Ipswich remains one of Australia’s fastest growing and most liveable cities, with 2,733 more people calling it home over the December 2024 quarter as the city surpassed 260,000 residents.
One of Ipswich’s biggest quarterly population increases in recent years, the figure was a spike of 19.9 per cent across October to December in comparison to the previous quarter, when 2,280 people moved in.
Ipswich City Council Infrastructure, Planning and Assets Committee Chairperson Councillor Andrew Antoniolli said more people than ever want to enjoy the laidback and family-orientated Ipswich lifestyle.
“People are so keen to move to Ipswich and it’s easy to see why – we have a wonderful community with great amenity, stunning greenspaces, a burgeoning hospitality sector and unmissable events,” Cr Antoniolli said.
Ipswich’s eastern suburbs of Ripley (688 new residents), Spring Mountain (492), Redbank Plains (294), Collingwood Park (259) and South Ripley (177) led the way for growth, according to the figures revealed in council’s Planning and Regulatory Services Quarterly Report for September to December 2024.
It’s the biggest population increase over a three-month period since the September quarter of 2018 when 2,858 people decided to call the city home.
“What’s been driving this growth is the availability of a large number of new homes thanks to council’s careful management of planning and development,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“We had 958 new homes constructed in the December quarter – a 22.5 per cent rise from the previous three months.
“This influx of new residents demonstrates why it is so important council continue to fight for our city to receive its fair share of government funding for transport and infrastructure to support our growing population.
“More people also means the need for more housing, so we are ramping up our efforts to fast-track delivery of homes across Ipswich, calling on the State and Federal governments and stakeholders to work with us.
“Our newly-adopted City of Ipswich Local Housing Action Plan lays out strategies to diversify housing stock in Ipswich with more units and townhouses, so residents can have more choice when it comes to having a suitable space to call home.”
Across 2024, Ipswich’s population grew by 8,702, taking it to 261,795 at the end of December for a yearly growth rate of 3.44 per cent.
The December quarter population growth rate rose by 14.5 per cent compared to the corresponding period in 2023.
Cr Antoniolli said Ipswich is expected to continue to grow at a fast rate.
“In the last three months of 2024, we created 727 new housing lots, which is more than double the number created compared to the previous quarter,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“Council also approved 807 lots for the future, as we continue to unlock opportunities for even more people to build their lives in our city.”
There were further signs of economic strength in Ipswich as 370 development applications were lodged with council during the December quarter, along with 70 applications for food business licences.
Council received 4,888 customer service requests – up 1.3 per cent on the previous quarter – with 348 reports of overgrown private property, 383 reports of illegal dumping, 493 reports of illegal footpath parking, 334 reports of abandoned vehicles, and 314 reports of unregistered, roaming or noisy dogs.
The quarterly report card also shows:
- 718 community clinic immunisations undertaken
- 30,345 dog registrations
- 3.87km of additional pathways and bikeways created
- 2.5km of additional local roads
- 2,786 plumbing inspections
- 0.63ha of additional local parks.
The full Planning and Regulatory Services Quarterly Report can be read here.