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HOYTS Named Flagship Cinema for Nicholas Street Precinct

The redeveloped Nicholas Street Precinct will soon have a state-of-the-art cinema with six screens and power recliner seats after securing HOYTS as its newest tenant.

Dubbed “one of the world’s leading entertainment corporations,” the movie company will be established at the Venue Building and open in late 2023, offering more than 90 jobs.

The site was formerly occupied by Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, which shut down in mid-2019 due to the “declining retail environment” and the redevelopment of the precinct.

HOYTS Nicholas St Precint — Photo Credit: Google Maps

“Activating the cinema site is critical to the precinct’s success, which is why Council has endorsed additional investment to deliver this important piece of the puzzle,” Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said.

“The total boost to the local economy from the Nicholas Street Precinct is expected to total $1.196 billion between 2020 and 2032, so in the long-term, this is a great outcome for the city.

“The opening of the cinema will be a huge step forward in reinvigorating this area by providing an anchor tenant that will not only bring additional people to the Nicholas Street Precinct but will also create local employment and have a positive economic and social impact on the surrounding areas.”

Location IQ, a property economics consultancy, produced a report indicating Ipswich has an undersupply of cinema venues.

However, the operator of Limelight Cinemas nearby has opened a petition to stop Ipswich City Council’s plan to bring a “foreign mega-conglomerate to operate these cinemas, in direct competition with existing local operators.” The petition has since garnered more than 2,000 signatures.

Leda Holdings Chairman Bob Ell, who owns the said boutique arts-style cinema just 500 metres away from the Venues Building, said that while he supports the rejuvenation of the precinct, he believes Council should have invested in providing office spaces for companies and government departments instead of more retail and lifestyle tenants.

Optus Plans to Install 5G Telecommunications Facility on Springfield Lakes Boulevard

Telecommunications giant, Optus, has submitted plans to install a 5G telecommunications facility in Springfield Lakes to meet the rising demand for faster internet as more people work or study at home.

Under the proposal (DA 6935/2022/MCU) filed in July 2022, Optus plans to install a 10m monopole with a 5m turret mount and six-panel antennas, 12 Remote Radio Units and ancillary equipment. The site in contention for the 5G telecommunications facility is within the parking area on 18 Springfield Lakes Boulevard.

“A thorough analysis of potential sites was done during the initial investigation, which included factors such as the ability to meet the required coverage and technical objectives, landowner interest, opportunities for co-location, the surrounding landscape and community needs,” Jessica Bradbury, the senior town planner wrote in the proposal.

“Based on this assessment, Optus determined that the above address would be the most appropriate location to establish a facility to provide mobile voice and data coverage to Springfield Lakes area.”

5g telecommunications facility — Photo Credit: Development Application 6935/2022/MCU

However, Tom Foote, Ipswich City Council’s development assessment manager, wrote Ms Bradbury on 5 Aug 2022 to withdraw the application and resubmit a new proposal to comply with section 51 of the Planning Act 2016, among other issues with the chosen location.

“It is recommended that the applicant withdraw the current application and lodge an application for an Area Development Plan to nominate the land for a Public Utility and permit the development of a Public Utility.”

“The applicant is encouraged to liaise with Council with respect to withdrawing the current application and lodging a new application for the proposed use pursuant to the Springfield Structure Plan.”

The town planner has heeded the advice and has yet to submit a new DA within 20 days.

Environmentalists Challenge Development of Luxe Retirement Eco-Village Abadi Gaia in Goodna

Abadi Gaia, a planned development consisting of a luxe retirement eco-village and aged care facility across five hectares of bushland in Goodna, has been met with strong objections from locals and environmentalists.

PGS Invest Pty Ltd lodged the development application (DA 11756/2021/MCU) with the City of Ipswich for Abadi Gaia, which means “Mother Earth,” in July 2021. Its approval is still under review following a public notification from May to June 2022.

Billed as the “world’s best-designed eco-retirement village,” Abadi Gaia will comprise 189 independent living units and a dementia facility with 81 beds and 15 special disability units. The facility will also have a hub and piazza precinct with restaurants and community venues, like a gym, sauna, business centre, and library.

