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Lifestyle, Green Spaces Seen as Top Concerns as The Gap Neighbourhood Plan Nears Completion

Brisbane City Council has released the latest draft of The Gap neighbourhood plan and should be ready to include it in the City Plan come early 2018.

The planning team has incorporated input from the community into the updated neighbourhood plan. Locals are further urged to have their say until Friday 8 December 2017.

The Gap Vision

The vision for the suburb is based on key considerations derived from initial planning studies and community feedback.

Housing for All – The plan is to ensure that there is ample housing available for people from all walks of life. To achieve this, the plan would maintain the suburban character of The Gap. At the same time, the suburb will still accommodate a range of housing options for locals.
Green and Leafy Spaces – Since The Gap is home to some of the biggest conservation parks in the city, the planning team intends to provide protection to the existing greeneries and open spaces. The plan would maintain and enhance public green spaces and provide protection against environmental hazards.
Centres for Village Life – The neighbourhood plan would reinvigorate the suburb with places for dining, shopping and relaxation. The strategy is to create spaces where locals can gather as a community. In particular, planners would revitalise The Gap Village and enhance the local shopping precincts.
Community Connections – The neighbourhood plan would seek opportunities for the community to interact and access services. To achieve this, the council would increase activities and programs at parks and community facilities.

Read: The Gap Neighbourhood Plan – What’s Happened So Far and How to Get Involved

Coverage of The Gap Neighbourhood Plan (Photo credit: Brisbane City Council)

Feedback on Neighbourhood Plan

Since the neighbourhood plan will form the basis for future developments in The Gap, residents are encouraged to have their say about the updated draft. The neighbourhood plan can alter rules on zoning and what types of development are appropriate.

The Gap residents can provide feedback by:

Emailing the project team
Calling Council on 3403 8888
Or writing to:
Neighbourhood Planning Brisbane (The Gap)
Brisbane City Council
GPO Box 1434
Brisbane Qld 4001

The planning team will receive feedback until Friday 8 December 2017.

Learn more about The Gap neighbourhood plan.

Why Residents Hardly Leave The Gap & Other Brisbane Suburbs

What is it about the The Gap that makes its residents stay put? New data from the Domain Group reveals the 20 most tightly-held suburbs by distance to the CBD in Brisbane, The Gap comes in fourth in the range of 0-5 kms distance from the CBD. Highgate Hill, Newmarket, Wilson and Grange also made it to the 0-5 kms group from the CBD.

Other suburbs on the list:

5-10kms from the CBD:

Nathan
Carindale
Stafford Heights
Chermside West
Keperra

10-15kms from the CBD:

Robertson
Chandler
Brookfield
Durack
Middle Park

15-20kms from the CBD:

Camp Mountain
Wights Mountain
Upper Brookfield
Inala
Sandgate

According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland Chairman Rob Honeycombe, these suburbs within 0-5 kms from the CBD are family-friendly and are perfectly situated within desirable school catchment areas, hence their high placement on the list.

The Gap is indeed an ideal place for those who want a quiet life in a traditional suburbia setting. One of the things that make the area desirable is the number of good schools in the area such as The Gap State High School, Hilder Road State School, Payne Road State School and St Peter Chanel Primary School.

The Gap also offers a wide range of recreational establishments such as The Gap Village and other cafes and restaurants such as The Lodge, the third best cafe in Australia. Every week, The Gap Farmers’ Market serves up fresh local produce, delicious food, and other great finds that make both locals and visitors wake up early to catch.

Walkabout Creek and the beach sitting on the edge of the Ennogera Reservoir only add to The Gap’s unique attractions.

Andrew Wilson, the Domain Group’s chief economist, says that if homebuyers find a suburb that ticked all the right boxes, they would most likely stay long-term.

“Everyone wants to live in the suburb that has the most liveability, the most amenity, and the most infrastructure and facilities close to everything — and has a quality profile in terms of the types of houses in the area,” he said.

Indeed, The Gap is ticking all the right boxes, as their data shows.

Editor’s Note: The categories reported in this article are based on the Domain study and not classifications made by West Brisbane News. While it is true that The Gap should be in the “5-10km from CBD” category, being listed in the other category in no way diminishes the fact that it has ranked as a tightly held suburb.

The Gap’s Vasile Brothers Walk For Mental Health Awareness; Reports Show Growing Need for Support Services

Brothers Tudor and Wesley Vasile, both residents of The Gap, suffered a traumatic loss when two of their friends committed suicide. In 2011, while Wesley was in Mexico, his brother told him the tragic news that Christian, their close friend, had committed suicide.

Shortly after that, another friend of theirs, David, also killed himself. Wesley, in particular, seriously thought about why their closest friends seemed to have the need to take their own lives. To Wesley, the grief was very real, so much that a group of people closest to him saw the effects of the deaths on him. To help him cope, they put him in touch with a group of individuals who have had their fair share of experience with suicide.

