‘Strong enrolment demand’ from local families has led Brisbane independent school Clayfield College to add an extra class in each Year level from Prep to Year 5, starting 2023.
College Principal, Dr. Andrew Cousins, said they already have families on waiting lists for these Years, and with continued strong enquiry levels and demand for their tours, they felt it was the right time to announce the increase and allow families time to plan their educational arrangements for 2023.
The additional classes are just among the big changes coming to the college, after it announced plans to transition as fully co-educational (Pre-Prep to Year 12).
At present, Clayfield College is co-educational from Pre-Prep to Year 6, and girls only from Years 7 to 12.
Boys will be added to the Secondary School one cohort at a time until the College is fully co-educational in 2027.
The transition will be done using the Parallel Learning Model, which combines the advantages of single sex and co-educational education.
The learning model promises the “best of both worlds” because it allows for gender-specific teaching when it matters most, with all the social benefits of a co-educational campus.
“For some years and across multiple surveys and feedback forums, parents have asked the College to become fully co-educational because it would better suit their families,” the school stated in its website.
From 2023, Year 7 students will begin single-sex learning streams, continuing through Years 8 and 9. In Year 10, students come together for selected classes and then benefit from fully co-educational classes in Years 11 and 12.
“Families are appreciating the opportunity for a co-educational offering at one of Brisbane’s finest schools, and with an enviable heritage and a bright, innovative future, Clayfield is well placed to truly offer an exceptional educational experience,” Dr. Cousins said.
Behind the Toombul Shopping Centre, one can find what used to be the site of the Zion Hill mission, a small hilly area where fellowship and worship in a small, wooden house eventually gave birth to the Clayfield Baptist Church.
Zion Hill was regarded as the German Station in the 1860s. From slab huts to conduct their worship and work, the German missionaries built a small house where they had bible classes, meetings, and worships in English and German.
The Clayfield Baptist Church was established by German settlers who wanted to grow Christianity and expand its missionary work in the colony. Before it was known as the Clayfield Baptist Church, the church was called the Hendra Baptist Church.
Fifteen years after its establishment, the chapel was moved to Alexandra Rd, where the present Clayfield Baptist Church has thrived, fulfilling its mission for more than 170 years.
Friedrich Theodor Franz, Owner of the Clayfield Land
Alexandra Rd in Clayfield was a farm owned by Friedrich Theodor Franz, also known as Karl or Charles Theodor Franz, who was originally from Pomerania in Central Europe and was a tailor by trade. He was still a bachelor when he joined Zion Hill, where he met and married Caroline Schneider, the widow of Moritz Schneider.
Mr Franz acquired substantial properties in that part of North Brisbane and built a house along Best St in Hendra in the 1850s. He named the house Heimat, the German word for “home.”
The house still stands on the location but has been converted into four flats.
Mr Franz eventually donated Alexandra Rd to the Clayfield Baptist Church. This small chapel would serve the community for many years until the community had to build a new church as its members increased.
He died in 1891 and was recognised for his civic work. Clayfield’s Franz Road was named after him.
In 1891, a new building was built next to the old chapel. Designed by architect A. Robertson, the building was a Pointed Gothic structure with coloured glass windows.
The old building was retained as a classroom for Sunday school services. In 1966, however, the original wooden chapel was dismantled and replaced with a brick building.
The church incurred debts due to the construction of the new building. Unperturbed, the outreach ministry didn’t stop soliciting support and many responded. Attendance, as well as baptisms, increased.
The First World War was a difficult time for many members of the church, Many people lost loved ones and friends. Presents and other tokens were sent by the church to those on the frontlines.
In the 1920s, there were over 125 kids attending Sunday school but attendance gradually declined for the next 15 years. Membership also eventually trickled down to under 40 individuals.
During the Second World war, a proposal was raised to sell the land but this wasn’t pursued. Two decades later, membership increased to the present norm of about 70 individuals. Extensions to the building were built.
By the 1980s, the Pointed Gothic building had become unsafe due to storm damage and pest control issues. It was demolished and replaced with the brick building that stands there today.
The management announced the permanent closure on social media, leaving some followers wondering why it’s so sudden.
“You know what s***s? Goodbyes. So what I’m going to say instead is this is the very last day you can eat Wing Fury as it’s closing its doors,” the Facebook post reads.
“It has been amazing. It’s not you, it’s us.”
Photo credit: Wing Fury/Facebook
In a radio interview with 4BC, owner Sam explained that the cost of products just kept rising to a point she couldn’t pass on to customers. She said it seems unfair to charge people a premium cost when it’s only because of food shortages.
