QUT Carseldine Community Hub

Ministerial Regional Community Forum – Greater Brisbane

2008

Over a year ago, the Community Forum became aware of the pending closure of QUT’s Carseldine campus, located on the outer northern suburbs of Brisbane. From January 2009, the campus will no longer be used for teaching.

QUT Carseldine

The Greater Brisbane Community Forum has identified this as an opportunity to enhance Brisbane’s northern corridor. The opportunity to step into a ready-made facility is rare in a suburban area and one we shouldn’t let slip away.The University will retain possession of the site so that it can recommence teaching at a later date.

The Northern Corridor has been identified as an area requiring social and economic development and diversification. This has been expressed by Brisbane North Development Forum and is explicit in the SEQ Regional Plan, which clearly shows fewer industry and economic centres on the northside than the southside.

situated on the northern corridor

Of particular interest is the identification of Fitzgibbon, adjacent to the Carseldine campus, as a potential priority area by the Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA). The ULDA works with local and state government, community, local landholders and the development industry to help deliver commercially viable developments that include diverse, affordable, sustainable housing, using best-practice urban design.

possible local development planning

Planning of major road works for the northern corridor. Roads, coupled with land releases, tend to exacerbate the conditions of urban sprawl, increased pollution and environmental degradation, eroded social capital and inaccessible local business areas. There is a need to consider mitigating those impacts. New approaches to community and economic development are warranted.

Connectivity to the Chermside business activity centre and accessibility to transport. The campus is connected via bus and train services to outer areas (into Moreton Bay Regional Shire, Caboolture and then the Sunshine Coast) and by bus routes that connect to the CBD via Gympie Road (from Carseldine train station) and Kelvin Grove Road (from Aspley Hypermarket) and by train to the CBD and other transport nodes. The Hornibrook Bus Line also connects this area to Redcliffe.

possible busway infrastructure

planned transport and road works, existing rail

After preliminary and informal consultation about embracing this opportunity, the Forum is proposing ...

• Establishment of a new and emerging business hub emphasising social innovation, social enterprise and flexible space and facilities for small businesses

• Streaming of some of the activities of the state government’s proposed Design Centre to develop heightened awareness of environment, design, urban and architectural issues and ideas

• Accommodation for non-profit organisations and social enterprises

Social enterprise is a growing sector in Australia. In Brisbane, an active network already exists and social enterprises are trading.This sector will grow more dynamically if appropriately resourced and regarded as a legitimate business activity. There is a cafe on the campus which may be an ideal context for a social enterprise or catering business incubator.

The Aspley Special School next door also operates an environment and recycling social enterprise. While several social enterprise networks have emerged in Brisbane, the government has not yet developed policy focused on the Third Sector as an economic driver. The facility can develop as a hub of social innovation.

social investment, social enterprise, social innovation

social enterprise hubs – Brisbane & Parramatta

speakout – creative industries, creative opportunities

sandbag – local & community development

biddy bags – creative intergenerational exchange

blackstar coffee – fair trade

food connect – fresh farm grown food

sustainable garden services – employment & training

mu’ooz eritrean restaurant & catering – women’s & family support

nundah co-op – meaningful & respectful

environmental pest control – opportunities for refugees

spiral community hub – community based initiative

sweet freedom – music for freedom & life

edgeware –make money, have fun, change the world

The state government's recent review of Smart State will result in the establishment of a design strategy in Queensland that will ‘fuse design expertise with other industries to increase economic and industry competitiveness’. The SEQ Regional Plan earmarks the northern corridor for manufacturing – potential to development a sub-regional industry-based interface with the design sector.

There is growing concern, if not urgency, about environmental sustainability in relation to urban planning and design issues in suburban growth areas. The state government is planning to develop a Design Centre in the inner city within an established creative precinct.

drawing on existing design strengths & ideas

We want and need a design centre and strategy for the whole community and the whole region, not just another city-centric cultural institution. The Carseldine campus presents a vehicle for a more dispersed approach to environmental, urban and design education, particularly given the extent of land release in the northern sub-region.

a design centre for the region, not just the city centre

The campus houses professional standard theatre and gallery that could be used to deliver some of the program activity of the Design Centre, particularly those concerned with environmental, urban design, architecture and sustainability issues.

offices and other facilities in a bush setting

Thank you