Liveability – it’s one of those buzz words you often hear when describing places or developments and housing affordability.

But what does it actually mean and why is it important?

Liveability refers to the quality of life in a location or area. It’s the experiences we get from our surroundings, the accessibility to needs and services and how these contribute to our overall well-being.

A number of factors can make a place liveable. These are called ‘pull’ factors and make places a more desirable choice for people who are looking to live, work and play within them.

The Redlands region has historically been a high liveability region, ranking 9^th of all metro regions in Australia, in 2018.

When we think about our region, it’s easy to see what our liveability pull factors are:

• Our envious natural environment – we are the gateway to the Moreton Bay Islands and are surrounded by bushland that is home to much Australian wildlife.
• Our outdoor recreation spaces – we have an endless supply of outdoor spaces to enjoy such as Minjerrabah and Mount Cotton.
• Our tertiary health – our health sector is one of our top growing industries along with construction and education.
• Our low unemployment rate – we have a strong local economy.

But what makes a place liveable can change over time. In 2020, the liveability of the Redlands region dropped from 9^th to 14^th, with other regions such as Brisbane North and Brisbane West, seeing liveablity improve faster due to major investments.

The Redlands Coast Chamber of Commerce’s liveabilty report produced by Econisis, highlights the need for our community to lift our liveabliity and turn our ‘push’ factors into pulls. Push factors are those that turn people away from choosing the Redlands Coast as a liveable destination.

Our push factors are:

• Housing choice and affordability – with more and more people wanting to call the Redlands Coast home we need to offer more housing choice and affordability to meet the needs of our growing community. We need places our ageing population can downsize to and places our children can afford to buy. There are currently 21 residential projects in the pipeline, with some having already been completed. These are projects that will provide housing diversity and will bring more people to the region, including essential workers.
• Indoor recreation – we need to invest in our ‘play’ spaces and increase the options for indoor recreation activities. This includes dining, entertainment and social precincts or places that complement our natural environment assets.
• Public transport – the way that we move about the Redlands Coast is important. We need improved roads and infrastructure to maximise skilled worker mobility within the region and better public transport that connects us with business and employment opportunities in other parts of South East Queensland.
• Tertiary education – education is one of our growing industries but we are still seeing our young people travel outside of the region to continue their studies after high school. We have great schools and training facilities, but a tertiary education presence enables our young people to continue their learning here where they can be close to home. This also provides an opportunity to engage with the local business community and industry throughout their studies.

We need to champion investment in these four key areas and as such, the Redlands Coast Chamber of Commerce are committed to fighting for the infrastructure our community needs to ensure it continues to offer the unique lifestyle we have all come to love.