News and other stories about real people, places, and events in Centenary and nearby suburbs.
The REIQ recently reported the latest housing market statistics which showed Mount Ommaney median house price at $944,000, a 13.7% increase over the last 12 months and 44.1% over the last 5 years. In the 2nd quarter of 2018, there were 6 homes sold in the suburb.
Neighbouring suburb Jindalee also made some gains, with home sale reaching an average of $571,000, up 2.4% from last year and 22.8% in 5 years. Fifteen homes were sold in Jindalee during the 2nd quarter.
This September, the Brisbane City Council is offering eligible new customers a “free hire” of the Inala Hall (New Hall) and the Old Inala Hall for the first 4 hours!
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council/brisbane.qld.gov.au
The move to wave the booking fees is in line with the Council’s effort to enhance the appeal of using community halls for local events and festivities. Booking for the use of the New Inala Hall, Old Inala Hall, or any of the more than 20 community halls and facilities around Brisbane is free this September.
This is a great opportunity to take advantage of these venues, for eligible individuals and not-for-profit organisations planning to hold club meetings, wedding receptions, business functions, conferences, or cultural and religious events.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council/brisbane.qld.gov.au
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council/brisbane.qld.gov.au
As part of the terms and conditions, new customers taking advantage of the “free hire” must answer a Community Halls attendee feedback survey regarding their overall experience in using the venue and its facilities. The information gathered from customer feedback will provide the Council with an insight into areas where they are doing well as well as opportunities for improvement.
The following are the Terms and conditions for the Community Halls free hire:
About the Old Inala Hall
Located in a park at the corner of Abelia and Rosemary Streets, the Old Inala Hall is a refurbished old style hall that can accommodate about 100 people. The hall has a kitchen, piano, basic audiovisual, on-premise disability parking, and an accessible toilet.
About the Inala Civic or Community Centre (New Inala Hall)
The New Inala Civic or Community Centre is located on the corner of Corsair Avenue and Wirraway Parade. The new Inala Hall features include a kitchen, piano, basic audiovisual equipment, on-premise disability parking, and an accessible toilet. The hall can hold up to 150 people.
For any booking enquiry, you may fill out the online Community Halls booking enquiry form or call the Community Halls office on 07 3407 0811.
August 3rd was no ordinary day for Middle Park School as it was forced to close whilst its cleaning team complete their work disinfecting the school premises. The action was brought about by an extraordinary flu outbreak in the school which saw 182 students and 15 teachers down with Influenza.
Additionally, students with influenza-like symptoms were advised to stay at home until the symptoms had dissipated.
In her letter to the parents, Middle Park State School Principal Anne Kitchin explained that the school’s action was based on the recent outbreak of Influenza A and B in the school. “The Health Department has stressed the importance of keeping students home who have any influenza-like symptoms and their absence should continue until they have no influenza-like symptoms,” Principal Kitchin said.
She further added that the symptoms usually take five to seven days before they are gone but can be longer. “We urge parents to keep all students home tomorrow, Friday, 3 August. In response to the situation, we will have a cleaning team here to run additional shifts. If you are unable to provide care for your child there will be a small skeleton staff here,” she advised.
This year, the Queensland Health Department launched a free influenza vaccine program for children aged 6 months to less than 5 years.
“The initiative will expand on current program offered through the National Immunisation Program,” the Queensland Health Department stated on their website.
The Health Department further explained that children are at a high risk of contracting influenza and they contribute greatly to the spread of the disease in the community. Vaccination also protects the wider community through the reduction of circulating influenza strains.
About the School Immunisation Program (SIP)
Queensland’s School Immunisation Program provides free vaccinations for a range of diseases to Year 7 and Year 10 children through all the state and non-state secondary schools. The vaccines are available for free to registered providers that are implementing the immunisations.
Year 7 students who will miss any doses of vaccine at school may still receive their missing doses up to the end of the following year. After the specified time frame, vaccinations that were not completed will need to be purchased with a private prescription.
Additionally, adolescents not attending school and who would have normally been in Year 7 are also eligible for the vaccinations recommended by the National Immunisation Program Schedule.
It is important to note that to be entitled to the government’s Child Care Subsidy, your child must be immunized according to the NIP schedule. Should there be a missed vaccination shot, your child must be placed on a recognized and recorded in a catch-up schedule to still be entitled to the child care subsidy.
