27 July 2020 | NSW Government

First home buyers will be the big winners under a targeted boost, which will eliminate stamp duty on newly-built homes below $800,000 and slash thousands of dollars for properties up to $1 million.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the change to stamp duty thresholds would also support new home construction and create jobs as part of the government’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan.

“Thousands of people will see their bank balances benefit from this change – it will help get more keys into more front doors of more new homes,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Under the changes the threshold above which stamp duty will be charged on new homes for first home buyers will increase from the current $650,000 to $800,000, with the concession reducing on higher values before phasing out at $1 million.

Under the changes the stamp duty threshold on vacant land will rise from $350,000 to $400,000 and will phase out at $500,000. 27 July 2020 | NSW Government

JULY 15, 2020 | Sue Murray

Civil works have started at Warnervale Town Centre.

They are expected to be finished by October 2020, ready for construction to start soon after on the retail and commercial facilities.

Also, Central Coast Council will deliver a water and sewerage upgrade in Warnervale Town Centre following the provision of an $8.5m funding package from the NSW Government.

FRI 17 JUL 20

[Silverhall Comment – Ripley Town Centre is just 10 minutes from Springfield. The Queensland Government has forecast Ripley to be home to over 120,000 people. Together with the significant rise of Springfield, this location will be the largest growth of population in Queensland]

Sekisui House Australia—the master developer behind south-east Queensland’s Ripley Town Centre vision—together with placemaking partner RobertsDay, are redefining the “smart city” concept by putting people at the centre of the community’s urban design.

“With Covid-19 placing a renewed and potentially long-term focus on remote working, what our local environment can offer in terms of walkability becomes critically important.”

To reinforce Ripley Town Centre’s connectivity vision, a proposed transit hub will link the region to Ipswich, Springfield, Brisbane and beyond, delivering on the requirements under the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area.

Jodie Richter
July 15, 2020

A new call centre at Springfield Central will provide up to 700 jobs. The call centre is being set up by Stella Asia Pacific, which provides call centre services for the Australian Tax Office. They have taken up offices at the GE Building at Springfield Central and have started the search for call centre operators.

May 28, 2020

The tunnellers building Queensland’s biggest infrastructure project reckon they can bore two 7m-wide, 5.9km-long tunnels deep under the Brisbane River, Kangaroo Point Cliffs and the CBD and come out within the width of a hand of their target at Victoria Park.

The incredible engineering feat will kick off by the end of the year, when two 100m-long tunnel-boring machines are lowered into the ground at the Gabba.

FAST FACTS
● Train tunnel will be 5.9km long from Boggo Rd to beyond Roma St.
● At its deepest point, the tunnel will be 45m below the surface of the Brisbane River.
● 18 active worksites around Brisbane will be established by the end of 2020.
● There will be four new underground stations at Boggo Rd, Woolloongabba, Albert St and Roma St.
● Cross River Rail is due to be completed in 2024 at an expected cost of $5.4 billion.