Redcliffe City, Queensland

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Redcliffe
Queensland
Population:
Density:
52,965 (June 2005 est)
1390.2/km²
Established: 1824
Area: 38.1 km²
Time zone: AEST (UTC+10)
Property Value: AUD $298,875 [1]
Location: 23 km from Brisbane CBD
Region: Redcliffe City Council
State District: Redcliffe, Murrumba
Federal Division: Petrie

Redcliffe City is a municipal location north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Also known as "the Redcliffe Peninsula", the area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Redcliffe, Rothwell, Scarborough and Woody Point.

Rich in natural resources with many sandy beaches and picturesque parks, Redcliffe is enjoyed by many people seeking a place to relax, and is home to more than 52,000 residents. The peninsula is relatively flat with few areas rising more than 20 metres above sea level.

Contents

[edit] History

Redcliffe holds the distinction of being the first European settlement in Queensland.

The area was first visited by Matthew Flinders on 17 July 1799. Explorer John Oxley recommended "Red Cliffs Point" – named after the red-coloured cliffs visible from Moreton Bay – to the Governor Thomas Brisbane as the site of a penal colony. He and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, with a crew and 29 convicts, sailed on the Amity from Sydney and arrived at Redcliffe on 13 September 1824. In 1825 the settlement was relocated to the banks of the Brisbane River, and Redcliffe was deserted until the 1860s when it was designated as an agricultural reserve.

Residential development began in the 1880s and the population grew significantly after 1935 when the Hornibrook Bridge was opened. The two lane, 2.74km bridge crossed Bramble Bay and linked the peninsula to Brisbane. A replacement three lane bridge, the Houghton Highway, opened in 1979.

[edit] Population

Redcliffe's population is 52,965 (June 2005 estimate)[2] with a female skew. The 2001 Census showed that Redcliffe's population of indigenous origins was 2.0%, 19.9% were born overseas, and 4.1% of the population 15 years and over speaks a language other than English at home.

Redcliffe Population as per 2001 Census
  Male Female Total
Total persons
Including overseas visitors
23,400 25,671 49,071
  Aged 15 years and over 18,747 21,251 39,998
  Aged 65 years and over 3,966 5,531 9,497
Aboriginal 384 432 816
Torres Strait Islander 40 37 77
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
persons who are of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin
17 16 33
Born in Australia 17,702 19,450 37,152
Born overseas
Includes 'Inadequately described', 'At sea', and 'Not elsewhere classified'
4,651 5,094 9,745
Indigenous persons aged 18 years and over 210 266 476
Australian citizen 20,904 22,944 43,848
Australian citizen aged 18 years and over 15,805 18,027 33,832
Overseas visitors 104 141 245
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[2]

[edit] Economy

The major economic sectors of Redcliffe are retail trade, construction trades, medical and community services, and property and business services, followed by automotive, manufacturing, and cafés, hotels, restaurants and takeaways.[3] Fishing and prawning are the principal primary industries, with mostly light industries located at Clontarf and Kippa-Ring.

Tourism is an important industry to the area with approximately 1.2 million tourists visiting each year.[4] This focus on tourism has existed since the late 1800s when people came by boat to enjoy its safe, sheltered and sandy beaches.

The major shopping areas are the Redcliffe Seaside Village, Peninsula Fair and Kippa-Ring Village, Margate Village, Scarborough Seaside Village, Woody Point Village and The Zone at Rothwell. Some large national retailers with outlets in Redcliffe includes Coles Supermarkets, Kmart, Woolworths Supermarkets, IGA, Aldi Food Store, Retravision, and Bunnings Warehouse.

[edit] Climate

Redcliffe has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification system, with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. Thunderstorms are regular events from late Spring to early Autumn in the late afternoon to early evening. The more severe storms are accompanied by damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds, however as most storms travel in a north-east direction from past Ipswich then over greater Brisbane, they often lose strength by the time they arrive to Redcliffe.

Climate Table
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) 29.0 28.5 27.7 25.6 23.3 21.1 20.6 21.4 24.1 25.3 26.6 28.0 25.1
Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) 21.8 21.6 20.2 17.6 14.9 11.4 10.6 11.1 14.1 16.5 18.7 20.7 16.5
Mean monthly rainfall (mm) 112.6 150.6 126.5 114.7 107.6 64.6 51.7 40.0 30.1 71.7 101.6 122.5 1094.1
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[5]

[edit] Landmarks

Redcliffe Jetty
Redcliffe Jetty

There are a number of landmarks located in Redcliffe, such as the Redcliffe Jetty, Settlement Cove Lagoon, Suttons and Margate Beaches, Scarborough Beach Park, Redcliffe Museum, MacDonnell Road water tower, Woody Point Jetty, HMQS Gayundah shipwreck, and the heritage-listed Hornibrook Bridge.

