Springfield, a residential suburb on the south-western outskirt of Ipswich City, is 25 km south-west of central Brisbane. It is situated on a former eucalyptus plantation that was on hilly landscape which declines to the Opossum Creek in the west. Further west is Redbank Plains. About eight km south-west of Springfield, amidst tree-covered ranges, is Spring Mountain (355m). Springfield Lakes, formally named in 2000, is immediately south-east of Springfield, next to the Centenary Highway extension.
In 1992 the Springfield Land Corporation acquired a 28.5 sq km parcel of land for the new suburb of Springfield, planned to have 15,000 home sites, a 200 ha town centre, a research and development centre, 1000 ha of open space and a golf course. The corporation was required to finance an extension of the Centenary Highway, running in a south-westerly arc from the Logan Motorway to the proposed suburb. A westerly extension to Ripley was constructed in 2008. Public transport from Darra to Springfield was a definite idea in the draft South East Queensland Regional Plan, and a public transport extension to Ripley was a dotted-line idea. Meanwhile the public transport journey via the Wacol bus station to the CBD in 2004 was one hour and ten minutes. In 2013 the new Springfield Central railway station was opened next to the Orion Shopping Centre. The line runs as a spur from the Ipswich line at Darra, travelling out to Richlands, then Springfield and Springfield Central. Travelling times from Springfield Central to Brisbane Central Station were reduced to 40 minutes. The project also included 400 car parks at Springfield Central for commuters, and an additional two lanes on the Centenary Motorway from Logan Motorway Interchange at Forest Lake and Springfield Parkway at Springfield.
Springfield's and Springfield Lakes' estimated population in September 2003 was 5000 with an estimated final figure at 60,000 by 2020. Most civic and public facilities are in Springfield: Woodcrest State College (P-12, 1997), TAFE, Anglican and Uniting Churches' Springfield College (P-12, 1998) and Staines Memorial College (2005). St Peter's Lutheran College (2008) is in the Springfield town centre, known as Springfield Central, and next door to it there is a campus of the University of Southern Queensland.
Springfield Fair Shopping centre has a supermarket and 14 shops (2004), much less than the Orion regional centre begun in October 2003 with 150,000 sq metres of lettable area, bigger that anything else in Queensland, in the Springfield Central district.
Springfield Lakes has a shopping centre next to one of two lakes constructed on Opossum Creek. It is adjoined by Springfield Lakes State primary school (2007).
In 2013 the State government announced the building of a new primary school at Springfield as part of 10 new schools to be built in high-growth areas under a private-public partnership model, with the private companies responsible for maintaining the school for up to 30 years.
The census populations have been:
census date | population | |
---|---|---|
Springfield | Springfield Lakes | |
2006 | 5732 | 4852 |
2011 | 6617 | 10,149 |
Business Review Weekly, 19 Dec 1994
Augustine Heights and Brookwater entries