With a growing population, the inner southside of Brisbane desperately needs more public parkland. Parks help build a more connected community, break down isolation and create public spaces for kids to play and people to meet. Far from a luxury, parks are an essential part of life.
Over 1,200 local residents have signed our support of a new park on Birdwood Road, throughout the six hectares of currently vacant land along Norman Creek. Now, Max Chandler-Mather and I are developing a community vision for the park to show the state and local governments just how this could be done.
To kick things off, we're running a survey to find out what you would like to see in a future Birdwood Road Park. The Survey will close soon - have your say now!
We'll present these results at a community forum on Saturday 10th August to help finalise a community vision for the site. You can find the event details here
More Information about Birdwood Road:
The Vacant land along Birdwood road sits within council flood mapping and is at 'high risk' of flooding. Developing and concreting over this land will not only risk flooding any development on the site, but also push storm water onto Birdwood Road and surrounding residents. Norman Creek runs through the entire site, and provides crucial natural habitat for many native plant and animal species. Acquiring the land for public parkland will help protect Norman Creek and establish a wildlife corridor from Stones Corner to Holland Park West. Keeping this area green will make Brisbane a more flood-resilient city.
This is an excellent opportunity to link Roseglen Street Park and Joachim Street Park, and establish cycle and walkways that connect thousands of people to broader Brisbane, taking thousands of cars off the road.
Meanwhile, protecting and expanding public parkland is an important part of making Brisbane resilient to a warming climate. Parkland and waterways help prevent the ‘urban heat island’ effect, where areas lose trees, vegetation and waterways that otherwise help cool the surrounding environment. This can make an urban area up to 5.9 degrees hotter.