“Abadi Gaia Adult Residential Village is an active resort retirement, aged care & dementia and SDA facility in keeping with, and enhancing the environmental attributes of the site, presenting a quality in design concept and build intended as a hallmark in retirement excellence, offering benefits not only to residents and tenants but also serving the greater community,” the company said.

However, the location of the residential village is also along a passageway for the endangered koalas. Members of the Bellbird Park Preservation Group said that the development would impact the animals navigating through the bushlands.

“This site represents a critically important linkage role as part of a Koala Corridor stretching from Ric Nattrass Environmental Park, through to the Church Street Reserve, and further on to the Redbank Rifle Range. These sites are within the Redbank Urban Consolidated Area as defined within ICC’s 2017 Koala Conservation and Habitat Management Plan,” Terry Winston of the preservation group said.

“The proposed development will have a detrimental impact by restricting the Koala movement trying to navigate through a Corridor that not only runs parallel to the High Voltage Transmission Power Lines, but has a minimal width varying from 45 metres (narrowest) to 51 metres.

“The fact that over 1,700 Non-Juvenile Koala Habitat Trees will be cleared as a result of this proposed development is not justifiable in this set of circumstances.”

However, Adam Slijderink, the head of PGS, believes that the multi-million dollar development will improve the koala habitat as provisions have been included to add more trees in the area.

Prior to submitting the development application, the PGS team reviewed environmental reports from 2007 to current to know the risks to wildlife. As he understands it, koalas have not been using the corridor for years due to a lack of vegetation, and their project will fix this gap.

Mr Slijderink, a globally recognised builder, is also an environmental specialist, who is dealing with his own health and disability concerns and is expecting his health to deteriorate in the next five years. Thus, he understands the need for such a specialized facility in Ipswich.

The preservation group, however, said that tree replanting will not be enough as endangered species do not have enough time to wait for the trees to grow. They are hoping that the Council will also buy part of the bushland and work with the developer to completely rehabilitate the surrounding.

Brisbane Lions’ New Home Christened As Brighton Homes Arena

Brisbane Lions’ new home in Springfield is anticipated to open in 2022, and it will go by the name Brighton Homes Arena.

Read: Springfield Lakes Property Market Continues to Surpass Previous Records

The Brighton Homes Arena, which will also be called Springfield Central Stadium will feature a $70-million high-performance training and support centre and an adjoining sport and leisure hub that’s expected to cost $100 million.

The name Brighton Homes Arena will be used for commercial purposes, taken after the Lions’ official partner, Brighton Homes.

brisbane lions new hq — Photo credit: lions.com.au

It will accommodate up to 10,000 spectators for major sports matches and community events. A grandstand, seating over 600 spectators, will include technical infrastructure to support the broadcasting of major events.

Currently undergoing construction, the arena will also play host to the club’s AFL Women’s home matches. It’s expected to become Queensland’s best sports training complex and the first purpose-built arena to showcase women’s football in Australia.

To meet the audience’s expectations in terms of comfort and accessibility, the facility will have pedestrian concourses, seating, shade and catering facilities.

It will be home to the Lions’ Hyundai Help For Kids Academy, community education and meeting spaces, a café and aquatic facilities.

Also part of the project is a new multi-storey car park, located adjacent to the arena, that will provide more than 1,000 car parks for rail commuters on weekdays and for attendees of major arena events.

brighton homes — Photo credit: lions.com.au

“Community sports matches will be played on the main oval as scheduling permits, with infrastructure to support community use to be built underneath the grandstand. The arena will also be suitable to stage non-sporting events including festivals and community gatherings,” the Brisbane Lions announced.

Based on the timeline for the project, works are expected to be complete this September, with the Lions planning to move into their new facility in late 2022.

Intervention Initiative Helps African-Australian Youths Reconnect With Their Community and Culture

Photo Credit: Lance McCallum MP / Facebook

Established last year by the Queensland African Communities Council, the African Youth Support Council has been actively involved in reconnecting African-Australian youths with their culture and communities through mentoring, life skill workshops and more.