Located along Junction Road, Wing Fury was once the go-to for heavenly chicken wings. The crunchy coating and the sauce, which is packed with flavour, kept people coming back. They also had gluten-free options for healthy eaters.
Photo credit: Wing Fury/Facebook
The announcement left some customers sad, including Matthias, one of their patrons, who would even drive all the way from Burpengary for the honey buffalo wings.
“Your shop is our go-to place for yummy chicken wings and pizza. Our Friday movie nights dinner will be a bit boring now,” said Grace.
“NEED the honey mustard and sticky Vietnamese recipes. Literally drive and wait hours for your wings some nights, don’t think we will ever find any as good anywhere else,” wrote Chanelle.
Photo credit: Justine Meade/Google Maps
“Sad news. I used to come 30min to get wings and pizza because you made the best, and possibly only, gluten-free wings in Brisbane. I wish you the best for the future, and hope one day you might share your gluten-free crumb recipe,” Graham commented on the post.
As for the ‘secret’ sauce recipes, the owner would either keep them or pass them down to her family for generations.
Adelaide Street East, home to many historical properties owned by some of Brisbane’s wealthiest families, is one of Clayfield’s most desirable addresses. Here are four heritage-listed mansions on Adelaide St East that reflect Clayfield’s storied past.
138 Adelaide St East: Casa Mara
Casa Mara was constructed in 1930 for Mrs Martha Greenfield, who married Brisbane doctor Vivian Hector Leigh-Barlow. She purchased the land on Adelaide St East in 1923. As with many homes in the Clayfield, Ascot, and Hamilton area, Casa Mara was a beautiful structure often featured in society pages, home magazines and architectural journals.
This house was designed as a Spanish Mission bungalow, with a stucco finish and a Spanish tiled roof. Outside, Casa Mara’s gardens had plenty of succulents and Cypress pines. Inside, the house featured an ornate dome ceiling, tessellated porch, twisted columns, and unique details “planned and finished in the Spanish period,” per its auction advertisement when it was put up for sale in 1933.
Casa Mara attracted large crowds and packs of sightseers when it went on the auction but the sale was not completed until the death of Mr Leigh-Barlow in 1936. Mr and Mrs Stanley Curnow acquired the property until it was sold to Mr Harold Paton in 1941, and then again in the 1950s to its current owners.
Evelyn Mary Bernays bought the land on 140 Adelaide St East in 1898 after her marriage to architect and engineer Charles Edwin Bernays. Mr Bernays may have likely designed the house that completed construction in 1900.
Tresco was then originally named Moorlane until Caroline Woodley acquired the property in 1911. Three years later, Ms Woodle sold the property to Frank and Louisa Coxon, who then sold the house to Albert P Greenfield, an optician. It is believed that the Greenfields named the property Tresco. Their family remains the homeowner, passing Tresco from one generation to the next.
Tresco is a Federation-era home that was entered into Brisbane’s heritage listing for its links to Mr Bernays and Mr Greenfield, two very important people in Clayfield. The property has not been on the market since 1998 when it sold for $1.45 million.
John Spence Irvine had Mardan constructed from 1908, upon his marriage to Clara. He was a religious Baptist who managed the Foy and Gibson drapery firm in Fortitude Valley. In 1912, James Peter Peterson bought Mardan from the Irvines when he retired from Longreach Shire Council to Brisbane. He was also known as one of the best-known pastoralists in Queensland.
Mr Peterson was married to Sarah Fagg, a well-known philanthropist who received an MBE from the British monarch for her philanthropy.
The couple had a son named Roy. Following Mr Peterson’s death in 1936, Sarah and then Roy stayed at Mardan until it was sold in 1953 to Carl Wallace Bishop.
Mardan, another Federation-era home, is featured with wide verandahs with some ornate timberwork, a steeply pitched corrugated iron roof, and a landscaped garden with palm trees. It has been heritage-listed for its links to the Petersons and as an example of a subdivision of larger urban allotments within Clayfield.
In October 2021, Mardan was sold for $4.4 million. It was worth $775,000 when its previous owners bought the property in 1997.
The grand timber home was designed by prominent Queensland architect, Robin S. Dods, for former soldier turned merchant John W.H. Grout and his wife Winnifred.
Rangemoor encapsulated the signature characteristics of Mr Dods’ designs such as the dominant roof form, side entrance porch, generous verandahs, and restrained timber detailing. He embellished the house with Spanish and Moorish features as a nod to Mr Grout’s role as the Vice-Consul for Spain.
