The Waraba development is finally moving from planning maps to bulldozers. This new city west of Caboolture now has a $2.4 billion infrastructure fund behind it. Its draft rulebook closed for public comment in July, and families already live in its first estate. But the official targets have shrunk since 2024. The first state school has no opening date, and nobody plans a rail line. So here is what is real in 2026, what is funded, and what is still a drawing.
Written by Daniel Whitfield, founder of Australia Develops. An accountant by background who has bought land and built a home himself, he researches property development and planning across Australia using council reports, planning records and government data.
Where Waraba is, and how big the Waraba development gets
Waraba is the new name for Caboolture West, in the City of Moreton Bay. The Queensland Government announced it as the state’s 36th priority development area (PDA) in July 2024. Then it declared the PDA by regulation on 2 August 2024. That means Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) now sets the planning rules, not the council. The PDA covers about 2,880 hectares. It runs from Bellmere and Lilywood in the east to the low hills along Old North Road. The D’Aguilar Highway forms its northern edge, and Caboolture River Road its southern one.
The headline numbers have changed, though. The 2024 announcement promised about 30,000 dwellings for an estimated 70,000 residents, plus 17,000 local jobs. It also set a minimum of 25% affordable and social housing. But EDQ’s consultation page now says around 65,000 people in about 25,000 homes, with the jobs target unchanged. Yet the council’s own Waraba page still quotes 30,000 homes for about 70,000 people. So you’ll see both sets of figures in brochures.
Who is building the Waraba development
Several developers hold land here, but two of them are clearly ahead.
- Lennium Group (Lilywood Landings). This is the first masterplanned estate, with 705 approved lots on about 70 hectares. Nearly 400 lots had sold by September 2026. Its display village now runs 31 homes from 18 builders, and terraces start from $764,000.
- Stockland (Rivermont). Moreton Bay council approved 2,050 homes over 175.4 hectares in June 2023. Rivermont also includes the 15-hectare Stockland Halcyon over-50s community. Stockland expected its first buildable lots in the first quarter of 2026.
- AVID, Baycrown and Orchard. Along with Lennium, these three groups shared the first approvals in August 2023. Together they covered an initial 2,000 parcels of land.
So if you hear “Halcyon Waraba”, that’s the land lease section inside Rivermont, not a separate suburb. Stockland’s approval also came with road conditions. These include a four-lane Caboolture River Road between Walkers Road and Grant Road, plus traffic lights at Cresthaven Drive.
The $2.4 billion: what the Waraba development money pays for
On 18 May 2026, Canberra and Brisbane announced a housing deal for three PDAs: Waraba, Mount Peter and Southern Thornlands. The Australian Government put in $2 billion. But only $399 million of that is grants. The other $1.6 billion comes as zero-interest concessional loans. Queensland then matched the grants with $399 million of its own. The money targets roads, water and sewer, because those decide when land can actually be sold.
For Waraba alone, EDQ says the fund will help deliver about 16,845 new homes by mid-2034. Of those, 6,738 will support first home buyers. Statewide, the first of these first-home-buyer homes should finish by mid-2028. This sits on top of an earlier $100 million that the state committed in 2024. That first tranche paid for water and sewer works that unlocked more than 2,000 lots in Lilywood.
The draft scheme and the $75,000 question
Right now, an interim land use plan governs Waraba. EDQ put the proposed development scheme on public notification from 18 May to 2 July 2026. It comes with an infrastructure plan worth over $2 billion. Developer charges plus state and federal money will fund it.
- 66 km of trunk road and 25 road intersections
- 33 km of off-road walking and cycling paths
- 29 km of sewer main, 12 pump stations and 25 km of trunk water main
- 32 local parks, 7 district parks and 2 regional parks, inside 860 hectares of green space
- A district library, plus youth, sport and recreation facilities
The Property Council’s submission pushed back hard on cost, though. It says infrastructure charges in the PDA sit at around $75,000 per lot. That’s materially higher than comparable non-PDA areas. It also warned that sequencing could get “constrained by the slowest moving site”, because land ownership is so fragmented. And assessment itself is changing hands. EDQ says it now handles applications, while the council’s page still describes council assessment.
