Outdoors lifestyle attracts new residents to Ipswich
07 May 2025
Spring Mountain has claimed the honour being of Ipswich’s fastest growing suburb for the first time in years as the city’s overall population hurtles towards a new milestone.
Ipswich City Council Infrastructure, Planning and Assets Committee Chairperson Councillor Andrew Antoniolli said the latest population figures outlined in council’s Planning and Regulatory Services Quarterly Report for January to March 2025 revealed Ipswich continues to grow at pace.
“Ipswich’s population was 263,757 at the end of March – an increase of 1,962 from the previous quarter,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“On the edge of the stunning and sacred White Rock-Spring Mountain Conservation Estate, Spring Mountain led the way for growth with 451 new residents in the March quarter to be our fastest growing suburb for the first time since June 2021.
“Spring Mountain is the gateway to this pristine and protected natural environment, which is home to some of Ipswich’s most popular bushwalking tracks where visitors can find hundreds of native plant and animal species, as well as Indigenous sacred site White Rock.
“This offers residents an adventure-filled and nature-based lifestyle, which is wonderful for young families, so it’s easy to see why so many people are choosing to move to this area.”
There were 148 new homes built in Spring Mountain in January to March, ahead of Redbank Plains which recorded 309 new residents and 121 new homes.
Other eastern suburbs of Ripley, White Rock and South Ripley were also among the fastest growing in Ipswich in the first three months of 2025.
“These suburbs continue to drive Ipswich’s population growth as our city grew by 3.54 per cent over the past 12 months, putting us on track to surpass the 265,000 milestone during the current quarter,” Cr Antoniolli said.
“This growth is set to continue as council approved or created 552 new lots in the March quarter, with 725 new dwellings built in our city, while 313 development applications were lodged with council during this time.”
Council also received 5,257 requests for regulatory customer services – up 7.5 per cent on the previous quarter – with those relating to illegal parking (488 requests), illegal dumping (468), overgrown properties (450), abandoned vehicles (416) and unregistered, roaming or noisy dogs (597) the most common.
The quarterly report card also shows:
- 866 community clinic immunisations undertaken
- 31,573 dog registrations
- 7.96km of additional pathways and bikeways created
- 5.63km of additional local roads
- 2,672 plumbing inspections
- 426 food licence and other health inspections
- 141 building inspections
The full Planning and Regulatory Services Quarterly Report can be read here.