Roma Street
Cross River Rail PDA

The Roma Street Cross River Rail PDA is required to provide for the coordinated, timely development of land and infrastructure, facilitating economic development and development for community purposes, within the precinct surrounding the new underground Roma Street Cross River Rail station.

The PDA is approximately 32 hectares. The PDA encompasses land on the north-western edge of Brisbane’s city centre. The Roma Street CRR PDA contains the Roma Street Railway Station, railyards and busway, and is generally defined by Countess Street, Roma Street, Albert Street, College Road and Parkland Boulevard.

The Roma Street CRR PDA also includes land on the southern side of Roma Street between Makerston and May Streets, and State Government (Emergency Services) land on the western side of Countess Street. These sites have been included as there may be opportunities to enhance the streetscape and improve public transport interfaces across the precinct.

As a key link between the city centre, Spring Hill, Caxton Street, the Barracks, Suncorp Stadium and the Cultural precinct at South Bank, Roma Street’s improved transport connections provided by Cross River Rail will allow for new transport-orientated developments to reinvigorate the precinct.

Cross River Rail will transform Roma Street station into Brisbane’s busiest interchange connecting passengers with the existing suburban bus and rail networks, the Brisbane Metro, as well as regional and interstate bus and train services.

Yes. Development within the PDA will be designed to take advantage of Brisbane’s subtropical climate and contribute to Brisbane’s identity and outdoor lifestyle, by delivering high-quality, subtropical architecture of outstanding merit and buildings, public realm and landscaping that are open, engaging and green, with public art, shaded spaces and opportunities to interact with the street.

The PDA has been designed to deliver a net gain in publicly accessible open space and provide for a well-connected and accessible public realm network that is permeable for pedestrians and cyclists, links attractions, public passenger transport infrastructure, surrounding parkland and neighbourhoods.

This includes the establishment of a new public plaza beside the new Cross River Rail station building that establishes a focal point for passenger arrival, and provides views to the Roma Street Railway Station heritage place from Roma Street and George Street through the new Cross River Rail station building.

There is also a requirement that allows for the extension of the Albert Street Green Spine to Roma Street Parkland, which forms a key link in a broader open space network including Wickham Park, Emma Miller Place and the City Botanic Gardens.

Approximately 46,000 people will use the Roma Street underground station each weekday by 2036.

The Cross River Rail Delivery Authority has worked closely with the Brisbane City Council (BCC), Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), relevant state agencies and specialist planning consultants to prepare the Roma Street CRR PDA Interim Land Use Plan. The community will have the opportunity to comment during the preparation of the development scheme in 2020.

The Delivery Authority has worked closely with Brisbane City Council officers to prepare the Roma Street CRR PDA Interim Land Use Plan at this location. Applications for development within the PDA will be assessed and decided by CRRDA as delegate of the Minister for Economic Development Queensland and be assessed against the Interim Land Use Plan rather than the Brisbane City Plan 2014.

While the underground Roma Street station requires the demolition of the Brisbane Transit Centre, the final tunnel alignment, station entrances and construction methodology is outlined here.

The Roma Street CRR PDA Interim Land Use Plan has adopted a range of development application notification triggers including from the Brisbane City Plan 2014. If triggered (refer section 3.4 of the ILUP), a development application will be publicly notified, and submissions considered during the assessment of the development application.

The Roma Street Railway station and Albert Park South Air Raid Shelter are listed on the state heritage register. The Countess Street Rail Bridge Abutments is listed on the local heritage register.

The Heritage locations (Roma Street railway station, Albert Park South Air Raid Shelter and Countess Street Rail Bridge Abutments) within the PDA are protected.

Any development within the PDA will have to provide for the conservation of heritage places whilst providing flexibility for sensitive adaptive reuse opportunities.

Any development or adaptive reuse proposal will be assessed against the ILUP until the development scheme is finalised. The requirements in these documents mean proposals have to be done in a way which showcases the identified heritage value and preserves its cultural heritage significance including the historic built form character and structural integrity.

The significant improvement in transport connectivity and revitalisation of the Roma Street precinct made possible by Cross River Rail will generate opportunities for urban renewal and enhancement of public spaces in the area. The exact form of the future development is subject to further work including development feasibility, market advice and ultimately development assessment as is the normal practice under a PDA.

The business case was prepared with world-leading sport and architecture experts, Populous, completing the design for the arena, and Deloitte’s Access Economics carrying out the financial modelling. Further planning during preparation of the development scheme will consider the potential for a new entertainment arena at Roma Street.