Pine Rivers Shire Council

Pine Rivers Shire covers 771 square kilometers centered around the artificial reservoirs of Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Its southern border is defined by the South Pine River, which empties into Bramble Bay.

The western half of the shire consists of foothills of the D'Aguilar Range and is sparsely populated, the land being mostly forested or used for grazing cattle and horses. Most of the Shire's 143,000 residents (2006 est) live in the southeast of the shire, around the mini-CBD of Strathpine.

Despite a large increase in development in recent years, around half the shire is still covered by native vegetation.

[edit] History

The area was settled by homestead farmers in the mid 19th century. Many suburbs – Bray Park, Lawnton, Petrie, Griffin and Joyner, for example – are named after early European settlers. The first township in the area was established at what is now Petrie in 1868, to service mail coaches between Brisbane and Gympie. The Caboolture Railway Line reached the shire in 1888. Another railway line to Dayboro, in the western, mountainous areas of the shire was opened in 1920, but due to lack of traffic was closed and lifted in 1955.

During the Second World War, large areas of flat land around Brendale and Strathpine were used by Allied forces as airfields and staging areas. It is estimated that around 50,000 Allied servicemen passed through the area, at a time when the civilian population was less than 5000.

[edit] Council

The current Mayor of Pine Rivers is Councillor Yvonne Chapman.

The Pine Rivers Shire is split up into 10 divisions. Each has a councillor. The all have a distinct area, with about an even population, but none are named. The current councillors are listed below.

Division 1 Bob Millar – Contains Dayboro and most of the rural area of the Shire
Division 2 Brian Battersby – Contains Ferny Hills, Samford Valley, Arana Hills
Division 3 Craig McConnell – Contains the 'Hills' area (Ferny Hills, Everton Hills)
Division 4 Mike Charlton – Contains Albany Creek and Eatons Hill
Division 5 Graeham Ashworth – Contains Warner, Cashmere
Division 6 Bryan Galvin – Contains Brendale, Central Strathpine
Division 7 Mick Gillam – Contains Bray Park, Strathpine West, Lawnton South
Division 8 David Dwyer – Contains Joyner, Lawnton, Petrie, Whiteside
Division 9 Chris Monsour – Contains Kurwongbah, Kallangur
Division 10 Yvonne Barlow – Contains North Lakes, Griffin, Murrumba Downs

[edit] Suburbs

[edit] Urban

Roughly, from south to north:

Arana Hills and Albany Creek are the southernmost suburbs of the shire, and are part of the Brisbane metropolitan area.

Strathpine in the southeast of the shire is the CBD and the location of the Shire Council Offices. Located on and around Gympie Road, Strathpine features a large Westfield Shoppingtown.

Bray Park and Lawnton are now largely residential areas, but a large number of parks and even pockets of farmland help the area retain its rural character.

Petrie, across the North Pine River from Lawnton, is the site of the earliest township in the Shire. Petrie could almost be described as a "mini-mini" CBD, and has a much more country town feel compared to Strathpine.

Griffin is east of Petrie along the Pine River and adjacent to Moreton Bay.

Kallangur, Murrumba Downs and Mango Hill are more recently developed residential areas, stretching north-east along Anzac Avenue towards Redcliffe.

Dakabin, north of Petrie, is the site of the shire's main landfill, as well as Alma Park Zoo.

[edit] Rural

Again, from south to north:

Brendale is a large, flat, open area near the South Pine River, between Albany Creek and Strathpine and incorporating the Bald Hills Flats. Sand mining and grazing cattle have been carried out here, but in recent years Brendale has been developed as a light industrial area.

Warner is a hilly area again between Albany Creek and Strathpine. It has long been underdeveloped compared to its neighbours, but its location is now proving irresistible to developers.

Samford is the southernmost of the 'villages' in the western half of the shire.

Yugar, Clear Mountain, Cashmere and Joyner are rural areas south of Lake Samsonvale (although Joyner and Cashmere are increasingly being urbanised by neighbouring Lawnton).

Samsonvale is the area west of Lake Samsonvale.

Whiteside, Kurwongbah and Rush Creek are rural areas north of Lake Samsonvale.

Dayboro is another 'village' and tourist center.

Ocean View is a small mountain community north of Dayboro, and the north-westernmost suburb in the shire.

[edit] Transportation

Pine Rivers is served by the Caboolture Line and North Coast Line. Suburban trains serves all stations in Pine Rivers (Strathpine, Bray Park, Lawnton, Petrie and Dakabin), although trains using the North Coast line only stop at Petrie. Integrated ticketing was introduced in South East Queensland in 2004 through TransLink which has improved access to public transport. TransLink bus routes now service most of the built up areas of Pine Rivers.