Campaign #2: Liaising with Brisbane City Council to keep our goals at the forefront of the Master Plan implementation

These parking issues and congestion could become a 7-day reality and would significantly affect the unique residential character of these suburbs - we have requested parking studies with no result to date. An Options Paper that is reportedly being considered by Council needs to be fast tracked, with local residents full partners in the proposed solutions. 

Free bus travel to events at venues such as Suncorp Stadium and the Gabba is already a well-established service in Brisbane. This system reduces congestion caused by people using private vehicles to access venues. This type of service would also help patrons with the cost of travel to and from the park.

The main entrance to the park is on Herston Road. This street and Butterfield Streets are the only access roads from the Kelvin Grove Road direction out to Bowen Bridge Road.  These streets already become very congested at peak hour and shift change-over periods at the hospital.

Often, at weekend events in the Park, there is traffic gridlock in Herston Road with many cars also cruising around local streets looking for street parking spots.

Rat-running along small local streets is another unwanted outcome of traffic congestion as drivers try to find another way around the traffic jams.

It would be great if changes to the Park became a springboard for solving existing problems in the local area ie. enhancing livability rather than reducing it. 

Noise Around Victoria Park

Save Victoria Park supports a natural and quiet green space on the Victoria Park / Barrambin site.  It should not be an entertainment precinct.  Noise has been identified as one of our major concerns for the redeveloped park. 

Various types of unacceptable noise have been identified during the day and night-time.  There is already noise associated with functions at Victoria Park / Barrambin, including fireworks.  Recent private events had fireworks mid-week and 9pm on a Sunday.  This contradicts the goal of increasing fauna in the park e.g. “Create a planted habitat corridor that provides critical connections for fauna within the park that helps them succeed.”

The Inner City Bypass (ICB) cut a great swathe through the Park many years ago but sadly, this heavily trafficked road has had no noise mitigation done.  The Master Plan is silent on the impact of the ICB on the birds and animals that the plan purports to support. The ICB should have at the very least, noise baffles alongside it.  Another forward-thinking idea is to put a ‘green top’ over the ICB, essentially making it a tunnel as it wends its way through the middle of our precious park. They took 5 hectares for this, so they should be fixing the impacts on the park.

Our position is for Open / Closing hours for the park rather than the proposed 24/7. Central Park in NYC is open 6am-1am: Hyde Park in London 5am-midnight; Stanley Park in Vancouver is 9am-5pm. We propose dawn to dusk, except for the fast speed commuter bike paths around the outskirts of the Park.

Driving Range in Victoria Park

The Driving Range is right in the middle of the Park.  This 4.5ha parcel of land, used solely for golfing pursuits, may have been appropriate when the golf course was in operation, but is completely out of place in the redeveloped park. 

We are opposed to any proposed concerts, for up to 20,000 people, being held on the Driving Range.  This area is right beside areas identified as those which will encourage natural habitats.  It seems that there are two opposing factors at play here: the stated aim by council to support fauna and the continuation of a commercial venture in the Park.

The Park should not become an entertainment venue – these are currently well provided for in the local area.  The RNA main arena, the Royal International Convention Centre nearby, Ballymore Stadium and the Brisbane Live precinct proposed for the Roma Street area are more than enough venues in this small residential, health and learning precinct.  It should also be noted that keeping the area around the RBWH as a quiet precinct, should be the priority. 

Currently, and until the lease runs out in 2029, the Driving Rangeis only accessed by golf balls! The Driving Range’s lease should not be renewed in 2029 and the land should then be returned to nature.

Lighting in Victoria Park

“The park will be open 24 hours a day, however lighting within the park after 9pm will be restricted to the parkway loop and commuter paths to minimise impact to wildlife.” Master Plan 2023.

Residents have expressed concern over the light spillage/seepage into their homes at night, especially those homes around the fringe roads of the Park. 

Security and safety are paramount. Walking through Hyde Park and Central Park is not considered safe and both parks close at night. There are possible crime ramifications with 24-hour public access through the Park. 

Save Victoria Park’s position is that the Park should be closed at night, except for the Function Centre zone and the fast-cycle pathways.  Until the currennt lease is completed in 2029, the Driving Range lights should be disconnected, and the trading hours amended to daylight hours.  The Pump Track and Skate areas should be only open from dawn to dusk.

Buildings and Structures vs the Environment in Victoria Park

Our position is that the park should remain a natural oasis for the quiet enjoyment of people, whether they live/work locally or whether they travel from afar to enjoy the tranquillity. The most wanted feature during the initial consultations with Brisbane residents was ‘native gardens, trees, shade, nature’. 

Scarce ratepayers’ dollars should be spent on new, but indigenous, plantings to enhance the environmental aspects of the park. Brisbane has a hot climate for many months of the year, so having a park with lots of shade will make it an attractive destination for locals and tourists alike.

We should minimise any new structures as part of the re-development.  We question the building of an Administration block within the park.  This is essentially an office block and is stated in the Master Plan to be 2 stories located on the hill near the Bistro.  Council workers could be housed in existing buildings such as the Old Clubhouse. It is currently tenanted, but this lovely heritage listed building should come back into the Park when this lease finishes.

There is also a lovely wooden kiosk in the north-east part of the Park, next to the ‘First Tee’, known as the Halfway House. This is apparently going to be demolished.  Again, re-purposing rather than rebuilding seems to be more cost effective and more environmentally sound.

A 2km long, 7m wide Parkway Loop is proposed. We are opposed to this size and scope of this pathway. It is far too long for most casual visitors to the park, most of whom might only stroll 1km. It seems as though it has to be this long because it has to loop around the Driving Range. If the lease for this was not extended after 2029, a shorter and much cheaper path could be built. This would also reduce the amount of concrete in the park and the considerable amount of earthworks that would be required to ‘tame’ the park’s topography to make this accessible to all.

We are also very concerned that it will be an ‘open-slather’ path, with no physical divisions between pedestrians and cyclists, e-scooters and the like. Council’s response is: “ Only primary cycle paths have line markings or pedestrian/cyclist separation. The Parkway Loop is a recreation pathway so isn't being considered for this treatment.” It is an extremely short-sighted view of Council and certainly not one shared by man countries around the world. So much for a world-class park.

The construction of an ‘elevated connection to the land bridge’ is unnecessary. There is already a ramp for bike and/or other wheeled conveyances, so this is superfluous and another redundant construction in our natural park.  The existing Lake Barrambin has an island in it which provides a roosting area for birds, which could be disturbed by traffic over the top. York’s Hollow is also Heritage Listed so this intrusive structure is completely inappropriate and disrespects our Indigenous culture and history in this area.

We are pleased that more trees are being planted in the Park but are very concerned about the number and size of new buildings proposed.  Concrete is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases and there is a lot going into the park according to this proposal. Most people’s expectations of a ‘park’ would a green space with grass and trees, otherwise it would have another descriptor such as ‘amusement park’ or ‘wildlife park’. So a place that is not reducing carbon is probably no longer a ‘park’.

There are going to be 18km of paths in the park and it is not stated how much of these will be concrete.  It is non-permeable and not environmentally friendly. The use of concrete to build paths should be minimised.  Walking paths should certainly be gravel trails.