2018 Influenza Vaccination
Influenza vaccines are generally funded by the state and national influenza programs. The influenza programs aim to immunize all children from 6 months to less than 5 years of age.
Other individuals included in the program:
Further information about the influenza vaccination guidelines can be found at the Queensland Health Department website.
On 29 July, be part of the National Tree Day event as part of the Points To Peaks Festival this year in Middle Park.
Happening from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., this event promises to be a great way to give back to Mother Nature through tree planting. The event is hosted by Wilson and Centenary Catchments Inc and will be a commemoration of National Tree Day as well.
The event will be held at Wood Park and participants should wear enclosed shoes, pants, long sleeves, and a hat.
You will get free snacks and water at the event. Children can come as long as they have parental supervision.
The event will also provide gloves, tools, and other equipment needed for planting, and watering cans.
Peaks To Points Festival is a biennial event that celebrates the efforts of the government and the communities to care for their creek catchments along the southern side of the Brisbane River.
You can register here.
A plan to help ease the infamous traffic on the Centenary Motorway is finally coming together. Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey recently announced the allocation of an additional $16 million for a detailed business case on top of the $4 million budget that has already been earmarked for the project.
The State Government is planning for a second bridge to be built across the Brisbane River in Jindalee. This will help ease congestion and will allow for three lanes on the stretch of the highway. The project will also include bikeway upgrades and a longer merging lane.
The government’s action to ease congestion on the highway comes amidst widespread public clamor that the traffic situation has become untenable and will only likely get worse as the population in the area grows.
The project’s business case is expected to be finished by mid-2019. After this, the government will allocate capital funding for the project.
Last year, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that the government will spend $65 million to upgrade the highway. She said that her government is committed to fixing the traffic congestion.
Read: Centenary Highway To Get $65-Million Upgrade Within 12 Months
Read: Centenary Motorway Registers Slowest Traffic In The City
The Guinness world record for the most dogs walked has recently been broken by a Jindalee resident.
Professional dog trainer Maria Harman was able to grab the record by taking 36 dogs for a 1-kilometre walk, all at the same time.
Ms Harman’s plan was to originally walk 40 dogs. However, that didn’t go as planned. One dog didn’t like the grass, whilst the other one got tangled, and the others got stressed. This put her down to 36 and she was victorious.
She took 36 dogs in two straight lines down Wilson Creek Reserve making her the one deserving of this year’s Guinness world record.
Being in the pet industry, Ms Harman focuses on canine behaviour. It is also to her advantage that she knows the dogs very well as she had trained most of them.
In 2016, a man in Los Angeles attempted to snag the same world record by walking 45 dogs. Bob Morris, a professional dog walker who often walk four dogs and more at the same time, attempted to break the Guinness record that same year. However, things took a nasty turn when he overestimated himself and didn’t foresee the problems that occured.
Have a blast with your family at the Middle Park State School Fun Fair on 9 June from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
A great line-up of stalls and activities await. Children can pet animals at the petting zoo or discover wildlife on display. Pony rides will also be available as well as carnival rides such as Dodgem Cars, Miami Trip, and Storm.
It wouldn’t be complete without live entertainment all throughout the day. Performances include:
Kids will surely enjoy delicious classic fair food such as BBQ hamburgers, pizzas, popcorn, snow cones, fairy floss, ice cream and hot dogs. If you want something different, there will also be fresh sushi and Indian curry available.
Check out an array of classic cars at the event as well. You can also pose for a photo for the ‘gram.
Get a chance to win great prizes during the raffles.
This is a FREE event.
Address: Macfarlane Street, Middle Park QLD 4074 AU
West Brisbane artists now have a place in the west to showcase their artworks. In this part of Brisbane, creative souls are flourishing expressing their talents through various mediums of art.
The Art West Community Gallery in Mount Ommaney is the west’s gateway to the creative minds of its thriving art culture.
The gallery is located at the Mount Ommaney Shopping Centre and holds an array of local artworks. You can also meet the artists whilst you’re there.
They are open from Thursday to Saturday with varying schedules:
The gallery will also be celebrating its first anniversary on 21 June and everybody is invited to come. There will be new artworks, drinks, snacks, as well as live music and prizes from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
The gallery is dedicated to showcasing the works of local artists in the western suburbs of the city. It was established by Colin Williams following a number of community meetings he held to gain support and to bring his dream to fruition. The gallery also holds education and workshop facilities.
For the latest exhibitions and workshops, you can check their Facebook page to keep up-to-date.
