Redcliffe City, Queensland
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| Redcliffe Queensland |
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 Redcliffe Peninsula showing suburban boundaries |
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| Population: | 51,174 (2006 Census) |
| • Density: | 1343.1/km² (3478.6/sq mi) |
| Established: | 1824 |
| Area: | 38.1 km² (14.7 sq mi) |
| Time zone: | AEST (UTC+10) |
| Property Value: | AUD $330,000[1] |
| Location: | 23 km (14 mi) from Brisbane CBD |
| Region: | South East Queensland |
| State District: | Redcliffe, Murrumba |
| Federal Division: | Petrie |
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Redcliffe City is a municipal location north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Also known as "the Redcliffe Peninsula", the area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Redcliffe, Rothwell, Scarborough and Woody Point.
Rich in natural resources with many sandy beaches and picturesque parks, Redcliffe is enjoyed by many people seeking a place to relax, and is home to over 51,000 residents over its total area of 38.1 km². The peninsula is relatively flat with few areas rising more than 20 metres above sea level.
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[edit] History
Redcliffe holds the distinction of being the first European settlement in Queensland.
The area was first visited by Matthew Flinders on 17 July 1799.[2] Flinders explored the Moreton Bay area and landed at 10:30 a.m. at a location he called "Red Cliff Point",[3] after the red-coloured cliffs visible from the bay, today called Woody Point.
In 1823, the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane, instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored the Moreton Bay area. Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore.[3]
The settlement, along the banks of what is now called Humpybong Creek in the Redcliffe central business district, consisted of small, temporary dwellings with gardens and vegetables planted. However the lack of a reliable water supply, attacks by Aboriginal people, large mosquito numbers, and insufficient facilities for safe anchorage[2] meant that the settlement needed to be moved after eight months.[4] The settlement relocated to the banks of the Brisbane River at North Quay, 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) south. Redcliffe was then abandoned, with just a small number of dwellings remaining. Local Aboriginal people called these empty buildings "oompie bongs", anglicised to mean, in reverse, 'dead house', and the name was given to the entire Redcliffe peninsula.
The area was designated as an agricultural reserve in the 1860s, and residential development began in the 1880s. The population grew significantly after 1935 when the Hornibrook Bridge was opened; the two lane, 2.8 kilometres (1.7 mi) bridge crossed Bramble Bay and linked the peninsula with a more direct route to Brisbane. A replacement three lane bridge, the Houghton Highway, opened in 1979.
Redcliffe was proclaimed a city in 1959[2] when Princess Alexandra visited with a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth II.[5]
In 2007 the Queensland Government's Local Government Reform Commission announced that Redcliffe would be amalgamated into the adjoining Pine Rivers and Caboolture shires to form the Moreton Bay Regional Council.
[edit] Population
Redcliffe's population is 51,174[6] with a female skew. The 2006 Census showed that Redcliffe's population of indigenous origins was 1.9% (2.0% 2001 Census), 27.2% (19.9%) were born overseas, and 5.1% (4.7%) of the population speaks a language other than English at home.
| Male | Female | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total persons excluding overseas visitors |
24,535 | 26,639 | 51,174 |
| Aged 15 years and over | 19,795 | 22,275 | 42,070 |
| Aged 65 years and over | 4,109 | 5,694 | 9,803 |
| Indigenous | 510 | 507 | 1,017 |
| Aged 18 years and over | 270 | 309 | 579 |
| Born in Australia | 18,032 | 19,612 | 37,644 |
| Born overseas Includes 'Inadequately described', 'At sea', and 'Not elsewhere classified' |
4,912 | 5,340 | 10,252 |
| Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[6] | |||
[edit] Economy
The major economic sectors of Redcliffe are retail trade, construction trades, medical and community services, and property and business services, followed by automotive, manufacturing, and cafés, hotels, restaurants and takeaways.[7] Fishing and prawning are the principal primary industries, with mostly light industries located at Clontarf and Kippa-Ring.