[edit] Moreton Bay

Redcliffe City acts as a service centre for the Moreton Bay island communities, a tourist hub for the bay, and base of operations for local fishing and the seafood industry. From Redcliffe visitors can access Moreton Island via the Combie Trader vehicle and passenger ferry, Deception Bay waters, Bramble Bay, Hays Inlet and Pine River leading to North and South Pine Rivers. The major marina in Redcliffe is Scarborough Marina, located in the Scarborough Boat Harbour, at the northern tip of the Peninsula; Newport Waterways Marina is nearby.

[edit] Sport, recreation and events

A seaside location with 22km of coastline, Redcliffe has a high emphasis on sport and recreation. More than 35km of dedicated bikeways surround the peninsula, and local sporting clubs include baseball, croquet, golf, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, softball, tennis and touch football. Scouting and Guiding groups are also in Redcliffe. Kite flying with the Queensland Kite Flyers Society is a popular fortnightly event, held every second and fourth Sunday of every month at Pelican Park on Hornibrook Esplanade, Clontarf. Each May the council hosts a large kite-flying event called Kitefest.

The Redcliffe Dolphins are a successful rugby league team that competes in the Queensland Cup. The team's grounds is Dolphin Oval in Kippa-Ring.

Peninsula Power is a football (soccer) club in Redcliffe. Formed in 2000 from a merger between Margate and Redcliffe Soccer Clubs, the team competes in the Brisbane Premier League.

To celebrate the start of the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race, the Festival of Sails event is held on Good Friday every year. Hosted at Suttons Beach, more than 25,000 visitors attend this seaside carnival.

In September, Redcliffe celebrates its history and status as Queensland's first European settlement location with the annual First Settlement Festival. The festival commences with breakfast and continues with live music and entertainment, markets, and the re-enactment of Queensland's first European landing at the jetty, Redcliffe Parade.

[edit] Transport

Bus public transport is provided by local company Hornibrook Bus Lines. Services include local routes within the city area, to the Brisbane central business district via Pine Rivers Shire and Petrie railway station, to Sandgate railway station via Brighton with connecting QR Citytrain services to Brisbane, and a weekday direct Cityxpress service with limited stopping. Kangaroo Bus Lines provides a connection from Redcliffe to Caboolture via Deception Bay and Morayfield.

Road taxi services are provided by Redcliffe Taxi Service.

A heavy rail Citytrain passenger service to Redcliffe has been promised for many years, and the route featured as a "Proposed Railway" in street directories since the 1980s[1]. The corridor has been purchased and is preserved for future use, with works such as the Rothwell to Kippa-Ring bus priority project developed instead.[6]

[edit] Local media

Redcliffe has a weekly local newspaper, the Redcliffe and Bayside Herald, a Quest Community Newspapers masthead owned by News Corporation. Another local news source is community website redcliffecity.com.au, developed by local woman Lynda Roberts of The Redcliffe City News Pty Ltd, supplemented with a limited distribution of a paper publication via local businesses.

Community radio station 99 Seven [2] is based in Redcliffe and covers the city and surrounding Pine Rivers and northern Brisbane suburbs. The station, founded in 1986, broadcasts on the 99.7 MHz FM frequency (4RED) and offers a broad range of genres in programming and music.

[edit] Notable people from Redcliffe

Redcliffe is the former home of the Bee Gees[7] who have since described the area as "paradise".[citation needed] Actors William McInnes, Nikki Osborne, and poet Rupert McCall also come from Redcliffe. The film Swimming Upstream starring Geoffrey Rush used the Redcliffe War Memorial Pool as one of its locations, and parts of the movie Scooby-Doo were filmed at Queens Beach in Scarborough.

Redcliffe has a high number of Olympic Games athletes from its relatively small population, including swimmers Leisel Jones, Geoff Huegill, Jessicah Schipper and Tarnee White who trained in Scarborough under coach Ken Wood.

Rugby league players Travis Norton, Petero Civoniceva, Michael Crocker, Adam Mogg and Arthur Beetson were either born in Redcliffe or started their sporting careers from playing here.

[edit] Photographs

Redcliffe CBD
Redcliffe CBD
Humpybong Creek, home of many ducks
Humpybong Creek, home of many ducks
Settlement Cove swimming lagoon
Settlement Cove swimming lagoon
Margate Beach
Margate Beach

[edit] Sister cities

The City of Redcliffe, through the Redcliffe City Council, has two Sister City arrangements:[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Redcliffe, city-wide average, 2005 calendar year
  2. ^ a b Census of Population and Housing (HTML). 2001 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2001). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  3. ^ About Redcliffe (HTML). Redcliffe City Council (2006-02-03). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  4. ^ Welcome to Redcliffe (HTML). Redcliffe Tourism. Redcliffe City Council (2006-12-05). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  5. ^ Averages for REDCLIFFE COUNCIL (HTML). Climate Averages for Australian Sites. Bureau of Meteorology (2004-08-16). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  6. ^ Rothwell to Kippa-Ring bus priority project (HTML). TransLink. Queensland Transport (2006). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  7. ^ Bee Gees music, Overview (HTML). Biography. Danceage.com. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
  8. ^ Council A-Z Services (HTML). Redcliffe City Council (2006). Retrieved on January 4, 2007.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links