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Bring Back the Platypus in Kedron Brook

There is plenty of wildlife to see in Kedron Brook since the waterway is surrounded by lush bushland. Yet, the last reported sighting of a platypus in the area has been more than 13 years ago.

Characteristics of Platypus

The platypus is an animal that is found only in Australia. It has a duck-like bill, broad flat tail, webbed feet, and thick waterproof fur. The male has bony spurs on both hind legs for defence. The spurs are connected to a venom-producing gland in the thigh.

Territorial and solitary, platypuses do not live in social groups.

platypus swimming — *Photo credit: pen_ash/Pixabay*

Natural habitats are freshwater streams, lakes or rivers. The platypus is known to migrate to reach new home waterways. It generally travels up to 1 km along a stream but can travel up to 7 km.

Platypuses are big eaters and consume 15-30 percent of their total body weight in a day. They feed mainly on bottom-dwelling prey in the water. The carnivorous diet consists of fish eggs, worms, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, tadpoles, plus larvae of caddisflies, mayflies, and shrimps. Foraging platypuses stay underwater for up to one minute, but all food is eaten on the surface.

Kedron Brook

Kedron Brook is a watercourse that flows through the northern suburbs of Brisbane. When the new Brisbane Airport was built in the early 1970s, a part of the waterway was filled in, and the brook was diverted into a specially built floodway, which was re-dredged in May 1997 to assist in flood mitigation.

The brook is now polluted by urban runoff and combined sewer outflows. River bank erosion, chemical pollution, and garbage may have had an impact on the habitat and food sources of the platypus.

The brook near Kalinga Park — *Photo credit: Kedron Brook Catchment Network/Facebook*

Also, the sandy substrate and relatively flat ground of the brook makes it an unsuitable habitat for platypuses since a platypus needs stable earthen sloping banks for their burrows.

There has been no sighting of the platypus in Kedron Brook since 2005. Scientists may have found no conclusive evidence of platypuses, but being such an elusive animal, it doesn’t mean they are not there.

We need to build community awareness to rehabilitate Kedron Brook and adjacent habitats. By initiating action now, we can help ensure the survival, and perhaps the return, of an animal that is uniquely Australian – the platypus.

Miss Sophia’s Gelateria Opens in Kedron Just In Time for Valentine’s Day

Photo Credit: Pixabay/picjumbo_com

Romantics in Kedron looking for ways to sweeten Valentine’s Day with their loved ones can celebrate at the newly-opened Miss Sophia Gelateria. A cone or cup of gelato will surely satiate the sweet cravings, if not relieve you from the uncomfortably afternoon heat.

Miss Sophia Gelateria offers classic favourites like Caffe Latte, Blueberry Yoghurt, and Pistachio. It also has unique flavours like Toasted Coconut and Strawberry Pavlova.

The menu also has vegan and gluten-free ice cream choices. Sometime in March, the gelateria will be introducing sugar-free flavours as well.

Diners can choose from three cup sizes: piccolo, medio and grande. The waffle cones, on the other hand, are available in gluten-free variant and if you’d like more indulgence, you can top up your gelato with homemade biscuits or chocolate sprinkles.

*Photo Credit: MissSophiasGelato/Facebook*

Most of the ice cream ingredients come from local farmers and producers like Tommerups Dairy Farm. The mangoes and macadamia come from crops grown in Queensland.

Miss Sophia Gelateria is located at the former site of Farmer Joe’s Fruit Market. Locals may fondly recall this place as a produce store managed by an Italian family ten years ago.

The new gelato store brings special recognition to this corner’s Italian roots. Miss Sophia Gelateria, however, is owned and managed by the Scott family, who has other foodie shops in Brisbane, such as the Continental Cafe in Fortitude Valley and the Milk Cafe in Ashgrove.

Miss Sophia Gelateria is open Mondays to Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

High-Risk Kedron Intersection Gets Combined Red Light and Speed Cameras

After being tagged as one of the high-risk intersections in Queensland, Lutwyche Road at the intersection with Kedron Park Road in Kedron has been installed with a combined red light and speed camera system.

The new system aims to minimise the incidence of speeding and red light violations at the Lutwyche Road intersection. The combined red light and speed cameras can detect both red light and speeding offences.

Violators can be fined for both offences if they get caught by the system, which runs 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Speeding motorists can also be detected whether the traffic light is green, red or yellow.

Potential Crash Area

The Lutwyche Road and Kedron Park Road intersection has been selected after the Department of Transport and Main Roads investigated intersections with the worst crash and potential crash data.

Data revealed 42 people died and over 3,000 figured in injuries due to crashes at signalised intersections around Queensland in the last five years.

Motoring club RACQ lauded the move by the State Government to install the new combined red light and speed cameras. The group recognises that T-bone crashes are some of the most dangerous crash types, possibly leading to death or serious injury.

