Bracken Ridge, Queensland

Bracken Ridge is a northern suburb of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia. Its local government area is the City of Brisbane, in which it has its own ward.

1 Location
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Politics
5 Landmarks
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Location

The suburb is located about 20 km north of the Brisbane central business district. The southern border is formed by Telegraph Road, one of the oldest roads in the suburb, and a portion of the western border is formed by the Caboolture railway line. A number of housing estates are located within the suburb, including The Oaks and Enbrook Heights.

The terrain in the suburb is, as the name suggests, generally hilly. The highest area of the suburb features a park and a reservoir; from this height it is quite easy to see Moreton Bay to the east and the CBD to the south.

[edit] History

The area now known as Bracken Ridge was originally called "Rose Hill". In the late 19th century, it was predominantly a rural area. Louis Hope was the first European landowner in the area, and he grew sugar cane and other crops. The Brown family and the Ferguson family were also important early landowners in the area. Dairy became an important industry in the area, and continued to be the chief rural industry until the area became more residential. The first school in the area was opened in 1957.

In 1962, Lord Mayor of Brisbane Clem Jones arranged with the Barclay Development Corporation to develop a small community behind the suburb of Sandgate. 1,600 residential allotments were created, and the first homes were completed in 1966. A state high school, a Catholic school were also established, with second primary school (Norris Road State School) established in the late 1970s.

[edit] Demographics

Bracken Ridge is home to a wide variety of persons on the socio-economic scale. A large amount of housing commission homes exist, mostly to the north of Gawain Road, and the east of Norris Road. Other areas, such as the estates south of Barbour Road, and the areas on top of the hills, are much more affulent. The population of the suburb as a whole was 13,943 on the 2001 census.

The average price for a home in the suburb was $303,900 in 2003 [1]. 76% of these homes are owner-occupied or in the process of being purchased. On average, residents in the suburb have a weekly income of between $400 and $499.

[edit] Politics

In the Brisbane City Council, Bracken Ridge is represented by Cr Carol Cashman (Liberal), who has served since 1997.
In the Queensland Legislative Assembly, the Electoral district of Sandgate is represented by Vicky Darling (Labor), who succeeded Gordon Nuttall, the former Health Minister and member since 1992. Labor received 57% of Bracken Ridge booth votes in 2006, and 55% in 2004.
In the Australian House of Representatives, the Division of Petrie is represented by Teresa Gambaro (Liberal), who has served since defeating high-profile former member Cheryl Kernot in 2001. Liberal received 50% of booth votes in 2004.

[edit] Landmarks

There are a number of schools and educational institutions in the suburb:

Bracken Ridge State School
Norris Road State School
Bracken Ridge State High School
St Josephs Catholic Primary School
Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Bracken Ridge campus.

Shopping strips are located in Gawain Road and Barrett Street. A more substantial shopping centre is located on the corner of Telegraph Road and Norris Road. There is a pub (The Rum Jungle) on the corner of Barrett and Denham Streets, and a sports centre located on Brackenridge Road.

There is also a large number of parks in the suburb, including Enbrook Parkland and the Bill Brown Sports Reserve on Telegraph Road, Bracken Ridge Reservoir, and Stanley Day Park. There are also a number of churches present, including the Catholic, Baptist, and Uniting Church denominations. An Islamic community centre lies just across the border in Bald Hills.