Logan City

City of Logan
Queensland

City of Logan in South East Queensland.
Population 293,353 (2012)[1]
 • Density 306.53/km2 (793.9/sq mi)
Established 1978
Area 957 km2 (369.5 sq mi)
Mayor Pam Parker
Council seat Logan Central
Region South East Queensland
State electorate(s) Albert*, Algester*, Beaudesert*, Logan, Waterford, Springwood, Woodridge
Federal Division(s) Rankin, Forde, Wright
Website City of Logan
LGAs around City of Logan:
City of Brisbane City of Brisbane City of Redland
City of Ipswich City of Logan City of Redland
Scenic Rim Scenic Rim City of Gold Coast

City of Logan is a local government area in South East Queensland, Australia. The city is situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and Gold Coast to the south. The city also borders the Scenic Rim, the City of Ipswich and Redland City. The city is divided into 63 suburbs and 12 divisions which elect a Councillor.[2] Pam Parker is the mayor.

In the north east of the area the Logan Motorway joins the Pacific Motorway. The Mount Lindesay Highway and Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor crosses the suburb roughly along a central north-south axis. City of Logan is located across parts of the sub-basin of Oxley Creek, Logan River and Albert River. Two new urban developments are being built at Yarrabilba and Greater Flagstone joining existing hubs at the Beenleigh, Logan Hyperdome, Browns Plains and Logan Central. Griffith University established the Logan campus.

History

Bark dwelling at Logan Village

The Logan region was originally inhabited by Aborigines from two major language groups; the Yugambeh and the Jaggera. Their first contact with the Europeans occurred when the Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Captain Patrick Logan. Patrick Logan was a compulsive explorer and in 1826 on his first expedition he discovered the Logan River. Patrick Logan noted the river was well suited to large-vessel traffic and was a first-class avenue to access the high-quality arable land along its banks. He named the country Darling, in honour of the Governor. The Governor renamed the river after Logan in recognition of Logan's enthusiasm and efficiency.

The penal settlement based in Brisbane was closed in 1841 and the land was quickly taken up by squatters. The first leases of land in the Logan area were issued from 1849 and immigration was encouraged following the separation from NSW in 1859. The declaration of the Logan and Eight Mile Plains Agricultural Reserves in 1862 led to extensive settlement of the area.

Cotton was the first commercial crop grown in the region. While this crop was marginally successful, between 1866 and 1847, sugar was soon to become the staple industry.

Slacks Creek State School, 1946

Numerous sugar mills were built along the river, the earliest of which was Fryar and Strachan's on the Logan River at Loganholme, built in July 1869. The catastrophic flood of 1887 was the end for many Logan River sugar farmers, crops were destroyed and covered with metres of silt. Even through the flood a small but viable sugar industry remains today on the south side of the river, centred on the Rocky Point Mill.

The post-war need for housing sparked the next wave of development of the region. Brisbane City introduced a new town plan in 1965, which required the provision of town water, sewerage, kerb and channelling to all new subdivisions. This led developers to purchase land in the northern sectors of Albert and Beaudesert Shires, where regulations were more relaxed. Urban development boomed in the Rochedale and Springwood areas from the late 1960s and in Browns Plains from the early 1970s.

The Wild Water Water Slide Park began operations in October 1982. The site was to become the Logan Hyperdome with the first work on the regional shopping centre beginning in October 1988.[3] It was officially opened in July 1989. Construction work on the Logan Hospital started in February 1989.[3] In August 2011, the Logan suburb of Slacks Creek was the location for Queensland's worst house fire.[4]

Establishment of Logan

The main street in Beenleigh in 1908 and at the time part of the former Shire of Albert

The Department of Local Government instigated the formation of the new Logan Shire, which included the northern suburbs of both Albert and Beaudesert Shires. A section in the north previously belonged to the Shire of Tingalpa. There were about 69,000 people living to the north of the Logan River. On 31 May 1978 Local Government Minister Russ Hinze introduced the Local Government (Adjustment of Boundaries) Bill and which was officially approved on 8 June 1978. Logan then was declared a city on 1 January 1981[3] and the administration building on Wembley Road was opened in February 1981.