Steve Spalding, RACQ Head of Technical and Safety Policy, believes that the red light and speed camera system would help reduce serious crashes.

“Research has shown a 30 percent reduction in serious crash risk at locations where this technology is already used,” said Mr Spalding.

Aside from the Kedron intersection, the combined red light and speed cameras have also been installed at the following intersections, selected based on crash history:

Glenlyon Street, Gladstone Central at the intersection with Tank Street
Anzac Avenue Road, Kippa-Ring at intersection with Boardman Road
Morayfield Road at the intersection with Caboolture River Road, Morayfield
Lutwyche Road at the intersection with Norman Avenue, Lutwyche
Old Cleveland Road at the intersection with Cavendish Road, Coorparoo
Smith Street at the intersection with Kumbari Avenue, Southport
Bermuda Street at the intersection with Christine Avenue, Burleigh Waters

The Colour Nine Cafe in Stafford Heights is One of the Must-Visit cafes in North Brisbane

If you are looking for a child- and pet-friendly cafe around North Brisbane, The Colour Nine cafe in Stafford Heights is a must-visit for you.

Located in a quiet Stafford Heights neighbourhood, The Colour Nine is a charming cafe that became a local-favourite for its flavourful food and friendly staff.

Interestingly, this cafe is a partnership between two friends, a dream 10 years in the making.

The Colour Nine owners’ passion for great food is reflected on their menu which boasts healthy food options inspired by flavours around the world. This is also probably why the cafe is one of the best in the suburb.

The Colour Nine’s World of Flavours

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One of their newest offers is a Thai-inspired dish. It comes with house-made Thai fish cakes, Asian salad with Nam Jim dressing, and crispy noodles.

Another foodie-favourite dish from the cafe is their Korean Fried Chicken Burger. It comes with crispy fried chicken, choice of sweet chilli or soy garlic sauce, daikon radish, baby cos lettuce, and sriracha mayo with a side of sweet potato crisps.

For those who are eating extra healthy this year, you can grab The Colour Nine’s Winter Bowl. This is a combination of turmeric quinoa, shredded beetroot, sauerkraut, avocado, hummus, poached egg, and spiral zucchini with a chimichurri dressing, all topped with dukkah.

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The Colour Nine Cafe in Stafford Heights is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays and 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Gympie Road: Top Car Crash Hotspot, Data Revealed

Motorists driving down Gympie Road beware! The said road that runs through Chermside, Aspley, and Kedron is where motorists are likely to crash, reveals the latest insurance claims data.

The latest report from the State’s peak motoring body, RACQ, revealed the list of 20 most accident-prone areas. The 20 car crash hotspots list ranked Gympie Road, which runs through Chermside, Aspley, and Kedron as the top car crash hotspot.

“Unfortunately, the top 20 list is made up of a lot of the usual suspects. Gympie Road took out the top three spots, with Mains Road at Sunnybank and Logan Road at Eight Mile Plains rounding out the top five,” RACQ spokesperson Kirsty Clinton said

Roads that made the list, Ms Clinton said, are the typically heavily congested, high volume, and multi-lane roads with many intersections and locations for interactions between multiple vehicles.

Gympie Rd, Brisbane QLD, Australia

The top 20 most accident-prone locations in Brisbane (1 January 2015 – 31 October 2018) :

Gympie Road, Chermside
Gympie Road, Aspley
Gympie Road, Kedron
Mains Road, Sunnybank
Logan Road, Eight Mile Plains
Moggill Road, Indooroopilly
Sandgate Road, Clayfield
Ipswich Road, Annerley
Anzac Avenue, Kippa-Ring
Anzac Avenue, Rothwell
Sandgate Road, Virginia
Milton Road, Milton
Pacific Motorway, Greenslopes
Logan Road, Mt Gravatt
Hamilton Road, Chermside
Coronation Drive, Milton
Beaudesert Road, Calamvale
Ipswich Motorway, Oxley
Old Cleveland Road, Carindale
Ipswich Motorway, Darra and Gateway Motorway, Nudgee

“A large portion of the crashes will be rear-end crashes which happen during congestion and at traffic lights and sideswipes and crashes when drivers have failed to give way properly.”

“As always when behind the wheel, but even more so on busy roads, drivers need to avoid distraction, obey traffic signals, give way correctly, travel at a safe following distance and carefully check blind spots and indicate when merging or change lanes,” advised Ms Clinton.

Some road rules for everyday driving according to the Queensland Government website:

Changing Lanes

Give way to any vehicle in the lane you are moving into, even if your lane is ending and you have to cross a lane line.
Before you change lanes, you must indicate for long enough to give warning to other road users
You must turn off your indicator after you have changed lanes or merged.

