BRM 5.5 New Land Estates Everywhere

Reference has been made to the Brisbane city Council maps, as a way of identifying where different land holdings were.   In 1952, for the first time, Brisbane City Council introduced a Town Planning Scheme.  The map is below.

Brisbane City Council map showing the Council boundaries 1925 when amalgamation took place.

In 1952 this Town Planning Zone Map was prepared by Brisbane City Council Plan, Town Plan Zoning Scheme 1952

by  Adobe Acrobat 9.4.7

Identifier: BCA0130

Title: Plan, Zoning Proposals, Brisbane Town Plan 1952

Date: 1952

Description:

Map Showing proposed zonings for Brisbane's first Town Plan. Includes the proposed "green belt"

Subject: Town Planning Brisbane

Rights:

The area known as Northwind Estate was called "The Pocket"

To find out what the colours meant, the Sunnybank District History Project had the explanations.

This image of the south eastern portion of the Brisbane City Council zoning map of 1952 was provided by the Brisbane City Archives in 2012 and shows proposed zoning for the south eastern part of the City as it was then. 

The map shows the zone referred to as Green Belt in yellowy-green while the area in red is urban and that in brown is zoned rural.  Two local features are Toohey Forest in dark green and Archerfield aerodrome in buff with a red dot at its centre. The two red areas to the east of Archerfield are the Coopers Plains and then the Sunnybank built-up areas. The Sunnybank urban area is almost surrounded by land zoned green belt.

https://sites.google.com/site/sunnybankdistricthistory/project-administration/the-green-belt


*********************************************************************************

The growth of Bracken Ridge was inhibited by a couple of factors.  Environment constraints and human constraints.

  In 1976 Main Road Department decided to construct a highway to the North.  Surveys were done, plans were made, and the result was that the suburb of Bald Hills was literally split in two.

Here is an aerial shot taken in 1976, from the Queensland ARchives.

To place the lands, the houses in the front left hand side are the streets Cullimore, Grand Street, which was totally blocked off.  It used to go right through to Lacey Road, then the lands to the right are Parer Street and the sportsground, north of that is the different "spice" street, Bergamont, Tarragon,

Then nothing else until the River.  On the left hand side, Canterbury Estate is being developed, and at that stage Northwind Estate was pie in the sky!

It was always my understanding that the Defence Department owned the lands.



Not only were estates being developed in Bracken Ridge but also in Bald Hills, and a major estate was Canterbury Park Estate.  This was around 1977.  Thanks to Ben Franklin for the maps.

Around 1975 Nev Warburton was the councillor, and at the time the Reservoir parkland, was overgrown scrub.  There had been a bushfire, and there were serious concerns about the overgrown vegetation,  and Nev met some of us onsite.  He was suitably impressed with the fantastic views from the top of the hill.  It was mown from that point onwards and we had no more bushfires at the reservoir.

By now development and housing had certainly spread.  Almost every day a new estate was being developed, or new houses being built.  The suburb seemed to expand, and the adjoining green spaces and farmland disappeared under cyclone chain wire fences and high set houses.

There was another project directed towards English families.  A builder called Vic Newell designed and built the houses on the left hand side of Jude Street from Barrett Street, in a block.  These houses were so different in design than any of the other standard plans on offer.

Vic had a scheme where he pre-sold his houses to English people, from memory he had a sales office in London.  The houses were more "square" than rectangle.  In later years, the design was very popular in the second hand home market.

The houses around Norris Road State School were built by a number of different builders, including Bill Mallan.

In 1976 there were 7017 residents quite a few more than in 1954 when there were around 500.

In 1980 we moved to Bougainville Island in PNG for two years.  Those times were rather special and hold many wonderful memories.  The computer industry as an academic subject had only just been recognised a couple of years prior, and John was employed at the Panguna Mine Training School for Bougainville Copper.

 In 1981 we returned and decided to buy a block of land.  That turned out to be a rather difficult exercise, but we ended up purchasing a block in Wilpie Street Bracken Ridge.  Red dirt territory, any wonder the pineapples did so well!  But the views to Moreton Island were brilliant!

We returned to Bracken Ridge in 1982, and the children settled into kindy, and returned to Norris Road State School.   John began a very long career and partnership working for Queensland Medical Laboratory as a computer systems analyst/programmer.

In 1982 Brisbane hosted the Commonwealth Games.  who could forget the wink of the Matilda?

 At the time A.V. Jennings were very prominent in the housing industry, and we chose their design to build at Wilpie Street.  The house was completed in February 1983 and we moved in not long after the devastating Ash Wednesday Fires in South Australia. 

If anyone had told me that for the next 20 years my life would revolve around a career in Real Estate, I would have thought them crazy.

However that is precisely what eventuated.  I began work in L.J. Hooker Bracken Ridge in 1983. 

A few years later, in partnership with Jeff Fisher, we operated for many years in the Tavern Shopping Centre.  Another partner joined, and we opened a second office at Taigum.