Ipswich stands ready to reinforce its claim as Queensland manufacturing and defence hub with council releasing 8000 hectares of land to market.
The city council says the land is the largest available in the state’s south-east and released a new investment prospectus to attract more businesses.
To view the prospectus, click here.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding says her city can host advanced manufacturing, defence, production, innovation and logistics industries.
She says companies like Goodman Group, Coles, Suntory Oceania, JBS, Rheinmetall, L’Oreal Groupe, Australia Post, FedEx, TAE Aerospace, Visy, CHEP, Sunny Queen, Bombadier, DB Schenker and Bapcor have set up plants with Officeworks and Asahi building large facilities.
“Manufacturing and defence are our city’s biggest industries, contributing about 60% of our $8 billion in annual exports; we are hungry more of this type of investment,” Cr Harding says.
“With a potential industrial land supply of 7923 hectares (bigger than all other South East Queensland local government areas combined), we have space planned for new commercial and industrial centres.
“The region overall is facing challenges when it comes to industrial land supply, with Brisbane predicted to run out in a matter of a few years.
“Ipswich stands ready to cater for the land requirements of industries. Our city has a proud history of manufacturing and it remains one of the largest employers of any industry in our city.
“We want to ensure Ipswich is the manufacturing
and defence capital of Queensland.”
ATTRACTION OF IPSWICH
Mayor Harding said greenfield supply is just one of many reasons Ipswich is an attractive place for business.
“We have a strong local workforce supply with a population of 270,000 on track to double to more than half a million by 2046 driven by priority residential growth areas, of a median age lower than that of Queensland overall,” Cr Harding says.
“Our location bordering the Brisbane, Logan, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley and Somerset local government areas provides connectivity to a catchment of millions of people, and a gateway to the state’s west.
“Ipswich has a booming economy of $15 billion, growing at 4.2 per cent annually with more than 13,000 businesses and 95,000 jobs, and we’re excited for others to join us on this journey of growth.”
John Gualtieri, Managing Director for Officeworks, explained why Ipswich was chosen for their new Omnichannel Distribution Centre going up at Redbank Motorway Estate.
“This is a significant investment in the future of Officeworks and in how we better serve our customers across every channel to bring their big ideas to life,” he says.
“Located in Redbank, with strong access to key transport links and a growing local workforce, this highly automated, future-ready centre will simplify our operations, create hundreds of local jobs and support our team with a safer and more modern workplace.”
Jess Caire, the Queensland Executive Director for Property Council of Australia endorses the prospectus.
“Ipswich’s scale, land availability and industrial capability position it as a natural home for Queensland’s next phase of manufacturing and defence investment,” she says.
“As pressure builds on industrial land supply across South-East Queensland, Ipswich stands out as one of the few locations able to accommodate major employers at the scale they need.
“This kind of long term, jobs focused investment is critical to strengthening productivity, supply chains and economic resilience for the entire region.”
MORE IPSWICH NEWS: population set to pass 270,000 mark
