Development history

Western Downs Regional Council is located in South Eastern Queensland, west of Toowoomba, and is part of the the Darling Downs region. The Traditional Owners of the Western Downs are the Barunggam to the west of Dalby, the Iman (Yiman) around the Wandoan area, the Bigambul around the Tara area, and the Jarowair around the Bunya mountains area. The municipality is predominantly rural, with a number of settlements servicing the community. Dalby lies in the east of the Council area and is the largest of these, serving as an administrative hub, however other townships include Chinchilla, Miles and Tara. Western Downs Regional Council was formed in 2008 following the merger of the previous Town of Dalby, Shire of Chinchilla, Shire of Murilla, Shire of Tara, Shire of Wambo, and Division 2 of the Shire of Taroom. European settlement in the Western Downs dates back to the early nineteenth century, with settlers heading west from Brisbane with cattle and sheep. Nowadays, the Western Downs combines it’s traditional Agricultural strengths (including cotton and grain) with the opportunities offered from it’s poisiton in the Surat basin (principally coal and coal seam gas) and the opportunites from renewable energy (wind, solar and battery storage).

Migration patterns

From the early 2000s, up until the commencement of significant coal seam gas (CSG) projects around 2006, the population of the region was steady, however it increased notably between 2007 and approximately 2014 when growth started to slow as the construction phase of these projects came to an end. Overseas inwards migration continues to be strong, and there was a loss of people to LGAs to the east (e.g. Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Toowoomba)

Historical migration flows, Western Downs Regional Council, 2016-2021

Population and household forecasts, 2021 to 2046, prepared by .id (informed decisions), March 2023.

Note: The migration flows depicted above are historical and do not represent future or forecast migration flows or subsequent council boundary changes. The arrows represent migration flows to the area as a whole and do not indicate an origin or destination for any specific localities within the area. Overseas flow shows overseas arrivals based on answers to the census question "where did the person usually live 5-years ago" and .id estimates of international out-migration.

*Please note, the 2021 Census was undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time where border restrictions had largely halted overseas in-migration for the 15 months prior. 2016-2021 net overseas migration levels reflect this and therefore should not necessarily be considered indicative of longer-term trends.

Housing role and function

The larger townships hold a role supporting the administration and commercial aspects of the LGA, with housing for these workers being largely detached. It is assumed that the ongoing jobs for the energy projects will drive a modest demand for dwellings. Smaller populations live in the rural areas, and site specific Workers Accommodation can increase the non-permanent population significantly where they are present. By their nature, these accommodation sites are not permanent, and can be removed when no longer needed. Workers Accommodation for permanent residents may also be present for some of the larger agricultural and intensive agricultural enterprises.

Housing supply

Although in general, there are no limitations on the avilability of land for housing in the townships, following the establishment of a number of new estates in the mid 2010s, there do not appear to be current significant plans of note, and it is assumed that the supply of residental property will be made up from individual or small developments.