The African Youth Centre opened in Redbank Plains in 2021 as an intervention and rehabilitation initiative to help disengaged African Australian youth in detention. Their program has since expanded to include youths in schools to help mitigate the rising number of juvenile offenders.

By providing an environment where youths feel a sense of belonging without feeling judged and discover their own identity and re-engage with their culture, the program hopes to build trust for service providers and divert them from a life of crime.

“When I came to the leadership of the Queensland African Communities Council, issues I identified with young people were around crime, disengagement and issues around parenting and engagement with the schools and the system in general,” Beny Bol, President of the Queensland African Communities Council said.

He said that being born or coming to Australia at a very young age, many of these African-Australian youths are often confused and don’t feel connected to their culture and Australian community thus they engage in antisocial behaviour.

“I realised most of our young people in the African community are going through an identity crisis, because they probably were born in Australia, or came here when they were relatively younger but have a different cultural background, so in order to come up with a strategy to solve these problems, you have to think of something that is different from what you would deliver with a mainstream service program.

At the heart of the program are youth mentors who run intervention and rehabilitation programs across Ipswich, Brisbane and Logan. Mr Bol believes that a way to help solve social issues that youths face is to empower them and put them into leadership roles.

“I identified some leading young people in our community and I challenged them. “ I said, ‘This is your problem, so you must take the lead, and I will advocate for you, support you and help you look for the resources’.

“We observed young people would listen to other young people, so the best way to turn things around and engage them was to empower them in these leadership roles.”

QACC is already eyeing an expansion and is seeking funding to establish two new centres to help more African-Australian youths who are at risk or who are already engaged in antisocial and criminal behaviour.

Springfield Lakes Property Market Continues to Surpass Previous Records

Despite the pandemic’s impact on many property markets, April 2021 to March 2022 has been quite a lucrative period for many investors in the Springfield Lakes property market, where home values have continued to surpass previous records.

Springfield Lakes House Price Growth

Figures from Property Market Updates for the period of April 2021 to March 2022 show that house prices in Springfield Lakes tracked a robust growth at 27.68 per cent. Home values have risen to a $565,000 median price compared to $442,500 last year.

Some 671 homes were sold for this period within an average of 23 days, reflecting a busy and active market. Four-bedroom homes were very popular with investors, accounting for 435 completed transactions.

Springfield Lakes Unit Price Growth

On the other hand, unit prices for Springfield Lakes have tracked a slow but steady pace from April 2021 to March 2022. The median price for apartments is now at $442,900 with just a fragment of growth at 2.07 per cent compared to the previous period.

Only 119 units were acquired during this period, which was up the market for an average of 46 days. Because of the minimal price difference between houses and units, buyers are more likely to invest in a house than live in an apartment. Unit dwellers wouldn’t be hard-pressed to upgrade as well.

Springfield Lakes Property Market Post-Flooding

Despite the devastating February 2022 floods, impacted suburbs in Brisbane have shown high resilience. It took Springfield Lakes and other Brisbane suburbs three years to recover from the 2011 flooding, amidst the dwindling confidence in the market.

However, more growth is projected in the next few months after the 2022 flooding. In fact, Springfield Lakes’ property market grew to 31 per cent between 2011 and 2022. The suburb continues to attract investors due to its growth potential.

Suburbs all across Brisbane haven’t seen a decrease in house prices for over a year, despite the calamity. Industry experts forecast a continuation of the favourable conditions smaller Australian cities have enjoyed due to affordability, heightened demand but low stock, and interstate migration.

The growth will be supported by heaps of infrastructure projects in the coming years leading up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. The $1.8 billion South East Queensland City Deal will usher in the construction of a handful of train stations in residential growth areas in Springfield and Ipswich.

