There's been a lot of talk about Caboolture West over the past couple of years, and understandably so. At around 3,156 hectares, it is one of South-East Queensland's largest greenfield growth areas. Here's a high-level read on what's happening, why it matters, and what's worth knowing about land out that way.
The broader growth area has long been referred to as Caboolture West, which remains the term used in State and Council planning frameworks. Within that area, five new suburb names were gazetted in April 2023, with Waraba (pronounced wa-ra-ba) assigned to the suburb containing the future city centre and adopted as the name for both the overall city and the Priority Development Area.
The name is borrowed from the Kabi Kabi language and means "burn", a literal reference to traditional land management practices carried out by the Kabi Kabi People as they care for Country. Traditional burning brings new life and enhances the health of the land and its people.
Waraba is a Priority Development Area (PDA), a State Government instrument that steps in ahead of, or alongside, Council planning to fast-track significant development precincts. The Waraba PDA was declared on 2 August 2024 and covers approximately 2,900 hectares across 272 separate property holdings within the City of Moreton Bay.
The PDA boundary of 2,900 hectares covers most, but not all, of the broader Caboolture West growth area. The remaining land sits outside the declared PDA and is subject to different planning frameworks.
The boundaries run roughly: Bellmere, Lilywood and Wagtail Grove to the east, D'Aguilar Highway to the north, Caboolture River Road to the south, and the low hills along Old North Road to the west.
The short answer: housing supply. This is a deliberate State Government response to SEQ's growth pressures, the same forces driving infill policy in Brisbane and Moreton Bay. Rather than waiting for individual landowners to work through council processes on 272 separate parcels, the PDA framework allows coordinated, sequenced planning across the whole area.
This is the part worth really understanding. The vision document describes Waraba developing over a 40-year timeframe, and the scale puts it in a different category to a typical suburban release. With around 30,000 homes once complete, Caboolture West will become the size of a regional city, similar in size to Mackay (City). The planned numbers are:
The planning concept is built around a few clear ideas:
A proper town centre. A mixed-use centre along Bellmere Road carrying the highest densities: retail, commercial, civic, cultural, health, education and residential all in one pedestrian-oriented precinct.
Residential neighbourhoods radiating out from that centre, covering a range of lot sizes and dwelling types, from detached houses on standard blocks through to attached housing, narrow lots with laneway access, and medium density near centres and parks.
An interconnected green network. This is a genuine structural element of the plan, not a branding concept. The Caboolture River, Waraba Creek corridors and associated habitat linkages are protected and consolidated as a continuous green network running through the urban areas. Environmental offsets, flood management, active transport and recreation all layer into this network.
Enterprise and employment. A commercial/industrial precinct in the north-east of the PDA, oriented toward the future Moreton Motorway interchange and D'Aguilar Highway access.
Schools and community infrastructure. The ILUP identifies plans for four State primary schools and two State secondary schools within the PDA boundary, along with neighbourhood hubs and a local centre/community facilities hub. The full scope of community infrastructure across the broader Waraba area is subject to further planning as the development scheme evolves.
The future Moreton Motorway is the piece of infrastructure that ties the whole vision together. The corridor runs through the PDA and is already protected as a future State-controlled road, with three planned interchanges servicing Waraba. When built, it will give residents a genuine alternative to the Bruce Highway for travel south into Brisbane and north toward the Sunshine Coast.
The motorway is being planned in stages under the Bruce Highway Western Alternative project, a joint Australian and Queensland Government initiative. Corridor protection is progressively being locked in, with the most recent stage confirmed in early 2026. Stage 3, which would extend the corridor south from Elimba toward Bald Hills and ultimately connect into Brisbane's northern suburbs, is still in early planning. Construction is not expected to commence for many years.
Moreton Motorway - Current Status (at time of article)
In the near term, public transport connections are planned along Bellmere Road to Caboolture and Morayfield. The motorway is the long-game piece. Clients with land in Waraba should understand the difference between what connectivity looks like today and what the vision ultimately depends on. More information is available at TMR's project page.
The Interim Land Use Plan (ILUP) is the live document right now, effective from August 2024 for up to 24 months or until the full Development Scheme is adopted. Within the ILUP, the Urban Living Precinct and Green Network Precinct are where development assessment is currently open. It's worth keeping in mind this is a 40-year build-out. The ILUP represents the first regulated chapter of a longer story, not a signal that the whole area is ready to move at once.
A significant portion of the PDA is designated as an Investigation Precinct, where urban development is explicitly not envisaged, while the ILUP is in effect. That land requires detailed infrastructure and land use planning before it gets activated. Not all 2,900 hectares are in play in the near term, and the sequencing of what comes online and when will depend on infrastructure funding and the Development Scheme process.
The affordable housing requirement is notable. 25% of all dwellings across the PDA is the stated target for affordable and social housing, a meaningful policy commitment that shapes what the housing mix looks like at scale.
The plan also includes stated intentions around sustainability, including minimum green star or EnviroDevelopment ratings, EV charging provisions, and water-sensitive urban design standards. These are policy commitments embedded in the ILUP. How they translate in practice will become clearer as development applications move through assessment and early projects are delivered.
The context plan requirement is worth flagging to any landholder thinking about moving on their site. The first development application in any neighbourhood unit triggers a context plan, a spatial planning document that maps how that development fits with surrounding land. It adds some planning weight for the first mover in any area and is worth factoring into early conversations with clients.
Forty years is the full build-out timeframe. The first residential land is only now moving through the development assessment process, with civil works underway in Lilywood. Infrastructure delivery, including roads, water and wastewater, is sequenced and not all available immediately. Landholders in the Urban Living Precinct areas with existing development approvals are in a stronger position to move in the near term. For land sitting in the Investigation Precinct, the realistic expectation is that meaningful development activity is still some years away, subject to the Development Scheme process.
The primary source is EDQ (Economic Development Queensland) at edq.qld.gov.au, where the Waraba PDA ILUP and Infrastructure Funding Framework documents are publicly available. EDQ runs pre-lodgement meetings for anyone considering a development application. Of course, speaking with the council is always a great first step too.
For planning scheme overlay mapping that still applies (flood hazard, vegetation, infrastructure buffers), the Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning Scheme remains relevant. The ILUP selectively incorporates its planning provisions rather than replacing them entirely.
Waraba represents the kind of long-term urban project that does not come along often. A new regional city, planned from the ground up with State Government planning frameworks in place and projects already underway in Lilywood, has the potential to be transformative for the northern SEQ corridor. Understanding it early can be a real advantage as that story continues to unfold.