Bardon & Auchenflower Town Hall - Proposals and Discussions

Our Sustainable Vision for Bardon & Auchenflower

This is a beautiful place - leafy and tranquil, with some of the best cafes in Brisbane. But right now the close relationship between big business and developers and an apathetic LNP council have hollowed out public services and created a Brisbane that caters to cars and big business, not people and corner stores.

Here are some of our The Greens proposals for a more liveable Bardon & Auchenflower, as presented at our 2024 town hall.

1. Restore Mt Coot-tha quarry

The Greens have been calling for a plan to close and re-purpose Mt Coot-tha Quarry for several years now. In 2019, the LNP Council stated they had no intention of closing the quarry until it reached the end of its life. Strong pressure from Brisbane residents saw them finally commit funding to close and rehabilitate the Mt Coot-tha Quarry in 2023 but they still haven't committed to a firm closure timeline.

The Mt Coot-tha Neighbourhood Plan specifies that the quarry must close in 2025, but Council only plan to announce a draft vision for the site by then, so it is safe to assume that heavy machinery and blasting will keep polluting the air with noise, dust and pollution, harming wildlife and the health of people living and working nearby for some time. Their stated intention is to keep it open until at least 2032.

It’s time to close the quarry and let Brisbane residents decide what we want for the future of the site, taking our lead from the Aboriginal traditional owners. We have an amazing opportunity to create a world class, beautiful, environmentally-sensitive addition to the Mt Coot-tha public parklands.

The Greens are pushing for:

A clear timeline for closure and rehabilitation by 2025
A promise that the land will be returned to people of Brisbane, not privatised
Proper community consultation on the future of the land
Respect for Traditional Owner perspectives on how the land is used

2. Make Bardon roundabout people-friendly

The Bardon roundabout is a local hub, next to Rainworth State School, a childcare centre, small businesses, Bowman Park and Bardon markets. It’s part of state-controlled “MetRoad5”, and it's far too unsafe, especially for small children - and that’s been a known issue for many years. After a serious accident in 2019, promises were made – but nothing happened. After years of campaigning by Maiwar MP Michael Berkman, some minor changes have been made, but it remains dangerous, because both state government and Council prioritise traffic flow over pedestrian safety.

One of the major impacts of this persistent problem is that most kids get driven to school, even though they live close enough to walk, scoot or cycle. 92% of parents want their kids to walk: only 48% let them.

The Greens have proposed a number of safety improvements, including:

Reduce the speed limit from 60 km/h to 50 km/h or 40km/h along MetRoad 5 in Bardon and Toowong
Create a raised wombat crossing at the Boundary Rd north crossing (across Boundary Rd to Norman Buchan Park)
Create safe crossings at all roundabout entrances including across Runic St, Rouen Rd, Rainworth Rd, and Boundary Rd (west)

3. Rosalie Village pedestrian safety

Like the Bardon community, the people of Rosalie have been trying to get action on unsafe roads in the beautiful urban village for years. There have been many near-misses on the busy roads, which are especially hazardous for people with mobility issues and small children - which is a worry, given how close it is to a primary school.

Brisbane City Council had earmarked funding to create a safe pedestrian crossing – but late in 2023 the new Paddington Councillor cancelled the project. It’s a real blow to the community who have been working for change.

Rosalie is a unique and beautiful urban village where people of all ages should feel safe to walk around and enjoy the neighbourhood. Why is something as simple as a pedestrian crossing so impossible to achieve?

Rosalie deserves investment by Council: to protect the people, and to protect the special character of the area. The Greens are asking Council to prioritise pedestrian safety.

4. Revitalising Paddington high streets

For many years, the Paddington community has been advocating to Council to rejuvenate and revitalise Given and Latrobe Terraces. This has included public meetings, expert planning by local volunteers, and pressure on the former LNP Councillor to act. All of this work, until this point, has been largely ignored.

