Brisbane’s HIGH-RISE WAR: Radical Plan to Build 20-Storey Apartment Towers Sparks Furious Backlash as Critics Warn it Will Create a ‘City for the Wealthy’ and Drive Out Key Workers
- A seismic shift is coming to Brisbane’s skyline as the council unveils a radical plan to allow 20-plus storey apartment towers in suburban hubs.
- The controversial ‘anti-sprawl’ plan targets suburbs like Carindale and Indooroopilly, scrapping current building height limits to fight the housing crisis.
- Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner insists the move will stop the ‘destruction of bushland’ by putting more homes near jobs and transport.
- But the plan has been slammed as a ‘developer-led’ nightmare that risks making the city ‘unaffordable for the very people we need to keep our city running’.
The face of Brisbane is set to change forever under a radical and controversial urban overhaul that will see apartment buildings soar to more than 20 storeys in quiet suburban heartlands.
In a shock move dubbed an ‘anti-sprawl’ measure, Brisbane City Council is pushing ahead with a plan to scrap height limits in key suburbs like Carindale, Indooroopilly, and Nundah to combat the city’s crippling housing crisis.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has come out swinging in support of the high-rise revolution, adamant it’s the only way to provide more homes without destroying precious green space.
‘We want to put more homes where the jobs are, where the transport is, and where the services are,’ he declared. ‘The alternative is more urban sprawl, more destruction of bushland, which we don’t want to see.’
Under the dramatic proposal, the current 10-storey limit around the bustling Carindale shopping centre will be torn up, while towers could reach dizzying new heights of over 20 storeys near the Indooroopilly shopping precinct.
But the plan was immediately slammed by critics who have warned it’s a ‘developer-led’ disaster that will create a city only accessible to the super-rich.
Labor council opposition leader Jared Cassidy savaged the proposal, warning it would drive out essential workers. ‘It’s a proposal that risks making Brisbane’s inner suburbs unaffordable for the very people we need to keep our city running,’ he fumed.
Greens Councillor Trina Massey echoed the concerns, demanding iron-clad rules to force developers to include social and affordable housing. ‘Without proper safeguards, we risk creating a city that’s only accessible to the wealthy,’ she warned.
Despite the furious backlash, the council is standing firm, forecasting the plan will help deliver a staggering 210,800 new homes by 2046 to support the city’s booming population. The move has been welcomed by the powerful property lobby, with Property Council Queensland Executive Director Jess Caire saying it was ‘imperative that we look to unlock housing everywhere we can.’