Ooralea Waters is a masterplanned residential community in Mackay, Queensland, delivering a long-term vision for sustainable growth across 154 hectares. The masterplan will extend the established neighbourhoods to the east of the site, providing the next phase of development for the broader community.
Once complete, the masterplan will provide approximately 2,100 residential lots, creating a connected and liveable community that responds to its natural setting and the region’s future housing needs.
Running through the heart of Ooralea Waters, Bakers Creek is a defining feature of the estate. The waterway provides significant environmental value while also influencing the structure, character and open space network of the broader masterplan.
Eight stages have already been delivered, with detailed subdivision design now underway for the remaining stages across approximately 141 hectares of the site.
Our multidisciplinary team brought together urban design, planning, transport and landscape architecture to develop a coordinated masterplan for long-term growth.
We developed the concept masterplan and structure plan for the 175-hectare site, establishing a clear framework for future growth.
We began with a detailed opportunities and constraints analysis, assessing the site’s natural systems, drainage requirements, access points and development potential. This established a clear and responsive framework for development.
Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) shaped the masterplan, integrating Bakers Creek with the open space network and connecting residents through pedestrian and bicycle paths.
Working closely with SIG Group and our planning and transport teams, we tested residential densities, lot typologies and road networks. This helped develop a preferred layout balancing housing yield, development efficiency and urban design outcomes.
Our Transport team used detailed traffic modelling to assess a range of development scenarios and test the performance of the surrounding road network. This analysis informed a safe, efficient and permeable internal road network that can support the estate as it develops.
The assessment also considered the full development scenario, identifying the timing and extent of future transport infrastructure upgrades required to support the community’s long-term growth.
Our Landscape team prepared a landscape plan that uses locally appropriate planting and landform treatments to support stormwater filtration and flow management while strengthening the site’s ecological outcomes.
Carefully considered planting zones help improve water quality and stabilise batters, while establishing a resilient, low-maintenance landscape character suited to the regional environment.
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