Town centre, shops and schools
The first retail hub will be the Lilywood Town Centre on Caboolture River Road. In February 2025, Citimark paid $7.9 million for the last stage 1 commercial site. It’s 2.1 hectares at 495 Caboolture River Road. A Coles is now under construction about 500 metres from Lilywood Landings, with specialty shops beside it. A 135-place childcare centre, a swim school and a service station also won approval in late 2024.
The bigger Waraba town centre is a different story. The draft scheme describes a mixed-use heart with retail, health, civic uses and a bus station. However, it has no developer named and no date. Schools are the sorer point. Stockland’s marketing mentions nine state primary schools and four secondary schools by 2041. Yet the education department lists just one. It’s a Prep to Year 6 primary school at the corner of Hausmann Lane and Gibbings Court, Lilywood.
The department first planned to open it for Term 1 2025. Now the department’s project page shows its opening as “Under review”. It says enrolment demand and growth “has not progressed as fast as originally forecast”. There’s no budget and no contractor yet. Until then, the nearest state schools remain Bellmere State School and Tullawong State High School.
Roads: is the Bruce Highway Western Alternative coming?
The big road everyone mentions is the Bruce Highway Western Alternative, now called the Moreton Motorway. It’s a future corridor from Elimbah to Bald Hills. Back in March 2023, Mayor Peter Flannery said transport had to come first for Caboolture West. In his view, this motorway was that answer.
Here’s the reality. Transport and Main Roads lists $20 million in total, split 50:50 between Canberra and Queensland. And that money is for planning only. More than 30 km between Elimbah and Narangba (stages 1, 2 and 4) is now protected. But stage 3, from Narangba to Bald Hills, still needs work. No construction budget exists, and there’s no opening date.
Closer in, the draft scheme lists the duplication of Bellmere Road. It also extends Schrodter Road to connect with the future motorway. Those links matter more this decade.
Rail: buses first, and no train line
There’s no rail line planned into Waraba. Instead, the draft scheme relies on buses that link the future town centre with Caboolture and Morayfield. Both already sit on the Caboolture line. So for now, a Brisbane commute means driving to Morayfield or Caboolture station first. That’s a trip of roughly 5 km or more, depending on your street.
What’s still missing in the Waraba development
- The final scheme. Consultation closed on 2 July 2026, but I couldn’t find a finalised scheme as at mid-October.
- The real target. EDQ says 25,000 homes, while the council still says 30,000.
- A school date. The Lilywood primary school has land, but no budget, builder or year.
- Motorway construction money. Only $20 million of planning funding exists.
- Rail. No line exists in any plan, so buses remain the only answer.
- Loan repayments. Most of the federal money is a loan, and nobody has said how charges will cover it.
My take: the Waraba development is real, but it’s a slow one. The infrastructure deal fixes the trunk pipes and roads, which was the main blocker. Still, the school delay tells you growth ran slower than forecast. And the downgrade from 30,000 to 25,000 homes says the same thing. A $75,000 charge per lot will also flow into land prices.
So I’d treat Waraba as a land-and-house play for the next five years, not a lifestyle suburb yet. Buy here if the price beats Morayfield and you’re fine driving to everything. But don’t pay extra for a motorway or a town centre that nobody has funded. By comparison, Greater Flagstone, Yarrabilba and Ripley Valley are all further along on schools and shops.
Buying your first block in Waraba? Then check how the 5% deposit scheme price caps apply in Queensland before you sign.
This article is general information based on EDQ, Queensland and Australian Government, City of Moreton Bay and developer announcements available at publication. It isn’t financial advice. Targets, charges and timelines can change, so check current details with the developer and EDQ before you buy.
