With a projected completion in 2019, work is underway to complete the Cannon Hill Community Links project which will remediate and re-develop an old Council tip.
The end result is expected to include a new public golf course, conservation areas and new housing on the total 125 hectares of land between Creek Road, Fursden Road and Bulimba Creek.
The project is being guided by a partnership between Brisbane City Council and development company BMD, which was formed after a tender process that began in 1998.
History Of The Site
About 11 hectares of the area for the project was once the Cannon Hill tip. It operated between 1974 and 1977 and accepted waste from domestic, commercial, industrial and construction/demolition areas.
The tip was capped with soil when it reached capacity, as per standard requirements in 1977. While it was determined that it would not pose a threat to the public’s or the environment’s health, rain water would often find its way through the tip resulting in leachate beneath the waste.
First Steps – Remediation
In order for Cannon Hill’s new community project to become a reality, Brisbane City Council and BDM underwent a remediation process for the old 11 hectare tip site.
The work began in May 2015 and finished in July 2016, and in that time the remediation work involved removing leachate and approximately 30,000 cubic metres of waste material. The waste material was then disposed of at a managed waste facility so as to provide long term environmental benefits for the site and to meet the engineering and construction requirements of the golf course.
Permanent leachate gathering systems were installed to capture leachate and pump it to sumps to be collected and removed from the site, which was not required when the tip was closed in 1977.
A fact sheet on the project also stated that BMD was to install a new cap of compacted clay to reduce the amount of water entering the waste material that will remain beneath the completed golf course.
Golf Course
BMD is using a part of the 125 hectare site to construct a public 18 hole public golf course of ‘championship length’. The course will be the only one of its kind south of the Brisbane River and the first public golf course built in Brisbane for 70 years.
The development of the course will also factor in golfing facilities including a golf pro shop, cafe, change rooms for players and administration facilities.
Expressions of Interest will be called for in the near future for those who wish to operate the completed golf course.
BMD is taking a ‘green’ approach with the construction of the golf course, opting to use saltwater couch grass to minimise the need for herbicides and pesticides. They also plan to improve existing drains and build five small and medium sized lakes to provide water for the golf course and to filter stormwater from the upstream catchment prior to discharge to Bulimba Creek.
New Housing
Around 12.5 hectares of the total land is allocated for new housing developments adjacent to Creek Road and north of the existing houses on Foxmont Drive, Kennet Place and Windrush Street.
The housing area will include 124 individual housing lots between 450m2 and 1,200m2, with room left to incorporate three medium density sites for units or townhouses. These dwellings will also have direct access to the golf course, when completed.
A Greener Outlook
The intended outcome, according to the information supplied by Brisbane City Council, is for the Cannon Hill development not to become a concrete jungle of urban sprawl. While the project site has been cleared and logged and has been degraded by decades of use as grazing land for cattle and horses, BMD have laid down a commitment to enhance, revegetate and landscape over 100 hectares of the site. This will involve establishing grasslands and wetlands and planting new tress and vegetation over 60 hectares to support the local squirrel glider habitat. The golf course will also get the green treatment with landscaping and vegetation plans allocated to 33 hectares of the public space. Approximately 75,000 native trees and shrubs will be planted as part of the project’s Regeneration and Revegetation Plan.
The project’s next phase is to construct stages two, three and four of the residential precinct. It is expected to start in late 2016 and to be completed by late 2017. Construction of the golf course will commence in 2017 and the final stages of residential construction is expected to start and finish in 2019.