After Mr Grout’s death in 1921, Dr Charles August Thelander and his wife Helene bought Rangemoor. Dr Thelander was a prominent obstetrician and paediatrician.
He was also a controversial figure in Brisbane as the Royal Commission Chairman who made a negative assessment of Sister Elizabeth Kenny’s treatment of poliomyelitis. Sister Elizabeth was another popular figure in Brisbane, whose approach to polio was actually adopted worldwide.
The Thelanders owned Rangemoor for at least three decades after the doctor’s death in 1959. The family did some renovations and upgrades to the house in all those years but many of Mr Dods’ original designs remained. The acres of land were also subdivided and sold whilst the Thelanders retained the old home.
Having had enough of rising incidences of crime in their area, some residents in affluent Clayfield, Ascot, and Hamilton have now contracted private security services to keep would-be offenders at bay.
It has been nine months since several communities in Clayfield, Ascot, and Hamilton decided to hire private security guards to keep watch over their streets during the evening. These affluent communities have seen increasing incidences of vehicle theft and unlawful entry and they can no longer put up with it.
Armed with high-visibility security vests and a flashlight, private security guards at these suburbs patrol the streets during the night. Some are also assigned to just one specific area. Residents hope that security guards patrolling at night would help deter crime in their area.
Queensland Police Services said that the community-initiated measure does help in lowering the crime rate and that these trained private security guards understand when a situation needs to be escalated to QPS for assistance.
Last year, Ex-Wallaby Toutai Kefu and his family were violently attacked after their Coorparoo home was broken into, allegedly by three teenage boys armed with knives, an axe, and a machete. The horrific home invasion incident prompted residents to beef up their home security to protect their homes from criminal activities.
How do you conduct a home security assessment?
First off, good home security should:
make it easy for an offender to be seen
make it difficult for an offender to gain entry
make it difficult for an offender to exit with your property
make it difficult for an offender to gain benefit from your property.
When conducting a home security review and identifying your existing and potential security opportunities, QPS advises that the best place to start is from the outside and then work inwards.
Otherwise called the “layered approach”, homeowners should start their home security assessment from the external perimeter, then proceed to the external wall and access before checking the internal walls. After that, the next step is the internal areas, then the property and lastly, the people.
The video below discusses in detail the steps you need to take for a thorough home security assessment.
Reviewing home security | Video Credit: QueenslandPolice / YouTube
Along Junction Road stands a shop and former residence, one of the early 20th-century commercial buildings that demonstrate the development of commercial and retail services in Clayfield.
Originally, the land on Junction Road was owned by William Pettigrew, a 19th-century alderman and a former mayor of Brisbane. Prior to his life as a public servant, he was also a surveyor who managed a sawmill business, thus he was familiar with the quality and profitability of timber.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
When the railways opened, Clayfield attracted more residents as well as businesses. In the 1860s, his property on Junction Rd was sold and subdivided for residential and railway developments.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In 1920, the Hough family constructed a store with a residence along this site on Junction Road, which was close to the Sandgate railway station. Two years later, Henry and Lilias Greenham acquired the building from the Houghs. The Greenhams ran a grocery store but did not live on the property.
When Mr Greenham died in 1951, the site was sold to a new owner. By then the Postles had left Brisbane, except for Albert (the leftmost person in the photo), who established AV Postle Real Estate, which remains active to this day.
Photo Credit: NLA/Trove
After the Postles, the shop and residence became Lukey’s Groceries with a framing shop, owned by Ted and Bertha Lukey. They had a son who grew up in the area, went to the Eagle Junction School, and served in the war.
The shop and residence was also the home to the first outlet of Margaret Woodcarft Cheesecake. In the ’60s, the site was a barbershop operated by Trevor Mellit. In the ’70s, the shop and residence became an antique store managed by Kerry Murphy.
The building became a restaurant in the 1980s until Queensland Rail acquired the property. In 2012, the site was sold for $650,000 to its new private owners.
In 2015, the shop and residence became the Wooden Horse Restaurant & Bar owned by siblings Dane and Morgan Hoey. The establishment is known for its brick oven pizza and has continued to operate post-pandemic.
The site was entered into Brisbane’s Local Heritage Places in 2005 for demonstrating the evolution of commercial services in Clayfield. The building is also cited for its use of early 20th-century traditional timber and corrugated iron roofing.
Rain and flooding across many suburbs of Brisbane did not quite dampen the Clayfield property market, which showed a 28 per cent median house price growth in the 12-month period ending Q1 2022, amidst strong demand and renewed interstate and overseas buying activity.
