Works have started for 249 homes in the Early Release Area. The balance of the site sits in an Investigation Area that stays restricted until 2027.
Works have started on the first homes inside the North Harbour Priority Development Area at Burpengary East.
The Queensland Government says works are underway to support the construction of the first 249 dwellings, on a site planned to eventually hold more than 3,700. The milestone comes just under twelve months after the area was declared.
For anyone working the Moreton Bay corridor, that turnaround is the genuinely notable part. Twelve months from declaration to works starting is quick by Queensland planning standards.
But if you are reading the 3,700 figure as a signal about available work, the planning file tells a more useful story than the announcement does.
What has actually started
Economic Development Queensland declared the North Harbour PDA on 30 July 2025. It covers roughly 421 hectares on the eastern side of the Bruce Highway, bordered by the Caboolture River to the north and east, extending the established North Harbour community.
The declaration brought an Interim Land Use Plan into effect immediately. That document, not the headline number, governs what can be built at North Harbour right now.
The plan splits the site into two precincts.
Precinct 1 is residential. EDQ describes it as providing for the immediate early delivery of approximately 200 homes while the development scheme is prepared. This is where the works now underway sit.
Precinct 2 is an Investigation Area covering the balance of the PDA. Urban development there is restricted until the development scheme is finalised. Existing lawful uses, temporary and interim uses, and land reconfigurations that do not further fragment the land are allowed. New housing is not.
So the number currently open for development is roughly 250, not 3,700.
That is not a criticism of the project. It is how the PDA process is designed to work, and the early release stage has actually landed slightly above the approximately 200 homes the interim plan anticipated. But the distinction matters if you are sizing resourcing or land offers against the announcement.
The number currently open for development is roughly 250, not 3,700. That gap is the whole story for anyone planning resourcing.
It is also worth reading the wording closely. The government describes works as underway to support the construction of 249 homes. That points to enabling and civil works rather than 249 slabs going down. Lots come first. Housing starts follow.
The dates worth putting in the diary
EDQ has published a four stage timeline for North Harbour. Two stages are still ahead.
The integrated land use and infrastructure planning phase has been running since August 2025 and was scheduled to conclude in July 2026.
Public notification of the proposed development scheme, along with the associated development charges plan, is scheduled for August to September 2026. That notification period runs for at least 30 business days, and submissions are open to industry, not just residents.
Finalisation of the development scheme and the submissions report is scheduled for January 2027. EDQ expects the interim plan to be in effect for around 18 months from declaration, which lines up with that date.
Those two windows are the ones that matter. August to September 2026 is the only formal opportunity to put a position on the record about lot mix, infrastructure sequencing and charges before they are locked in. January 2027 is the point at which Precinct 2 stops being an investigation area and starts being a pipeline.
What is being built, and what that demands
The Early Release Area will deliver terraces and detached homes. Across the wider PDA, the government has flagged a mix of three and four bedroom villas, detached houses and apartments.
That product mix is worth sitting with. Terraces and villas at volume in a greenfield setting mean narrower frontages, party wall detailing, attached construction and fire separation requirements that detached builders do not deal with every day. Different documentation, different trade sequencing, different certification pathways.
The broader PDA also carries a marina component. EDQ documents describe 400 wet berths, a dry stacker for 500 boats and 511 private pontoons, alongside retail, tourism, open space and hotel development. Marine construction is a different market again, with a different subcontractor base.
The context around the site
Burpengary East is not a standing start. The existing North Harbour development already houses thousands of residents and includes an operating business park.
The government says the suburb has grown 43 per cent in population since 2021 and expects significant further growth by 2041. Council forecasts put the wider Moreton Bay population at 792,700 by 2046.
The government also projects nearly 2,000 jobs and, according to EDQ material, $456 million a year into the Moreton Bay economy. Both are projections rather than results, and both assume the full PDA is delivered.
The activity is not confined to the PDA either. Burpengary and Burpengary East have been drawing sustained land acquisition from established Queensland developers. Competition for trades and supply in that catchment is building before North Harbour opens its larger stages, which is a factor in how you price 2027 work.
Where this sits in the PDA program
North Harbour is one of several sites the state has moved on recently. Mount Peter south of Cairns was declared on the same day. A provisional PDA covering Land Activation Program sites in Brisbane and Logan followed in May 2026, and Halls Creek at Coochin Creek was declared in July 2026.
The government describes this as four Priority Development Areas declared in less than 18 months.
The pattern across all of them is consistent. Where the state wants housing moved faster than a council planning scheme allows, it declares a PDA, puts an interim plan in place, releases a small early stage, then spends a year or more preparing the document that governs everything else.
That first stage is real. It is also small. Reading the gap between the early release number and the total is the most useful habit you can build when a PDA announcement lands.
Three things worth doing
Register on the North Harbour engagement page now, so the public notification window does not pass without you seeing it. A development scheme submission is the only formal chance to influence infrastructure charges and staging before they are set.
Read the Infrastructure Funding Framework. North Harbour refers to the local government charging instrument to calculate infrastructure charges, which means feasibility depends on the City of Moreton Bay schedule rather than a standalone PDA rate. That is a material input to any land offer.
Price the early stage on its own merits. Do not resource a business against 3,700 homes that cannot be approved until 2027 at the earliest.
The Good Builder Take
Twelve months from PDA declaration to works starting on site is quick, and it is worth acknowledging. The mechanism did what it was designed to do.
But the announcement and the planning file tell slightly different stories. The announcement leads with 3,700 homes. The planning file says roughly 250 are open now, and the rest waits on a document scheduled for January 2027.
Both are accurate. Only one of them is something you can build against this year. Read the timeline, not the total.
Frequently asked questions
It is a 421 hectare area at Burpengary East in the City of Moreton Bay, declared on 30 July 2025. It sits on the eastern side of the Bruce Highway, bordered by the Caboolture River to the north and east, and extends the existing North Harbour community. Economic Development Queensland assesses development applications there instead of the local council.
Only those in the Early Release Area. The Interim Land Use Plan provides for approximately 200 homes in Precinct 1, and the government says works are now underway to support 249. The remaining homes toward the 3,700 total sit in Precinct 2, an Investigation Area where urban development is restricted until the development scheme is finalised.
It is a temporary planning instrument that regulates development inside a PDA from the moment of declaration until the full development scheme takes effect. It lets a small early stage proceed while detailed planning and community consultation are carried out. At North Harbour it is expected to be in effect for around 18 months.
Public notification of the proposed development scheme is scheduled for August to September 2026, running for at least 30 business days. Finalisation, along with the submissions report, is scheduled for January 2027.
Economic Development Queensland. Applications are assessed against the Interim Land Use Plan until the development scheme is finalised, at which point the scheme takes over.
EDQ documents describe a marina with 400 wet berths, a dry stacker for 500 boats and 511 private pontoons, plus a marine industry precinct, retail, tourism, public open space and hotel development.
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This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. Laws, regulations, and industry requirements vary by state and territory and change over time. Builders and trades professionals should seek independent advice relevant to their specific circumstances before making business, legal, or financial decisions.
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