The City was named after Captain Patrick Logan, one of the founders of the Moreton Bay convict settlement. Logan was honoured in the names of many locales in the district, such as the Logan River, the suburbs of Loganlea, Logan Village, Loganholme, Logan Reserve and Logan Central, the Logan Motorway and Logan Road, which connects the city with the nearby state capital of Brisbane.

Demographics

The city has a higher rate of multicultural diversity than the Queensland average.[5] About one quarter of Logan's residents were born overseas.[6] The suburb of Woodridge has a high unemployment rate.[6]

Governance

Logan City Council offices and library, 2006
Local government areas in South East Queensland

At the federal level, the majority of the city's population is represented by the electorate of Rankin.[7] First proclaimed in 1984, Rankin has elected a member of the Labor Party at every election since inception.[8] The newer parts of Logan are within the Forde, while Moreton and Oxley contain small portions of Logan City closer to Brisbane. The Division of Wright, created in 2010, contains many of the rural areas in the southern part of the city.

Local government changes

With the major changes to local government in Queensland which took effect at the 15 March 2008 local elections, Logan more than tripled in area and added 78,400 people to its population. This came about through annexing a large section of the now-dissolved Shire of Beaudesert as well as the Beenleigh-Eagleby suburban area to its southeast, which had been part of the Gold Coast. In its rationale for the changes, the Local Government Reform Commission argued that the area added brought the South East Queensland urban footprint and future growth areas to 2026 under the one local government, which could plan effectively for the area's future and would face reduced compliance costs for development works. Economic factors, the lack of geographic barriers and the presence of transport corridors were also considered to be favourable to the annexation. Consideration was given to a merger with Redland to its east, but geographical barriers and the lack of a community of interest between them militated against this.[9]

As of the 2012 Queensland Local Government elections, the composition of Logan City Council is as follows:[10]

Division Councillor Additional Responsibilities
Mayor Pam Parker
Division 1 Lisa Bradley
Division 2 Russell Lutton Deputy Mayor, Chairperson Safe City Advisory Committee, Logan Road Safety Advisory Committee and Logan Bicycle Advisory Committee
Division 3 Steve Swenson Assistant Chairperson Governance, Finance and Economic Development
Division 4 Don Petersen Chairperson Roads & Water Infrastructure Committee
Division 5 Graham Able Chairperson Animals & City Standards Committee
Division 6 Luke Smith Chairperson Governance, Finance & Economic Development Committee
Division 7 Laurie Smith Assistant Chairperson Road & Water Infrastructure Committee
Division 8 Cherie Dalley Chairperson Planning & Development Committee
Division 9 Phil Pidgeon Chairperson Sport & Community Services Committee
Division 10 Darren Power
Division 11 Trevina Schwarz Chairperson Health, Environment and Sustainability Committee
Division 12 Jennie Breene Assistant Chairperson Sport & Community Services Committee

Industry

There are extensive industrial and commercial areas, mostly in the north and east of Woodridge, and west of Springwood and Daisy Hill, clustered in the triangle formed by Logan Road/Pacific Highway and Kingston Road, and extending west along Compton Road. The Crestmead industrial estate is designed for light to medium industry in the manufacturing sector.[11]

Logan is Queensland's poker machine 'pokie' capital with over 2,128 machines in 41 registered sites. Per machine, each pokie pays out $5,886 which is the highest figure in the state.[12]

One of Australia's oldest brands of rum is produced at the Beenleigh.

Transport

Loganlea railway station, 2012

City of Logan is serviced by Queensland Rail's Beenleigh and Gold Coast railway lines. The stations are Trinder Park, Woodridge, Kingston, Loganlea, Bethania, Edens Landing, Holmview and Beenleigh although Gold Coast trains stop only at Beenleigh and Loganlea stations. 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 the city.