Tourism is an important industry to the area with approximately 1.2 million tourists visiting each year.[8] This focus on tourism has existed since the late 1800s when people came by boat to enjoy its safe, sheltered and sandy beaches.
The major shopping areas are the Redcliffe Seaside Village, Peninsula Fair and Kippa-Ring Village, Margate Village, Scarborough Seaside Village, Woody Point Village and The Zone at Rothwell.
[edit] Climate
Redcliffe has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification system, with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. Thunderstorms are regular events from late Spring to early Autumn in the late afternoon to early evening. The more severe storms are accompanied by damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds, however as most storms travel in a north-east direction from past Ipswich then over greater Brisbane, they often lose strength by the time they arrive to Redcliffe.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily maximum temperature (°C) | 29.0 | 28.5 | 27.7 | 25.6 | 23.3 | 21.2 | 20.6 | 21.4 | 24.1 | 25.3 | 26.6 | 28.0 | 25.1 | |
| Mean daily minimum temperature (°C) | 21.9 | 21.6 | 20.2 | 17.7 | 14.9 | 11.6 | 10.6 | 11.1 | 14.1 | 16.5 | 18.7 | 20.7 | 16.6 | |
| Mean monthly rainfall (mm) | 111.6 | 160.9 | 126.8 | 124.4 | 89.0 | 59.9 | 51.3 | 39.7 | 30.2 | 70.5 | 101.6 | 117.8 | 1064.1 | |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology[9] | ||||||||||||||
[edit] Landmarks
There are a number of landmarks located in Redcliffe, such as the Redcliffe Jetty, Settlement Cove Lagoon, Suttons and Margate Beaches, Scarborough Beach Park, Redcliffe Museum, MacDonnell Road water tower, Woody Point Jetty, HMQS Gayundah shipwreck, and the heritage-listed Hornibrook Bridge.
[edit] Moreton Bay
Redcliffe City acts as a service centre for the Moreton Bay island communities, a tourist hub for the bay, and base of operations for local fishing and the seafood industry. From Redcliffe visitors can access Moreton Island via the Combie Trader vehicle and passenger ferry, Deception Bay waters, Bramble Bay, Hays Inlet and Pine River leading to North and South Pine Rivers. The major marina in Redcliffe is Scarborough Marina, located in the Scarborough Boat Harbour, at the northern tip of the Peninsula; Newport Waterways Marina is nearby.
[edit] Sport, recreation and events
A seaside location with 22km of coastline, Redcliffe has a high emphasis on sport and recreation. More than 35km of dedicated bikeways surround the peninsula, and local sporting clubs include baseball, croquet, golf, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, softball, tennis and touch football. Scouting and Guiding groups are also in Redcliffe.
Most weekends free-fall tandem skydivers can be seen dropping from 14,000 ft (4300 m), landing onto Suttons Beach. The operator uses a twin engine aircraft, holding up to ten people, that departs from local Redcliffe Airport.
Kite flying with the Queensland Kite Flyers Society is a popular fortnightly event, held every second and fourth Sunday of every month at Pelican Park on Hornibrook Esplanade, Clontarf. Each May the council hosts a large kite-flying event called Kitefest.
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a successful rugby league team that competes in the Queensland Cup. The team's grounds is Dolphin Oval in Kippa-Ring.
Peninsula Power Football Club is a football (soccer) club in Redcliffe. Formed in 2000 from a merger between Margate and Redcliffe Soccer Clubs, the team competes in the Brisbane Premier League.
To celebrate the start of the Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race, the Festival of Sails event is held on Good Friday every year. Hosted at Suttons Beach, more than 25,000 visitors attend this seaside carnival.
In September, Redcliffe celebrates its history and status as Queensland's first European settlement location with the annual First Settlement Festival. The festival commences with breakfast and continues with live music and entertainment, markets, and the re-enactment of Queensland's first European landing at the jetty, Redcliffe Parade.
