| Kangaroo Point Brisbane, Queensland |
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Kangaroo Point, underneath the Story Bridge |
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| Population: | 6,495 (2004)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 4169 | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 1.3 km² (0.5 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Brisbane, Central Ward |
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| Federal Division: | Griffith | ||||||||||||
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Kangaroo Point is a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia located directly east across the Brisbane River from the Brisbane central business district.
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Kangaroo Point is located on a peninsula formed of harder rhyolite rock which the Brisbane River flows around. On the northern tip of the peninsula the Story Bridge connects it to the central business district and the suburb of Fortitude Valley. The suburb of Woolloongabba is located to the south. The six-lane Main Street runs from Story Bridge to Woolloongabba. The landscape of Kangaroo Point is predominantly high rise apartments towards the tip of the peninsula while the other end is predominantly low-medium density apartments and houses.
Kangaroo Point is a popular recreation spot, conveniently close to the city and the South Bank Parklands. The Kangaroo Point Cliffs, situated on the east bank of the city bend of the Brisbane River north of the Maritime Museum, opposite the Brisbane River Stage and the Queensland University of Technology at Gardens Point.
The cliffs are a popular picnic, rock climbing and abseiling site. The steepness of the cliffs was increased by quarrying operations which mined the volcanic rock or rhyolite lava flows which form the cliffs. These lavas were deposited in the tertiary period about 30 million years ago and filled up an ancient river valley. They currently form the banks of the Brisbane River.
The Story Bridge is a prominent landmark. It is able to climbed with authorised tourist groups and provides the main means of access to the north of Brisbane. Directly under the bridge is the Story Bridge Hotel.
By bus the suburb is serviced by the South East Busway transit line and buses along Main Street and Shafstons Avenue. By road Kangaroo Point residents rely on the Story Bridge and Captain Cook Bridge for access to the north, and the South East Freeway for access to the south. Main Street connects the Story Bridge through the suburb to the South East Freeway. Bicycle paths run along the Brisbane River from South Bank to and over the Story Bridge. The bicycle paths are heavily used by cyclists, roller skaters and pedestrians.
CityFerry service from the Eagle Street Pier in the CBD and the Sydney Street Pier in New Farm to Holman Street near the peak of Kangaroo Point, Thornton Street on the west side of the point, or Dockside Pier on the east side. CityCat services do not directly service Kangaroo Point.[2]
The M7 Clem Jones Tunnel, a toll tunnel, which opened in March 2010, has a connection on Shafston Avenue. It diverts some traffic travelling through the suburb while providing an additional transport route for residents.
A green bridge is proposed to the west to connect Kangaroo Point to the City and to the east to connect Kangaroo Point to Merthyr Road New Farm. The Cross River Rail tunnel is planned to connect under Kangaroo Point Cliffs from Woolloongabba to an Albert Street railway station.
In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of the Kangaroo Point postcode area was 6,868 people, in an area of 1.3 square kilometres. The population was 48.9% females and 51.1% males. It has one of the city's highest proportion of residents living in flats, units or apartments (80.7%). Residents in stand alone houses make up only 14% of the population. Further to this, 51.1% are renters while only 14.9% fully own their dwelling. According to REIQ, the median house price in Kangaroo Point for the calendar year 2006 was $513,000.
Situated in Kangaroo Point is St Josephs Primary School which offers private schooling from grades 1 to 7. Although the suburb has no public schools to call its own, it is close to East Brisbane State School. For secondary/late primary school year entrancing, Kangaroo Point is close to St Laurence’s College, Anglican Church Grammar, All Hallows' School, Somerville House, Brisbane State High School and Villanova College. For tertiary studies, Kangaroo Point is host to campuses of Southbank Institute of TAFE (now demolished) and Shafston University. Directly across the river from the cliffs is the Queensland University of Technology (Gardens Point campus).
Before British settlement, Kangaroo Point was occupied by the Turrbal people.[3] It is one of the earliest suburbs settled in Brisbane and subsequently, is one of Brisbane's oldest suburbs, rich in history and character. It had a reputation for violent and rowdy street gangs around the 1900s, with a number of street riots.[4]
In 1823, explorer John Oxley described Kangaroo Point as a “jungle, fringed with mangroves with the higher land open forest, covered with grass”. During the time of the subsequent convict settlement (1825–41), Kangaroo Point was cleared and used for cultivation of crops. Subsequently, the area was opened up for free settlement, the first land sales taking place on 13 December 1843. Among the early purchasers was Captain J.C.Wickham, the Police Magistrate. Surveyor James Warner built the first house at Kangaroo Point in 1844.[5]
Kangaroo Point's first school was opened in 1861 by the Church of England. It came under the control of the Board of Education in 1867 and consisted of a boys department and a girls department. A separate Girls and Infants school opened on 2 March 1874. This was replaced by the Kangaroo Point Girls School and the Kangaroo Point Infants School which both opened on 20 January 1890. The Kangaroo Point Boys School, Girls School and Infants School closed on 28 April 1950 and amalgamated to become the Kangaroo Point State School.[6] The Kangaroo Point State School closed on 30 June 1965.[7] It was located on the site of the old Southbank Institute of TAFE, on the corner of Riverside Tce and Main St. In January 2010 this site was then redeveloped into parkland.
In 1887, the Yungaba Immigration Centre was built on Main Street at Kangaroo Point to replace the poor facilities at the existing centre in William Street.[8]
For many years the suburb was dominated by the factories of heavy engineering businesses, particularly those involved in the maritime industry, such as Evans Deakin, Buzzacott & Co and Evans Anderson & Phelan. Evans Deakin built the largest ship ever constructed on the Brisbane River, the 66,000 tonne oil tanker Robert Miller, which became adrift in the river during the 1974 Brisbane flood.[9] The last vessel to be built by Evans Deakin was an oil rig called Southern Cross. The company vacated the site in 1976,[9] with it later being redeveloped for high-rise accommodation.
Stone was quarried from the cliffs and used as building material.
Until the 1930s, Evans Anderson & Phelan built steam locomotives at their Kangaroo Point works for Queensland Railways, however their works were not located near a railway, so the completed locomotives were delivered along Main Street on temporary track.
Until the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901, the Queensland Navy's main storage facility was located in the suburb. The first ship-based radio transmission in Australia was made between HMAS Gayundah and the buildings in 1903. The naval stores buildings were occupied by the Royal Australian Navy until 1959, and then by the Australian Army until 1984. The heritage-listed buildings are now used by an adventure company focussing on river activities and rock climbing.
The opening of the Story Bridge in July, 1940 was the most significant development of the suburb. Trolleybuses operated by the Brisbane City Council linked the suburb with Fortitude Valley via the Story Bridge from 1953 to 1969, running along Main Street from Woolloongabba and other eastern suburbs.[10]