenance standards or asset upgrade and renewal timeframes,” she said.
To maintain investment, the council is relying on two major mechanisms: borrowing and developer contributions — both of which come with trade-offs.
The 2025/26 Budget shows the council borrowing $174.7 million to fund capital works, including roads and drains.
Council debt is forecast to increase to a total of $845.6 million by 2027, pushing the council to the higher end of its borrowing capacity and limiting its ability to take on further debt if necessary.
The debt, coupled with the $472 million of projects the council has earmarked as requiring funding sources together add up to $1.2billion.
Some revenue is accumulated through developer-donated assets, with $234.9 million received from these assets in 2023/24, the budget shows.
But this could be impacted if the council heeded community demands to slow development to allow infrastructure to catch up.
How the council closes the gap remains uncertain, however, what is clear is Logan must fund new infrastructure for its growing population while also maintaining and renewing existing assets.
This is a challenge that could shape how quickly roads, parks and other services improve in coming years.