“The area is very well planned, and has a great community spirit – there is always plenty to do and people to meet. There are a lot of plans for the future of the area too, which is promising and in terms of accessibility to the city, trains will be going to the area very soon and other transport is already in place if you don’t want to deal with CBD traffic.”
Em

“It is a FANTASTIC community. Very family orientated with great schools and childcare. People are just friendly here when you go walking around the lakes – and plenty of parks (the water park is wonderful for younger children). You will not regret living here.”
Happy

Ipswich Children’s Library Recognised for Excellence in Innovation at LGMA Awards

The Ipswich Children’s Library has been recognised for innovation for a second time at the recent Local Government Managers Australia Awards for Excellence in Queensland.

Celebrating the outstanding work of local governments in the region, the LGMA Awards for Excellence, now in its 12th year, was presented at the end of May 2022 after pausing for a year due to the pandemic.

“We are thrilled that the team’s innovation with Australia’s only dedicated stand-alone children’s library has been recognised and is a great realisation of council’s vision to deliver innovative services to the community,” said Community, Culture, Arts and Sport Committee Chairperson Councillor Andrew Fechner of the recognition.

Photo Credit: Ipswich Libraries/Facebook

Mr Fechner also said that the real winners are the residents of Ipswich, who will benefit from the revitalised Nicholas Street Precinct, where the library stands in its purpose-designed space.

“In 2021 Ipswich Libraries also went on to win the next level – the LG Professionals Australia National Award for Innovative Management Initiative,” Mr Fechner added.

“We support the talented team at Ipswich Libraries as they again compete on the national stage and know that they already bring pride to our wonderful city.”

Aside from Ipswich Children’s Library, also recognized for excellence were:

AWARD	COUNCIL	PROJECT
Workplace Wellbeing	Sunshine Coast Council	Zero Lost Time Injuries in Civil Construction
Community Shaping	Western Downs Regional Council	Wandoan Soldier Settler Scheme
Sustainability	City of Logan	Net Zero and Next Gen Climate Resilient Council
Collaboration	Balonne Shire Council	The Hub
Teamwork	Redland City Council	Light Touch Service Reviews
Doing More with Less	Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council	AI Material Recovery Facility
Above and Beyond	City of Logan	Sebastien Martin

D Star Restaurant, A New Dining Destination, Opens In Springfield Lakes

Springfield Lakes’ latest dining destination, D Star Restaurant, has just opened its doors on the ground floor level of the Springfield Lakes Hotel.

Read: New Owners Prepare to Reopen the ‘Haunted’ Rosewood Hotel near Ipswich

The restaurant, which boasts a diverse menu of pastas, and classic Italian entrees, is run by husband-and-wife duo Shivani Dutta and Deepak Kumar. Mr Kumar, a chef, runs the kitchen, whilst Ms Dutta takes care of the service and the customers’ needs.

A sneak peek of their menu items includes the Potter House chicken burger (a homestyle marinated chicken with red cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic aoili, chips and garnish), the Pork Belly apple feed (succulent pork belly crunchy and crackling with baked veggies), the Ravioli Pomodoro (spinach and goat cheese stuffed in Ravioli pasta, with olive and Napolitana sauce)

A must-not-miss for first-time diners is the healthy daily special, the Steak Salmon, served with a generous serving of vegetables on the side.

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A post shared by DStar Dsg (@dstar.resturant)

Everyone will also love the appealing and appetizing handmade pancakes or waffles — best for sharing a hearty breakfast with family or friends.

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A post shared by DStar Dsg (@dstar.resturant)

CHECK THE FULL MENU

Aside from serving European dishes at the bar and grill, D Star Restaurant also functions as a cafe, serving hot drinks and a breakfast menu that includes the classics such as pancakes, omelettes, and benedicts.

Photo credit: DStar Cafe, Bar and Grill/Facebook

The idea for D Star Restaurant is to offer ‘tasty food at a reasonable price,’ with the couple dreaming of turning the place into a warm and welcoming place.

They just launched a special burger menu, which proudly uses natural ingredients and does not use artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

If it’s the drinks that you’re after, you’ll be glad to know that they have many alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, ranging from cocktails and vodka to mocktails and beer.

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A post shared by DStar Dsg (@dstar.resturant)

D Star Restaurant is open daily except on Tuesdays and is currently taking reservations and orders for takeaway on its website. You can follow them on their social media pages for more information.

