Case Studies
Fitzgibbon Chase

Design Feature

Type of project
Infrastructure
State
Queensland
Location
Urban
Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), is the state government’s specialist land use planning and property development unit. EDQ drives leadership in property development, addressing urban supply issues and finding purpose for underused government land.  

Bringing together multidisciplinary teams - including property experts, planning specialists and quality project support staff – EDQ addresses gaps in the market, delivering affordable and diverse housing and overcomes unique challenges associated with the areas that it aimed to activate. EDQ acts as a vehicle for industry innovation and demonstration, promoting inventive housing products and implementing new planning processes.  

Fitzgibbon Chase is a product of this project, offering a vibrant and diverse residential community located 13 kilometres north of Brisbane’s CBD. Launched in 2009, Fitzgibbon Chase has delivered 1,350 homes across 21 stages. 
Housing Diversity with style
In developing Fitzgibbon Chase, it was important that the project team get the big picture right, the development’s ‘bone structure’. To achieve this, the project team had to balance the need for innovative housing, greenspace, community amenity and transit connectivity, subsequently enabling it to focus on the detail that would set Fitzgibbon Chase apart from other communities.

Part of the success of Fitzgibbon Chase’s planning process was incorporating input from a variety of stakeholders. By engaging early with local organisations and groups, the project team could ensure that its plan reflected local needs, addressed local concerns and struck the right balance between commercial and community goals.
With a comprehensive community engagement framework in place, the team connected with organisations, such as the Fitzgibbon Residents Action Group and other local bushland groups, to address their concerns. The result was a development plan that was sensitive to local community needs.
EDQ additionally engaged with other State Government departments and entities, as well as with local councils, to identify infrastructure and housing concerns and address them in the masterplan. This included working with Brisbane Housing Corporation to create a viable plan for public housing on the Fitzgibbon Chase site.
By engaging with various state and local government stakeholders, as well as community and green groups, the Fitzgibbon Chase team devised a plan to retain a large section of the site as bushland. The bushland would be publicly accessible, while preserving the habitats of local wildlife – an approach that would provide balance to the rest of the development.

Townhouses, multiplexes, ‘Fonzie’ flats and other medium-density products made up the mix of housing diversity at the team’s disposal to achieve EDQ’s commercial goals, while still delivering green space and a liveable community.
Project team
  • Developer: Economic Development Queensland
  • Current consultants: JVA, Brown Consulting, Urbis, WRM, Bligh Tanner, Wolter Consulting Group, Land Partners
  • Past consultants: RPS Group, ETS Engineering, DegenhartSHEDD, TTM

Project cost
Unavailable
Health value
  • The green hub community garden is 4500 square metres of land dedicated for residents to plant their own vegetables, herbs and citrus trees. The benefits of this community garden extend beyond fresh food production alone, but also positively contribute to resident’s health through incidental physical activity and social interactions.
  • The driveways and garages of houses are relocated to the rear of narrow and small lots. This design features creates communal areas where children can engage in physical activity in a much safer location that adjacent to or on the road.
  • Fitzgibbon Chase also has many parks for residents to engage in unstructured play and exercise.

Environmental value
The Fitzgibbon Chase site provided the EDQ team an opportunity to create a community which could interact with and celebrate its natural setting. With the development set amongst large areas of established bushland, home to wildlife such as squirrel gliders, birds and wallabies, retaining the natural environment would not only ensure the health of the surrounding ecosystem, it would also give the community access to thriving green space. The site features:
  • 40 hectares of retained bushland (rehabilitation plan followed)
  • Walking trails throughout with access to rehabilitated bushland
  • Tree retention throughout the estate
  • Rehabilitated bushland and wildlife corridors, which protected the habitats of a range of native animals including the near-threatened tusk frog. Wildlife boxes were also created for local squirrel glider, sugar glider, tree frog and possum populations.
  • Water sensitive urban design - Fitzgibbon Chase team developed two innovative, world-leading technology-based solutions for stormwater and roof water harvesting, creating both recycled and potable water.
  • The facilitation of energy efficient homes. Builders were encouraged to incorporate energy saving design in each of the homes built, using insulation, orientation, and air flow maximisation to reduce household energy consumption, particular heating and cooling.
  • UDIA EnviroDevelopment: first project in Australia to achieve all six elements of Urban Development Institute of Australia’s EnviroDevelopment Version 2.0 certification: ecosystems, water energy, materials, waste and community.

Economic value
  • Given that Fitzgibbon Chase is a major development, ensuring that the project benefited the community as much as possible was an important part of EDQ’s role as a government body.
  • Given the development commenced in 2009, by resolving development issues promptly and working on an effective plan, the Fitzgibbon Chase team ensured that the project’s economic benefits could resonate through the community quickly, boosting local businesses and delivering local jobs.
  • Affordable housing: 66% of homes were delivered as affordable housing, in some areas of the development more than 90% of homes were sold at or below Brisbane’s median house price. 69% of buyers are first-home owners.
  • Fitzgibbon Chase’s economic benefits will extend beyond its project lifespan. The affordable housing products will continue to offer more people access to the housing market; skills developed through the project’s training program will give workers better chances for better jobs in the future; and the vibrant community built at Fitzgibbon Chase will continue to bring people together, delivering social dividends for years to come.

Social value
  • Trainees and apprentices were not the only community members that the Fitzgibbon Chase team wanted to involve in Fitzgibbon Chase. The team also sought to connect with community members through encouraging local social enterprises to participate in the development. One of these was the Sandgate Enterprise for Economic Development (SEED), which was commissioned to plant 15,000 trees on “The Bund,” a strip of Fitzgibbon Chase bushland.
  • Involving the community and giving locals an important stake in project success meant that the bushland would be well cared for in the future.

Use value
  • At the heart of Fitzgibbon Chase is the community. In 2009, EDQ set out to provide Brisbane’s outer north with more than just houses, roads and parks. Fitzgibbon Chase now offers residents a genuine sense of belonging through the development’s ongoing contribution to and participation in the broader community. EDQ’s commitment to ensuring that the project delivers a positive legacy to area was underpinned by continual engagement with local residents, businesses, training organisations and various other community groups.

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