Logan City Bus Service is a bus operator, servicing places between Brisbane and Gold Coast at Logan City. First operated as Greenline Bus Service, it was purchased by Clark's Bus Service in 1987. Further development included the purchasing of Rochedale Bus Service in 1995. The trading name of Logan City Bus Service was adopted in 2003. Logan City Bus Service operates a number of services under the TransLink banner, in which most services are based around Loganholme and Springwood Bus Stations along Pacific Motorway. They also operate peak hour buses between the City of Logan and Brisbane City.

There are also disability transport services available, as well as limousines, coach charters and taxi services.

Culture and sport

Scrubby Creek and bikeway at Gold Coast railway line crossing at Kingston, 2013

Logan has 924 parks and reserves all with combinations of facilities. Also Logan offers plenty of active choices such as local swimming pools, sporting clubs, cycling tracks, walking tracks, little athletics, tinnie trails (self guided heritage trail), golf, basketball/volleyball parks, skate parks, bmx tracks, walking groups and go karting.

City of Logan has recently been under development for new bistro areas across the region. Cinemas, shopping complexes and parks are prevalent. The city also has a free public art gallery. The internationally successful Australian band Savage Garden, who sold 25 million albums, are from Logan and so is Olympic swimmer Jodie Henry, three time gold medalist in the pool at the 2004 Olympics and world record holder.

Logan City is home to Souths Logan Magpies rugby league team, one of the oldest existing rugby league clubs in Australia. It is also home to the Logan Thunder WNBL team.

Every Saturday at a free 5 km timed run takes place at three different locations in Logan City. The events are known as Logan River parkrun,[13] Yarrabilba parkrun,[14] and Berrinba parkrun.[15]

Tourism

Riverdale Park at Meadowbrook, 2013

In March 2013, Logan City Council launched a new tourism website Visit Logan aimed to build tourism as part of the city’s future economy. The website was not only a first for the City of Logan, but also an Australian-first for a tourism website using responsive design. The site features categories such as attractions, dining, entertainment, shopping, parks, arts and culture, sports, places to stay and more. There are also interactive maps, an events calendar and information about Logan and its history.

Suburbs

A new housing estate at Logan Reserve, 2014
Henry Jordan Park, Waterford West, 2013

Until 2008, Logan had a stable boundary with neighbouring local government areas such as Beaudesert, Albert (later merged into Gold Coast) and Brisbane. The following suburbs were included within the pre-2008 area:

In 2008, areas in northern Beaudesert as well as the Beenleigh conurbation in the Gold Coast were merged with Logan. As well as uniting Logan Reserve and Greenbank under one local government area, the following areas were added:

From Gold Coast:

From Beaudesert:

See also


References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 March 2011). "Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2009–10". Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "Statistics and Facts". Logan City Council. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Howells, Mary (2003). Logan River Tinnie Trail. Logan City Council. p. 43. ISBN 0975051903.
  4. ↑ Tony Keim. "Inquest into Slacks Creek house fire which killed 11 in 2011 to look at cause of deaths". The Courier Mail (News Ltd). Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Katherine Feeney (16 January 2013). "Logan by the numbers: unemployment, lower wages and more than 150 ethnic groups". The Brisbane Times (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tony Moore (2 August 2013). "Logan looks to tackle tension with jobs". The Brisbane Times (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  7. ↑ Rankin - Federal Election 2007 - ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  8. ↑ Green, Antony (29 December 2007). "Australia Votes 2007 - Rankin". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  9. ↑ Queensland Local Government Reform Commission (July 2007). Report of the Local Government Reform Commission (PDF) 2. pp. 187–193. ISBN 1-921057-11-4. Retrieved 3 June 2010. See also map here.
  10. ↑ http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/about-council/mayor-and-councillors/councillors
  11. ↑ "Crestmead industrial estate". Queensland Government. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  12. ↑ (28 August 2012) Tony Moore. Logan Queensland's pokies capital. Brisbane Times. Fairfax Media.
  13. ↑ Logan River parkrun
  14. ↑ Yarrabilba parkrun
  15. ↑ Berrinba parkrun

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Logan City, Queensland.

Coordinates: 27°38′21″S 153°06′34″E / 27.63917°S 153.10944°E