Facebook: DStar Cafe, Bar and Grill

Instagram: @dstar.resturant

Very friendly service and great coffee. The brownie dessert is absolutely divine. Would also recommend the Malteaser milkshake. Jackie the very sweet resident border collie keeping watch from the foyer of the hotel/entrance to the cafe is just the icing on the cake!
Hayley

What a great place to eat, food was amazing and the staff couldn’t be friendly enough. I had a steak and it was just how I wanted it and every meal that I looked at going to other tables were amazing. Definitely worth checking out.
Northeast Drone Productions

Soooo yummy, Bosceola, great serving size and super tasty! Love the relaxing solo singer, Casey Fogg. Lovely date night dinner.
Lisa

Multi-Storey Mega Park ‘n’ Ride Now Serving Springfield Central Commuters

Commuters at the Springfield Central Station may now enjoy more convenience following the opening of the multi-storey mega Park ‘n’ Ride that can accommodate at least 1,100 customers.

The $44.5 million investment has more than doubled the previous car parking available at the station, which boasts five levels. This means more commuters may now park and then take public transportation to get to their appointments.

The said investment is also expected to ease traffic congestion as Springfield continues to grow as commuters will be on more trains and buses whilst their car is safely parked at the facility.

“This new, multi-storey park ‘n’ ride has sustainable and innovative design features such as recycled aluminium in the building façade and the ability to accommodate another parking level in the future if required,” Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said.

“In addition to elevator access and CCTV within the facility, 24 sheltered parking spaces for people with a disability have been created in the existing park ‘n’ ride closer to the station off Sir Llew Edwards Drive.”

Member for Jordan Charis Mullen also welcomed the opening of the Springfield Central Station Park ‘n’ Ride as it will remove illegal parking around the station.

“With this volume of spaces available, I hope to see even more people through our community take advantage of the convenience of public transport for their travel,” Ms Mullen said.

“Access to the station has also been improved through a new signalised pedestrian crossing providing customers access across the Springfield Greenbank Arterial.

“The new multi-level facility will bring the total number of spaces to around 1100 across the precinct, and will make a big difference in the everyday lives of commuters in Springfield and beyond.”

New Owners Prepare to Reopen the ‘Haunted’ Rosewood Hotel near Ipswich

Not even rumours of ghosts and hauntings can dissuade the new owners of the Rosewood Hotel, located west of Ipswich, from an extensive renovation and reopening.

Luke and Lynette Chalmers are intent on revitalising the hotel, also known as the Middle Pub, more than six years after it was shut down.

However, they have admitted to some spooky small encounters with the paranormal whilst been doing extensive renovations.

The Chalmers were aware of the hotel’s reputation when they bought the property from its previous owners, David Pahlke and Carol Moore. Luke and Lynette said, however, ended up falling in love with the historical place despite the stories they’ve learned from Carol.

Though none of the ghostly encounters may qualify as horrific, the former owners said they often found odd things like losing items, furniture getting rearranged, or hearing piano music when there was no piano at the hotel.

Luke said that when they visited the place to check, he thought he spotted someone at the corner of his eye by the flight of stairs. Luke’s father felt someone tapping on his shoulder.

Standing on a 2,418-square-metre block, the Rosewood Hotel was a family hotel with 11 bedrooms and four bathrooms. Originally constructed in 1870, it was one of four buildings in the area during its early days.

However, in 1912, the hotel completely burned down and was reconstructed. Apparently, some of its previous occupants never left. One was dubbed the “water ghost” for allegedly causing water to overflow at the veranda.

Over decades, clairvoyants and paranormal investigators have been to the hotel. They said that there are at least two spectres hanging around the place, a red-haired Scotsman and a spirit with a sad streak.

The Chalmers, who helped with the refurbishment of Collins Place as the Little Big House in South Bank, have yet to detail what changes or refurbishments they are doing to the property but this site has a lot of potential given its location in the suburb’s main retail strip. They do plan on offering meals using quality local produce and live music.

The renovations are expected to finish in four months. They are eyeing an August 2022 opening.