The Beginning

Photo credit: Walk For Awareness / Facebook

Wesley knew that he had to do something to help people in the same situation deal with it. Along with his brother and the group, they came up with an annual event, the Walk for Awareness, in cooperation with the Mental Awareness Foundation. The idea is that once a year, people can get together to discuss the issues of mental health openly. This was all based on their belief that suicide should be talked about openly, and not whispered about in the shadows or behind closed doors.

This walk is the largest walk that is dedicated to mental health in Australia. Aside from having people come together to spread mental health awareness, it also raises funds for charities working that are working on the front line of mental health issues.

The 2017 Event

On the 8th of October at 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Brisbane’s Walk For Awareness will once again take place at Captain Burke Park in Kangaroo Point. This is a chance for the entire community to come together for support and break the silence on mental illness.

Now on its seventh year, over 5,000 participants across the country this year are expected to come together.

Sad Statistics about Suicide

Recent reports have revealed that people using mental health services in the country has become twice as high as the general population. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 11.4 deaths per 1000 people, compared to 6.1 per 1000 among the general population. It also showed that between August 2011 and September 2012, 153,451 deaths happened in Australia with 49.4% of those people who have sought mental health treatment.

This report has renewed calls from mental health experts to put equal focus on mental and physical wellbeing. This 8km walk around Brisbane aims to help drive home this need for equal focus.

Even working professionals who lead busy lives can fall victim to depression and mental health issues. In the news recently, five public hospital clinicians working in Brisbane hospitals have reportedly attempted to commit suicide. A survey of 324 doctors at hospitals such as Princess Alexandra, Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee, Logan and Redland has revealed a culture of bullying by senior medical officers that has contributed to mental health issues and stress among these doctors.

Indeed,providing support to anyone suffering from a mental disorder is very important and A Walk for Awareness is ensuring that everyone takes steps in the right direction to do just that.

You can register for the walk here.

Snake Sightings Are On the Rise in The Gap & Nearby Suburbs

At this time of year, carpet snakes are very rampant in the Western suburbs especially in The Gap. Snake Catchers Brisbane has been tirelessly working to remove these reptiles from properties.

One resident in The Gap found a snake in an underwear drawer. The snake was first seen on a window sill and was quickly disregarded thinking that it was just a common tree snake. It turns out, it was an Eastern Brown snake — one of the deadliest species of venomous snakes.

Snakes are very common at this time of the year as the temperatures grow warmer during early spring. During this time of the year, The Gap and Chapel Hill are the suburbs with the most snake sightings. They can just be found anywhere — cars, washing machines, and fridges. In fact, Snake Catchers Brisbane has been getting about 30 inquiries per day about snakes that are sighted.

Snake catcher Lana Field has warned residents who don’t want snakes coming into their homes to make sure that their yards are clean. Also, pet enclosures should be snake proof. Pets cats should be kept inside because there are times that they bring snakes inside, venomous or otherwise.

The Lodge In the Gap Is Really One of The Best Cafes In Australia

On Waterworks Road, just across Walton Bridge Reserve in The Gap lies one of the popular cafes in the suburb, The Lodge, Just last year, Beanhunter rated The Lodge as the third best cafe in Australia.

The place is known for their great coffee, not surprisingly because the cafe is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Srle and Paula Manson Bogisevic, Paula is the former manager of the now-defunct Grindhouse Specialty Coffee.

Aside from their delicious coffee, Ms Manson has also made it her business to promote healthy eating. Their delicious treats may look sinful but you will be surprised to know that they are all healthy and handmade by Ms Manson herself.

Don’t miss out on their delicious protein balls called Lodge Balls, which you are surely going to love. Their peanut butter jelly donut balls are perfect for those craving for something nutty.

The place also serves all-day breakfast that perfectly combines guilt-free and delicious. A must-try is their new Super Charged Scrambled Eggs with chia seeds, turmeric, flaxseeds, pesto and spinach, served on organic sourdough with feta and roasted tomatoes. Talk about a meal to power you through the day — this is it.

You will also love their hearty bagels that are filled with so much goodness such as Swiss cheese, coleslaw and pickle or haloumi, tomato bruschetta and avo.

When it comes to their coffee, you simply can’t go wrong. They offer a huge selection of coffees from Proud Mary, a specialty coffee brand that’s based in Melbourne.

You will also love their latte rainbows that are not just cute and fun to look at, but are also delicious from Simara Blends.

The Gap Residents Wake Up to Colourful Security Bollards

The Gap has colourful new security bollards and they are a sight to behold. Some residents have said that they just woke up one morning to see that their neighbourhood has become a world of colourful “Legos!”

Around Yoorala Street Reserve, mysterious artists have turned 30 cement bollards into multi-hued works of art. This is not the first time that this has happened, though. In May, Simpson characters were scattered all over the suburb. And now in July, the theme seems to be Legos!

Photo credit: Preserve our Parks, Civic Centres for Community Groups: The Gap Qld / Facebook

All of the creations are made from paper mache. The Gap Resident’s Association member Chris Taylor said that these decorations just came out of nowhere and they have no idea who’s done it. However they came to be, the neighbourhood seems to be appreciative of the colourful displays. Families actually stop around to admire them. The Gap residents are pleased with these beautiful art creations.