The community are clear about what the area needs: need better foot traffic to support our local businesses through deep planting of trees, installation of seating and water bubblers, and safer active transport. We need greenspace to be created, and murals to be painted, to enhance the accessibility and enjoyment of the area. We need the character of our neighbourhood protected by removing and banning all electronic billboards.

The Greens support this community initiative – people are the experts in their communities, and when they care enough about an issue to come together and organise, they deserve the respect of being taken seriously. The Paddington Terraces are an iconic Brisbane destination that deserves enhancement through the community’s vision for the area.

6. Free Paddington Ward Bus Loop

After thousands of conversations with locals, it's clear that the lack of public transport connectivity is a major barrier to people being able to get around the inner north with ease.

The Gabba Ward’s Greens councillor Trina Massey won a trial of a free loop service in the area that allows people to get around their neighbourhood without going all the way into the city. We think a similar idea – a free loop service that connects the delightful high streets, urban villages and communities without going to to the city – would make our streets safer, less congested and more pleasant.

We’ve come up with some proposed routes, and are seeking community feedback.

Discussion summary

At the town hall, the audience broke into small groups to talk together how the sustainable cities principles would affect decision-making and planning in their neighbourhood. Each group responded to the same three questions.

Bardon & Auchenflower question 1:

The booklets included proposals for a new free Loop Bus to service the area, offering 5 possible routes.

Which of these proposals do you like, or are they missing something? Would these routes make the services you need to live a good life accessible?

Across the groups, routes 1 and 5 were the most popular, but one group especially liked route 3.
The group that favoured route 3 were in favour of connecting the most primary schools.
One group favoured connections to Toowong, as a hub with more connections
Two groups spoke in favour of buses connecting with train stations and other bus routes.
Two groups raised the lack of service to Birdwing Terrace
One group wanted a free bus to Brisbane Forest Park/Enoggera Reservoir.

All of the groups had ideas about improving the usefulness of public transport.

3 groups suggested using smaller buses on connector routes and in suburban streets
2 groups suggested using GPS/other technology to improve passenger and driver information
One group was concerned that hills and heat are a disincentive to bus use: another suggested bus stops need to be within a 5 minute walk.

Bardon & Auchenflower question 2:

Thinking of our vision to rejuvenate and revitalise Given and Latrobe Terrace, would you be willing to sacrifice car spots for tree space, more public seating, and active transport (bike and foot paths)?

Overall, participants liked the vision but many were concerned that others would object to losing car spaces, especially without first improving public transport.
One group mentioned the difficulty parking in Rosalie ‘at all hours of the day’.
Two groups mentioned barriers to walking, such as hills and heat.
One group said the business community were scared of change
On the positive side, one group noted that universal design that works for people with a disability is good for everyone.
Several groups made suggestions about how to win support for the change:
- Start with pilot projects
- Take a few spots away for use for seating at cafes
- A high-frequency bus would make it easier to sell this idea
Some argued there are already too few car parks.
One group suggested having a parking perimeter within which people travel by PT, with a free loop mini-bus.

Bardon & Auchenflower question 3:

It’s been widely demonstrated in inner-city neighbourhoods around the world that the availability of free parking is a major factor in shaping how dependent residents are on cars and how often they drive. Even in areas with high-quality public transport options, the more off-street private parking that’s provided within a new development, the more cars residents of that development will tend to acquire, and the more likely they will be to drive for transport.

Should the council introduce caps on the number of carparks in new residential and commercial developments in inner-city suburbs to discourage car ownership and reduce the traffic impacts of new development? What other ways could we reduce car dependency?

All groups agreed that more frequent and reliable public transport was necessary to make this work
Two groups were informed by knowledge of developments without car parks. They argued it can push parking onto surrounding streets.
One group cited a Sydney levy on car parks charged to developers
One group noted that some tasks are impossible without a car
Another group argued for more diverse transport types, such as cargo bikes.
Several suggestions were made about other ways developers could encourage less car use:
- Require developers to prioritise access to train stations and public transport
- Don’t allow developers to use ‘lost’ car spaces for more apartments
- Mandate corner stores in developments to people don’t have to drive to get bread etc.