Merging

On roads where there are lanes marked on the road—if your lane comes to an end, you must give way to traffic already in the lane you are moving to.
On roads where there are no lanes marked on the road—when lines of traffic merge, you must give way to any vehicle that is ahead of you.

Queensland Road Rules – merging

Video Credit: TMRQld/YouTube

Giving way

You need to give way if:

the rules say that you must
there’s a give way or stop sign
there are stop or give way lines on the road
you’re turning right across the path of an oncoming vehicle at an intersection
you’re turning left or right at a T-intersection
you’re moving onto a road from a driveway or land next to a road
you’re moving off from being stopped on the side of the road
you’re doing a U-turn
you’re turning left at an intersection with a ‘left turn on red after stopping’ sign.

Queensland Road Rules – giving way

Video Credit: TMRQld/YouTube

Safe Following Distance

Drive at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front during ideal conditions.
When driving a vehicle towing a trailer or caravan, you should add 1 second extra for each 3m of trailer length.

Queensland Road Rules – safe following distances

Video Credit: TMRQld/YouTube

Design Underway for $53M Northern Transitway from Kedron to Chermside

The detailed design for the $53-million Northern Transitway from Kedron to Chermside is underway, with the final design expected to be delivered in mid-2019.

The project is being touted as a cost-efficient solution to support high-frequency bus services along Gympie Arterial Road. The project is part of the government’s effort to encourage more people to use public transport, thereby decongesting the roads.

Starting from Sadlier Street in Kedron to Hamilton Road in Chermside, the Northern Transitway will be a 2.3-km public transport corridor delivering targeted bus priority.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads said this project will bring benefits to the community, including:

a safer and more efficient public transport system for northern Brisbane customers, by separating buses from general traffic
improved and more reliable travel times along the corridor for bus customers
a facility to support high-frequency bus services, encouraging more people to use public transport
greater capacity on the public transport system
assist in managing congestion along the corridor and broader northern Brisbane transport network
improvements to footpaths along some sections of the alignment, improving pedestrian capacity and safety
an average of 88 direct jobs over the life of the project.

The Queensland Government will shoulder the cost of the project as part of its Passenger Transport Infrastructure Investment Program. This program targets critical infrastructure to build a connected and integrated network that will make public transportation the commuting choice of residents.

Community consultation will happen in early 2019 and construction is expected to start in early 2020.

To have your say on the Northern Transitway project, contact TMR at:

Email:	NorthernTransitway@tmr.qld.gov.au
Phone:	07 3066 4338
Post:	Department of Transport and Main Roads Metropolitan Region PO Box 70 Spring Hill Qld 4000

Christmas Carols and Church Bells to Fill the Air at St Andrew’s Anglican Church Lutwyche

Festive Christmas carols will blend with church bells ringing when St Andrew’s Anglican Church Lutwyche hosts its pre-Christmas celebrations on Sunday, 16 December 2018.

As part of the festivities, the church will be presenting their community carols from 5:00 p.m. which will also include the Brisbane Symphonic Band and the BSB Swing Band. Don’t miss the chance to meet these talented musicians. Some of them have already performed with Opera Queensland as well as a number of cabaret-style concerts.

Christmas carols will not only come from musicians but will also be heard from the church bells.

Blessed with 13 bells in the belfry capable of playing Christmas carols, St Andrew’s Anglican Church Lutwyche will also have a 30-minute Carols on Church Bells.

Apart from the sounds of Christmas, a sausage sizzle and various market stalls will also be available at the event. Don’t forget to bring your own bags for your shopping needs.

This festive celebration is open for all ages so feel free to come along with your family and friends. Parking will be available in Kedron Park Hotel Carpark.

For further information, you may call St Andrew’s Anglican Church Lutwyche (07) 3857 5734.

North Brisbane Bikeway Stage 5 Alternative Route Revealed

An alternative route for the North Brisbane Bikeway Stage 5 has been revealed by the Council. The revised plan seemed to be BCC’s response to an uproar over the loss of parking spaces in the previous plans for the bikeway.

BCC had previously announced its plans for an on-road separated bikeway at Price Street, Wooloowin that will link the North Brisbane Bikeway to Kedron Brook. However, residents and business owners in the area were unhappy. This is primarily due to the loss of around 100 parking spaces as part of the original plan.

North Brisbane Bikeway – Price Street to Kedron Brook Plans. Photo credit: Brisbane City Council

Because of this, BCC has prepared an alternate route that will connect the State Government sections to Wellington Street from Bridge Street to Chalk Street. This will then be connected to Kedron Park Road (instead of continuing north along Dickson Street to Price Street).

North Brisbane Bikeway Stage 5 New Route

Map comparing parking loss between the previous and the new route. Photo credit: Tim Nicholls MP/Facebook

Council’s proposed new route will use Wellington Street, going under Lutwyche Road through an existing tunnel to Bradshaw Street. It will further connect to the Kedron Brook Bikeway via Thistle Street.