This occurence seems to be part of a growing trend. Also in July, Melbourne residents also woke up to colourful bollards in their neighbourhood. Over 200 bollards were installed around the city to prevent vehicle-based attacks. Artists quickly took this an opportunity to express their creativity. They added their unique touch to Melbourne’s temporary concrete cubes. Now, they are covered in colourful materials and graffiti art.

Photo credit: http://toplike.us/u/melbournebyfoot/

The Gap Residents Adamant to Prevent Emergency Access Onto Mt Nebo Road

The Gap residents are still against the plan for a second access onto Mt Nebo Road as part of the Ferny Grove-Upper Kedron Neighbourhood Plan.

The last day of submission of suggestions to the council has passed and a lot of residents have expressed animosity towards the plan to build a second access onto Mt Nebo Road, citing the inevitable increase of traffic in the area.

Their Issues

The draft for the neighbourhood plan only proposes emergency access onto the road. Residents are worried that over time, “emergency access” will turn into a full vehicle access road. Creating another access onto Mt Nebo Road is deemed unacceptable by the residents saying that this would worsen the existing traffic congestion along the Waterworks Road corridor.

They also think that such access can cause harm to their health due to an increase in air pollutants. Other issues include an increase on vehicle strikes on the conservation of significant fauna, compromise accessibility to residential and business areas, higher risk of injuries to leisure users since there are a lot of people who use the road especially cyclists on the weekends.

Unnecessary?

To add to that, the Western Brisbane Transport Network Strategy published by the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, doesn’t see any necessary improvements to be done on the Waterworks Road corridor. This places limitations on the road’s capacity to accommodate an increase in transportation associated with the Cedar Woods development.

The council is now reviewing the submissions they have received on the draft neighborhood plan. And once everything is complete, this neighborhood plan will be a part of Brisbane’s planning scheme, Brisbane City Plan 2014.

Coles The Gap and Other Queensland Stores to Phase Out Plastic Bags

A few hours after Woolworths announced that it is phasing out single-use plastic bags at its stores across the country, Coles made a similar announcement to stop using plastic bags.

The supermarket giant confirmed that it is implementing the phase out at its stores in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

The move will put the stores into line with Coles supermarkets in South Australia, the Northern Territory and ACT, which have laws banning single-use plastic bags.

Queensland has legislated a similar ban, which will take effect on 1 July 2018.

Transition

Coles Chief Customer Officer Simon McDowell said the company has been working towards the announcement for some time now as it improves environmental outcomes throughout its business.

To help customers adjust to the coming ban, Coles is making sure that the transition will be smooth.

“We know customers like the convenience of single-use bags, so we’ll make sure we have plenty of other options for them if they forget to bring their own bags from home,” said Mr McDowell.

Coles is already encouraging shoppers to bring reusable bags and is providing recycling bins for soft plastics at 630 of its stores.

As part of the phase-out, the supermarket will provide a range of reusable bags at different prices.

The St. Peter Chanel Fair in The Gap Promises a Lot of Fun for a Good Cause

St. Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School in The Gap will be holding their fair on 30 July from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 41 Chaprowe Rd.

The fair happens every other year. The fundraising event aims to raise funds to aid the school’s needs such as upgrades and daily operations.

A line-up of food stalls and lots of treats will be available, perfect for those looking for new things to try or craving to satisfy a sweet tooth. There are also fantastic gift stalls where you can purchase stationery and other arts & crafts.

The fair will also have some great rides, raffles, and programs.

Don’t miss this fair! It’s not every year that you get to enjoy something like this right smack in the suburb.

The Gap’s LOCO Shop Promotes Sustainability and Cooperation To Local Community

Is there any better way to support your local economy and at the same time, ensure that you and your loved ones eat healthy? At The Gap’s local food co-op, there is a way. The LOCO Shop in the SOWN Environment Centre Shed between Yoorala Street Community Garden and the Balaangala Garden Space is The Gap’s way of supporting community nutrition and the local economy.

The LOCO Shop is a local community initiative that is managed by people with a background in organics as growers, farmers, buyer’s group managers and consumers. They highly promote certified organic food and how it is better for personal, community and environmental health. The business itself, as a co-op, is based on cooperation, community and environmental sustainability.

Photo credit: The Gap Local Organic Co-Op / Facebook

People who work for the co-op are paid a minimum wage and customers are encouraged to pre-order to help minimise waste. By doing so, customers can expect prices to be low compared to other food establishments that sell organic produce. However, the prices may fluctuate depending on the wholesale rates since they usually get their supplies from organic wholesalers and farmers. At this local co-op, people know exactly where their food is coming from as the supply chain is very transparent.

Interested customers can drop by the shop which is open two days a week, Mondays and Fridays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Customers can also pre-order via email by noon on Sundays and you can pick-up your order the next day after 1:00 p.m.

To keep up-to-date with their prices and the products available, they can be reached at thegaploco@gmail.com. They also send out weekly and monthly updates to customers.

Every second Sunday of the month, The LOCO Shop operates a stall at The Gap Farmer’s Market from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.