Address: Mt Ommaney Shopping Centre (next to Kmart Tyre & Auto), 171 Dandenong Rd, Mount Ommaney QLD 4074
Kerbside Collection is coming to Jindalee on Monday, 28 May 2018 which means that it’s time to get organised.
Organising is probably one of the most daunting tasks especially if you have acquired tons of stuff over the years. Organising and decluttering are considered to be the first steps in living a happier life in a minimalist lifestyle.
Kerbside Collection is one of the best ways to get rid of large items lying around the house. It is particularly helpful for people wishing to switch to a minimalist way of living.
The idea is simple, own less and spend more time on things that matter while living comfortably in your home. Whilst the idea may be simple, it may be easier said than done.
Getting rid of things might be tough especially when you are surrounded by stuff that you have bought with your hard earned money. This is where The Minimalists comes in.
The Minimalists, founded by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, helps millions of people around the world live meaningful lives with less. The duo devised fun decluttering methods to help people jump-start their road to minimalism. These are the 30-Day Minimalism Game and the Packing Party.
Decluttering may be intimidating for some but this game makes it a fun experience. To start, find someone to play the game with, either a family member or a friend, who also want to get rid of their excess stuff.
In the first day of the month, each of you must get rid of one thing. On the second day, both of you must get rid of two things, followed by three on the third day and so on. You can get rid of anything from clothes, furniture, electronics, excess tools, etc.
You can choose to donate, sell, or throw away the things you have discarded as long as these things are out of your house by midnight each day.
It is easy in the first week but it gets more challenging as weeks come since you would need to get rid of more than a dozen things from your home each day. Whoever can keep the game going the longest wins.
If you decide to play the game, you can use the #MinsGame to share your story or follow other people’s journey.
This is quite an extreme method for decluttering and is very helpful if you are planning to move anytime soon. Whilst it is labour intensive since it requires a lot of preparation, it can be really effective if you practice it.
In this method, it would be great to have some friends over to help you pack all your stuff into boxes as if you’re moving. In the next few months, only take out those items that you use and after about three months, the items left inside the boxes should either be donated or sold.
This method can help you zero-in on what you truly need and help you decide on which stuff can go away. You are less likely to miss whatever is inside those boxes since, as they say, out of sight, out of mind.
Decluttering this way can help you save room when you are planning to move-in to a new home since you would only be left with the essentials.
These methods can be handy for those who require a bit of help in cleaning up their home from excess stuff. It is no surprise as to why the popularity of Minimalism is growing so fast around the world. In Brisbane alone, there are already 600+ people who are adopting this lifestyle.
If you want to get started on being a minimalist, check out the Minimalist.org: Brisbane Local Meetup Group on Facebook.
As part of the Australian Heritage Festival 2018, the newly created Wolston Farmhouse My Culture My Story Tour is set to bring its visitors back in time on Friday, 11 May 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. as they tour through the oldest surviving residential farmhouse in the district.
The tour, led by volunteer guides, explores the rich history of the nineteenth-century rural gem which dates back to the 1950s. Learn about how the Wolston Farmhouse transformed from pastoralism to agriculture and dairying and finally to heritage tourism.
Two tours will be held on 11 May 2018 starting at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with refreshments available for sale during the day.
Those who want to be a volunteer guide are encouraged to visit the Wolston Farmhouse during the event.
The Wolston Farmhouse was established by Dr Stephen Simpson in 1852. He built a horse and cattle station in the area and named the estate after his Warwickshire birthplace.
Stephen Simpson was an educated man. He was a doctor, Justice of the Peace, Police Magistrate, and later member of the first Legislative Council of Queensland.
Upon his return to England, the property was sold to Matthew Goggs in 1860. Goggs raised his family in the estate and continued to the tradition of breeding cattle and horses.
The property was purchased by the Grindle family who introduced the dairy business to Brisbane suburbs in 1906. The family had been the major supplier of milk in the area up to the 1930s.
In 1956, a farmer named Bert Hurley bought the Wolston Estate and finally sold it to the Queensland Government.
The National Trust of Australia (Queensland) acquired Wolston Farmhouse and the surrounding land from the Queensland Government in 1963. They are the ones who are responsible for the restoration of the Wolston Farmhouse which is now a popular tourist destination in Wacol.
As a celebration of the Australian Heritage Festival 2018, entry to the historic farmhouse is free on 11 May 2018.
