Forest Lake, Queensland
| Forest Lake Brisbane, Queensland |
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| Population: | 21,005 (2006 Census)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 4078 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 19 km (12 mi) from Brisbane GPO | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Brisbane | ||||||||||||
| State electorate: | Electoral district of Algester Electoral district of Inala |
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| Federal Division: | Division of Oxley | ||||||||||||
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Forest Lake was the first Master Planned Community within the municipality of Brisbane, Queensland. It has won numerous awards for its design and had a population of 20,900 residents, as of February 2006. Delfin, the developer of Forest Lake, was absorbed into Lend Lease in 2001. Now operating as Delfin Lend Lease, they are developing the adjacent Springfield Lakes Master Planned Community.
Forest Lake was considered instrumental in the creation of affordable housing within Australia. The development was the first modern day community to contain small lot product, a first during its time. The master planned community contained retail, commercial, educational, residential, retirement, and recreational uses. The entire community is linked by an extensive network of pedestrian and cycle paths, which are integrated into the large open space network.
Forest Lake lies within the Brisbane City Council municipality and is approximately 19 km from the Brisbane central business district. It adjoins the suburbs of Doolandella, Park Ridge and Algester. It successfully mixes wildlife with residential development.
The centrepiece of Forest Lake is an $8.9 million, 10.7 hectare recreational lake, with a perimeter of 2.7 km.
The Forest Lake Village Shopping Centre is located in Forest Lake.
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[edit] History
A homestead was built by Henry Farley in the late 1870s on a site that is now Homestead Park. It was a substantial building of two-stories and timber construction. In the 1930s it was destroyed by fire, although it has been said that termites caused a great deal of damage to the structure beforehand. In 1881 the homestead and surrounding property were purchased by Michael' Stumpy' Durack. The surrounding area became part of "Archerfield Station".
During World War II, the Forest Lake area was used as an encampment by American soldiers.
In 1990, construction of the master planned community commenced by Delfin Lend Lease. In 1991, Forest Lake was officially launched by the then Premier of Queensland, Wayne Goss. The development lasted until 2006, when the last block of land was sold.
The master planned community which was created by Delfin Lend Lease was so successful, that in the latter years of the development, up to 40% of new homes sold were purchased by existing residents. (David Keir, Project Director 1996-2000)
[edit] The Lake
- Area: 10.9 hectares
- Perimeter: 2.7 kilometres
- Depth: 2.6 metres on average (300 – 600 mm around the safety ledge, deepening to 4 metres in the centre)
- Surroundings: 3.5 kilometres of pedestrian and cycleways; 8 hectares of adjacent parkland
- Volume: 310,000 cubic metres or 269 Olympic Swimming Pools
- Total Cost: $6.7 million for the lake's construction, stilling basins and adjacent parkland. $1.8 million for the dam wall, outlet structure and Boulevard embankment.
- Man Made
[edit] Algae Issues
It was discovered in 2011 that the Lake was infected with a toxic algae. The government immediately began to search into this, and worked hard to remove the infection from the water.
[edit] Awards
- 1991 - Royal Australian Planning Institute (QLD): Award for Excellence in Planning
- 1991 - Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management: Annual Award - Homestead Village Design
- 1992 - Queensland Association of Landscape Industries: 1st Prize (Commercial One Landscaping) - Forest Lake Sales and Information Centre
- 1994 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Award for Excellence - Marketing
- 1994 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Award for Excellence - Urban Design
- 1995 - Case Easrth Awards Queensland: Category Two Award - Forest Lake
- 1995 - Case Easrth Awards Queensland: Category Three Award - Forest Lake
- 1996 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Awards for Excellence - Environment
- 1996 - Institute of Engineers (QLD): Engineering Excellence Award - Environment
- 1998 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Awards for Excellence - Premier Award
- 1999 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: National Awards for Excellence - Community Creation
- 2000 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Awards for Excellence - Community Creation
- 2002 - Urban Development Institute of Australia: Queensland Awards for Excellence - Master Planned Community
[edit] Sport
There are an abundance of sporting complexes and beautiful fields around the suburb. Sports include: AFL, rugby union, netball, baseball, basketball, tennis, swimming, water polo, triathlon, cricket and athletics.
[edit] Education
There are 4 schools in the suburb of Forest Lake
- Forest Lake Primary School
- Grand Avenue Primary School
- Forest Lake High School
- Forest Lake College (Alpine Place and College Avenue Campuses)
[edit] References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Forest Lake (Brisbane City) (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=SSC31223&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 27°37′S 152°58′E / 27.617°S 152.967°E