Clayfield’s median house price continues to trend upwards, reflecting a 28 per cent growth for the period of April 2021 to March 2022. According to Property Market Updates, Clayfield’s median house price is now at $1.6 million, up from $1.25 million in the previous 12-month period.
For this period, 156 properties were successfully closed within an average of 34 days on market. Three-bedroom homes sold the fastest at less than a month average time on market.
A mansion on Union Street with over six rooms closed a record-breaking deal for a high price of $8.4 million. The buyer is said to be from overseas but the border’s reopening is bringing cashed-up expats back home who are ready to invest in the property market.
Alongside these affluent buyers, however, are a lot of frustrated buyers who have missed out on opportunities to snag their dream homes in the Clayfield property market, amidst stiff competition.
Clayfield Unit Price Growth
The unit market in Clayfield has also been tracking upwards, with an 8.44 per cent increase observed from April 2021 to March 2022. The median unit price is at a comfortable $424,000. This is still quite affordable for first-home buyers looking to buy into a prestige suburb.
About 293 units were sold during this period at an average of 39 days on market, per figures from Property Market Updates. The majority of the buyers hunted and closed deals for two-bedroom units in desirable Clayfield streets, which means that the properties will grow in value over time.
About Clayfield
Clayfield is one of Brisbane’s well-connected suburbs, with access to train stations, the nearby Airport Link and Inner City Bypass. Located just six kilometres northeast of the CBD, Clayfield is one of Brisbane’s most prestigious suburbs.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
The locale is dominated by heaps of post-war homes, Queenslanders and the more modern brick and tile properties alongside tree-lined streets. Because the suburb has many parks and good private schools, Clayfield is very attractive to young families who want to set their roots in Brisbane for the long term.
Another wonderful feature of Clayfield is its close proximity to other suburbs like Ascot or Nundah, where lifestyle precincts for dining, shopping, and recreation are quite accessible.
“I live in Bonney Av, very close to the rail station. The suburb is peaceful and enjoyable. I love its proximity to the City as I study engineering at UTS. I work in South Brisbane, which takes me less than 30 mins to get to work. I find people friendly and welcoming. Love Nundah cafes & the local library.”
Phil
“Clayfield is a great suburb to live in and it is very handy to everything. There is a mix of housing and it ranges from several pockets of very expensive houses through to older style quite affordable units. I would highly recommend Clayfield as a great suburb to live in.”
Bicycle user groups, such as the Brisbane North Bicycle Users Group have welcomed the proposal for the safety of cyclists, stating that any other route would cause more disruption.
Aside from expressing their support for the Stage 5 of North Brisbane Bikeway, they also suggested that Brisbane City Council consider the All the Way to EJ bikeway if they want a quick win now. The said bikeway will finish a safe 40 kilometre route from the centre of Brisbane out to Redcliffe.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council
“All the Way to EJ is the most direct and simple route for a bikeway from Wooloowin to Clayfield, and will be cheaper than any indirect alternative routes,” Brisbane North BUG stated.
Whilst cyclists welcomed the project, local residents and businesses are worried that the extension of the bikeway could cause more congestion and affect establishments in the area.
The project, located between Dickson Street, Wooloowin and Jackson St, Clayfield, has received over 1,000 submissions, including more than 800 online surveys.
This includes opposition from businesses along Dickson St, where Brisbane City Council has proposed two different crossing options that will connect the bikeway with a new crossing along Junction Rd/Keith St.
In late 2021, Sydney St homeowner Mal Peters organised a petition sponsored by Member for Clayfield, Tim Nicholls MP.
Petitioners complained about the lack of community consultation for the preferred route and have requested the State Government to investigate alternative routes for Stage 5 of the bikeway.
Photo credit: Nasirun Khan/Pexels
Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey responded to the petition, saying that although stages 1 to 4 of the North Brisbane Bikeway is designed and funded by the Queensland Government, stage 5 is the responsibility of Brisbane City Council.
Councillor for Chandler Ward Ryan Murphy, who’s also Civic Cabinet Chair for Transport at BCC, said they are already assessing the feedback received during the consultation period.
Cr Murphy assured that they will consider all the feedback from locals and businesses and will provide an update once the assessment is done.
Sandgate Road stretches 13.1 kilometres through various suburbs. In Clayfield, it is located at the Clayfield-Nundah boundary and crosses the Doomben-Pinkenba railway line through an overpass.Did you know that the original Sandgate Rd is not exactly the Sandgate Rd that we now know?