There is a PCYC (Police Citizens Youth Club), that provides a wide range of recreational sports including Squash, Tennis, Swimming, Dragon Boat Rowing, Gymnastics, Bodybuilding, etc. There is also an excellent bike track that teaches road safety to children; it provides hours of family fun.
[edit] Transport
Bus public transport is provided by local company Hornibrook Bus Lines. Services include local routes within the city area, to the Brisbane central business district via Pine Rivers Shire and Petrie railway station, to Sandgate railway station via Brighton with connecting QR Citytrain services to Brisbane, and a weekday direct Cityxpress service with limited stopping. Kangaroo Bus Lines provides a connection from Redcliffe to Caboolture via Deception Bay and Morayfield.
Road taxi services are provided by Redcliffe Taxi Service.
A heavy rail Citytrain passenger service to Redcliffe has been promised for many years, and the route featured as a "Proposed Railway" in street directories since the 1980s[1]. The corridor has been purchased and is preserved for future use, with works such as the Rothwell to Kippa-Ring bus priority project developed instead.[10]
The Redcliffe Airport is an aerodrome straddling the Kippa-Ring and Rothwell suburb boundaries, just south of the Deception Bay inlet from Moreton Bay. With an 853 m runway (07/25), it is owned and operated by the Redcliffe City Council. The Redcliffe Aero Club is based at the airport and provides pilot training, aircraft hire and charter services.
[edit] Local media
Redcliffe has a weekly local newspaper, the Redcliffe and Bayside Herald, a Quest Community Newspapers masthead owned by News Corporation. Another local news source is community website redcliffecity.com.au, developed by local woman Lynda Roberts of The Redcliffe City News Pty Ltd, supplemented with a limited distribution of a paper publication via local businesses.
Community radio station 99 Seven is based in Redcliffe and covers the city and surrounding Pine Rivers and northern Brisbane suburbs. The station, founded in 1986, broadcasts on the 99.7 MHz FM frequency (4RED) and offers a broad range of genres in programming and music.
[edit] Notable people from Redcliffe
Redcliffe is the former home of the Bee Gees who have since described the area as "paradise".[citation needed] Actors William McInnes, Nikki Osborne, and poet Rupert McCall also come from Redcliffe. The film Swimming Upstream starring Geoffrey Rush used the Redcliffe War Memorial Pool as one of its locations, and parts of the movie Scooby-Doo were filmed at Queens Beach in Scarborough.
Redcliffe has a high number of Olympic Games athletes from its relatively small population, including swimmers Leisel Jones, Geoff Huegill, Jessicah Schipper and Tarnee White who trained in Scarborough under coach Ken Wood.
Rugby league players Travis Norton, Petero Civoniceva, Brent Tate, Michael Crocker, Adam Mogg and Arthur Beetson were either born in Redcliffe or started their sporting careers from playing here.
[edit] Photographs
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[edit] Sister cities
The City of Redcliffe, through the Redcliffe City Council, has two Sister City arrangements:[11]
[edit] References
- ^ "Property – What your house is worth (liftout)", Real Estate Institute of Queensland median house prices, The Sunday Mail, 2007-09-09, pp. 7.
- ^ a b c "Redcliffe", Travel, The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 February 2004. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
- ^ a b Potter, Ron. Place Names of South East Queensland. Piula Publications. Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
- ^ Exhibitions at Redcliffe Museum. Redcliffe City Council (2005). Retrieved on 2008-05-17.
- ^ Russell, Peter. "No matter what, Redcliffe's a city", Opinion, Redcliffe and Bayside Herald, 2007-08-01, pp. 9. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Redcliffe (C) (Local Government Area). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ About Redcliffe (HTML). Redcliffe City Council (2006-02-03). Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Welcome to Redcliffe (HTML). Redcliffe Tourism. Redcliffe City Council (2006-12-05). Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Summary statistics REDCLIFFE COUNCIL (HTML). Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology (2004-08-16). Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
- ^ Rothwell to Kippa-Ring bus priority project (HTML). TransLink. Queensland Transport (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
- ^ Council A-Z Services (HTML). Redcliffe City Council (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-04.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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