160 Macquarie Street

The Alvey Reel factory was in Macquarie Street, St Lucia as late as 1973. It was a fishing reel factory which employed a lot of workers and had been established there in 1920. After the 1974 floods Charles Alvey & Son moved their factory to Ipswich and they are still going strong even though there were reports of them shutting down; I was told the Alvey family have been bought out. Charles Alvey’s grand-daughter used to work in a legal firm in Toowong at John Walker and Co Solicitors. Her grandmother lived at 160 Macquarie street in the house next to where the factory was.

During the early 1970s I lived on a boat ( the ‘MV Careel‘) on the river. Nearby people in a share house in Austral Street St Lucia (not far from Macquarie Street) took up a petition and ran a court case against the very first ‘high-rise’ development on the waterfront at St Lucia. The development was proposed to be 8 stories. The Austral Street mob (Andrew Herrington was the main petitioner) won in the Land court!

But look at the St Lucia waterfront now, wall-to-wall high rise. Nowadays an old comrade from the street marches (1977-1979) has taken up the fight against the demolition of the house and fig tree at #160 Macquarie Street.

Please sign the petition and attend the rally at #160 Macquarie Street on the 20th January 2019 at

http://www.bit.ly/2IE28J9 or http://chn.ge/2G4U8CD

*LATEST ALERT: 160 Macquarie Street St Lucia*

So, demolition of the house is now looming on this site, and close residents are invited (as required) to file Dilapidation Reports for likely damage. Would you come rushing to buy off the plan here?

A 34 (3-brm) unit block, 20 floors–4 below ground level–77 car parks. Minimum standards of greenery and landscaping, much lower ceilings. It’s gone far more down-market, with this Developer apparently focused upon saving money even before he starts—hardly a good prognosis for the hoped-for investors or the unfortunate neighbours. Is it a bargain buy; good value? NOT REALLY…

*Bringing a very high density of people, with their extra private and public  services vehicles, into the dead-end of the Street, will undermine the historically peaceful ambience and amenity of Macquarie St for those who live in it, or travel through it daily, today.

*The road outside this block will become the accident Black Spot of the Indooroopilly-Taringa-St Lucia-City bikeway, of which Macquarie St is a section. All these vehicles will drive across all cyclists on the Bikeway, unless they travel via Keith St, past three busy childcare centre entrances.

*Already there is severe road congestion, with the childcare centres, a rowing club and a bowls club, all on Keith and Carr Streets’ enclosed rectangle with Macquarie St and Schonell Drive. Keith and Carr Streets are narrow, with almost no pavements. (City Planning, the BCC calls it?)

*Much of the existing “green, leafy” vegetation and surrounding big trees—probably even the protected Fig—won’t withstand the giant excavation that will also destabilise the eroding River bank when their roots are destroyed.

*It’s always been an oversized development squashed on a tiny bit of land on the edge of a flood-prone Creek. Maybe call it The Grey Elephant?

YOU CAN STILL SIGN THE PETITION ASKING THE MAYOR TO PLEASE REVIEW THE DISMAL RECORD OF BCC CITY PLANNING IN WALTER TAYLOR WARD

Go on-line to CHANGE.ORG:

http://www.bit.ly/2IE28J9 or http://chn.ge/2G4U8CD

RALLY AT #160, SUNDAY 2O JANUARY 2019 4PM

WHO DOES THE Macquarie Street DEVELOPMENT BENEFIT?