Designated as State Route 26, this major road is divided into four or six lanes and leads to Junction Road from Clayfield, to get to Hendra or Wooloowin, and Oriel Road, to get to Ascot. Aside from Clayfield, Sandgate Rd also traverses Albion, Nundah, Virginia, Boondall, and Deagon.
Bonney Ave: Old Sandgate Road
European settlers were already living along Sandgate Road as early as 1838 but the original access to get to Albion was a few miles off, in a street now known as Bonney Ave, which joined Jackson Street in the Eagle Junction area. At that time, this old Sandgate Road was the main link to Nudgee.
The area was often plagued with floods, causing extreme inconvenience and hazard to resiidents and traders, especially during the wet season. Travellers had to get off their wagons and row their produce or baggage across in narrow flat-bottomed boats to continue with their journey.
Soon enough, local demand raised a need to re-route the road to a “new” Sandgate Road, sometime in the 1870s.
To make sure that all concerns were considered, the location and route of the new Sandgate Road was repeatedly surveyed and much deliberated nearly a full decade before it came to be.
Initially, it started along the stretch of Gregory Street, passing through Clayfield in the northeast beyond the site of what’s now known as the Clayfield Railway Station. During this time, the railway had not even been surveyed yet. The railway would be established decades later.
New Sandgate Road circa 1910 Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
The land where the new Sandgate Road finally came to pass was bought from William Widdop, Theodor Franz, J. G. Wagner, R. Curtis, and Kate Falkner. The deeds were sub-divided, disposed and signed by 1877.
Upon its establishment, the new Sandgate Road became a major route for residents of Clayfield and the surrounding districts, as well as for travellers coming from the river, the Eagle Junction, and the Racecourse Station (Ascot Station), who were headed to Brisbane CBD.
Photo Credit: State Library of QueenslandPhoto Credit: State Library of Queensland
The road had a peculiar, sharp, angular turn near Junction Road, where it veered away from a large paddock that could not be removed without the permission of an owner who could not be located.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Road planners also did not anticipate the increasing traffic that commuters had to endure along Sandgate Road until the Hornibrook Highway opened in 1935. Further east, the Gateway Arterial was constructed to ease the pressure and congestion in the area.
What Happened to the Old Sandgate Rd?
The old Sandgate Road was renamed Bonney Ave for Mrs Maude Rose Lores Bonney, a pioneering Australian aviator, who was born in South Africa, educated in Melbourne, and then married Harry Barrington Bonney, a leather goods manufacturer. The couple settled in Bowen Hills.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Mrs Bonney had always been interested in aviation. She took lessons in secret until she got her pilot licence in 1930. When her husband found out, he bought her “My Little Ship,” a de Havilland DH.60 Gypsy Moth.
Mrs Bonney had four major solo fights. She recorded the longest one-day flight to be ever achieved by an Australian female pilot when she left Brisbane on Boxing Day in 1931 at 4:30 a.m. to arrive in Wangaratta, Victoria at 7:20 p.m. — just in time to spend dinner with her father.
She was also the first woman to circumnavigate the Australian mainland by air and the first woman to fly from Australia to England. She earned her commercial licence in 1932 and also served on the Women’s Voluntary National Register of Queensland during World War II.
Mrs Bonney retired from flying in 1949 when her eyesight started to fail. She died at the age of 96 in 1994.
Plans have been submitted by Dunland Property to Council, seeking to establish 25 units across five cluster buildings, which will have a maximum height of three storeys each.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council PD Online
Around 17 of the townhouses will be two-storey dwellings whilst the remaining eight will be three-storey dwellings. All dwellings will contain two car spaces per allotment and private open space provided through rear courtyards and balconies.
The proposal includes car parking space for 50 vehicles and 12 more for visitors as well as bicycle parking within the garage of each townhouse.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council PD Online
The proposal is for Stage 5 of Wooloowin Residences, which previously received approval.
The subject site, which has a total area of 36,880sqm, is located at 60 Bridge St, Wooloowin.
Designed by Rothelowman, the living areas at ground level will have direct access to courtyards whilst those on upper level would have direct access to balconies, with secondary areas provided at ground level.
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council PD Online
“The proposed dwellings comply with the maximum building height and setback plan requirements for the precinct. The proposal seeks a building height of 2 storeys and 3 storeys, and the permitted building height for this precinct is 2 and 3 storeys,” the planning documents read.
“The proposed dwellings are not located within the Heritage Laundry Precinct, however they comply with the maximum building height and setbacks plan requirement for the precinct,” said planners at RPS.
Further details about the proposed multiple dwellings can be viewed at Brisbane City Council’s website with the reference A005904947.