Since parking loss is a big concern in the original plans, the revised plan will only require the loss of around six parking spaces.

The alternate route would mostly be a combination of a shared street and two-way cycle track along Wellington Street and Bradshaw Street. It would also link in with Lutwyche Bus Station and Lutwyche Centro.

Moreover, the new proposed route would still provide a connection from Herston via Albion to the Kedron Brook Bikeway.

Reactions from Cyclists

Photo credit: CC0 Public Domain / Max Pixel

The move in redesigning the plans seemed to be beneficial for residents and businesses who want to avoid parking inconveniences, however, cyclists are not in favour of the decision.

According to Space for Cycling Brisbane, a coalition of Brisbane’s grass root cycling advocacy groups, cyclists support the original plan since it offers a fully separated cycleway along the busiest streets. It also passed a number of local businesses which would have benefited from being on a family-friendly cycleway.

Cyclists have also expressed their reactions on social media saying:

“It’s a useful east west link. It is not the north Brisbane bikeway. A direct north south route from Shaw Road to Bridge Street is essential and this is a complementary solution. Not a replacement.
Like it or not, street space is not best served for parking. Council and MPs have a responsibility to change this invalid perception that parking private property on public land should take priority over the movement of hundreds of people by bicycle.”

“Far inferior design outcome. Doesn’t actually provide a proper direct route for North and airport bound cyclists (which should be along Dickson, Dawson and Shaw Rds). Storage space for private vehicles should never take precedence over the safety and lives of humans.”

Project Updates

Whilst the revised plans were already unveiled, the State Government has not approved it yet.

Council hasn’t provided the timing for Stage 5 yet since the project will align with the timing of the Department of Transport and Main Roads’ (TMR) Stage 2, 3, and 4 of North Brisbane Bikeway.

Clearly, BCC has a lot of things to consider before finalising the design plans for North Brisbane Bikeway Stage 5.

For further information and to provide feedback you may:

Visit the North Brisbane Bikeway: Price Street to Kedron Brook − Kedron Brook − Wooloowin page.
Call the project team on 1800 600 163 (during business hours).
Call the Council on 07 3403 8888 (after hours).
Email the project team at bikewayprojects@brisbane.qld.gov.au.
Write to:

North Brisbane Bikeway − Price Street to Kedron Brook project
City Projects
Brisbane City Council
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001

High-End Apartment-Style Retirement Community to Rise in Lutwyche

Retirees who wish to downsize without compromise will soon have the option to live in a high-end apartment-style retirement community in Lutwyche.

Named Fancutts Retirement Living, the retirement development aims to offer seniors a vibrant environment with the lifestyle facilities they desire. It is the first apartment type project of RetireAustralia in Queensland.

The project will be built on the Fancutts Tennis Centre site at 39 Laura Street. Under the plan, there will be a rich line-up of recreational facilities, including a rooftop sky deck, a café and restaurant, a sports bar, and wellness hub. There will also be a private resident dining room and wine cellar for entertaining guests on special occasions.

Fancutts retirement Lutwyche — Photo credit: fancutts.com.au

Residents will also be provided with walking tracks for those who want to do regular casual walks. Those looking for a more rigorous workout can use the purpose-built senior’s outdoor exercise equipment.

The sky roof will be a communal space where seniors can enjoy a BBQ whilst taking in panoramic views of the city.

RetireAustralia revealed that Fancutts is its first apartment-type retirement development in Brisbane. This project will set the standard for the developer’s future villages, catering to lifestyle and independent living for seniors.

Find out more about Fancutts Retirement Living.

New Homes Coming To Wooloowin

A new residential development in Wooloowin is bringing in more than 150 new homes to the suburb.

Despite several objections from local residents, Council has approved the proposed residential development at 22 Morris Street, Wooloowin on 5 June 2018.

Bexley Wooloowin

The integrated housing development is one of the latest projects of Cedar Woods. The 3.8-hectare estate aims to provide a connected community which is just five kilometres from the CBD and walking distance to public transport.

Plans for Bexley include the development of three mid-rise premium apartment buildings with 85 premium terrace homes.

Photo credit: Brisbane Planning and Development Online

As part of the project, demolition at the former convent site in Wooloowin will be carried out by the developer and heritage buildings will be preserved and adapted for multipurpose residential and community use.

The project will transform the original 1889-built laundry building into residences. On the other hand, the former convent built in 1912 will probably become a child care centre.

The development will also feature a community centrepiece consisting of 4,000 sqm of an onsite recreational park. It will include a community park with car and bicycle parking for visitors. The development will also include a heritage trail to pay homage to the history of the site.

According to the proposal, the developer will deliver the project over a five-year period.