The Gap, Queensland
Encyclopedia
The Gap is a leafy and hilly suburb of Brisbane
, in Queensland
, Australia
, located approximately 11 km west of the Brisbane CBD.
and was named for its geographical location in the valley
between Mount Coot-tha and Enoggera Hill
(i.e. 'the gap' between hills) which both form part of the Taylor Range.
people, The Gap was originally heavily forested. With the arrival of European settlement, timber felling became the first industry in the area, and with the removal of the timber the area was turned over to farm
ing. The first crown lease of land was in 1851, to Darby McGrath who ran a sheep station across the entire valley. The first freehold land sale was made in 1858, to P.J. and J. Paten in the area where Paten road runs today. Access to The Gap in the 1850s was via tracks which became Waterworks and Payne Roads. They also provided access to Enoggera Dam
which was built in 1866 to provide a water supply for Brisbane. Following World War I
the area was broken up into smaller farms for returned servicemen, many of whom farmed poultry and dairy cattle. Many of these farms were too small to be commercially successful, however small pockets of farming remained in The Gap until the 1980s.
From 1879 The Gap was part of the Ithaca
local government division, then part of the Shire of Enoggera
from 1887 to 1925.
Masons jam factory used to be located to the east of the Ashgrove Golf Course, but has not existed for the past two decades. A gold mine was located near the entrance to Payne Road Primary School. The billabong
between The Gap State High School and Payne Road Primary School used to be a favourite swimming location and over the years has been home to turtles, eels and platypus. It was named Shepherd's Pool, supposedly after a shepherd who was killed by aborigines in 1852, although the name may derive from a P.A. Shepherd, who leased the adjacent land in the 1930s. There used to be a toll gate located on Waterworks Road near what is now the entrance to Brisbane Forest Park.
In 2009, scenes for the feature film Jucy
(2010) were shot in the suburb.
A microburst
hit The Gap with extremely high winds, causing many trees to fall onto homes and major roads, as well as causing many houses to lose their roofs. The Australian Prime Minister
, Kevin Rudd
, toured the suburb (which he likened to a "war zone"), on 18 November, accompanied by the Premier of Queensland
, Anna Bligh
, as well as the State Member for Ashgrove
, Kate Jones, and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman
. Also touring the suburb to survey the storm damage was the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson
.Kevin Rudd pledged Commonwealth support for residents affected by the disaster and the State Government is also providing financial assistance for storm victims.
Brisbane City Council commented that there are water exemptions for cleaning up debris from the storm, and that extra garbage collections will take place specifically to collect rotten food following long-lasting power loss to storm victims.
Debris from the storm was so extensive that bus services to The Gap were disrupted on Monday, 17 November 2008 (the day following the storm), with buses terminating at West Ashgrove
instead of continuing driving to The Gap.
, Tennis
, Athletics
, Swimming
and Golf
etc) and there are a number of lush green parks.
The Gap is also where the main entrance to the Brisbane Forest Park is located. A major bushland area in Brisbane's west, Brisbane Forest Park has many Australian wildlife species, including marsupials, birds, fish
and reptiles. Brisbane Forest Park also has an information and wildlife education centre.
in the suburb.
Ashgrove
Fire Brigade, which is at West Ashgrove
, is also in close proximity to The Gap. Also, an ambulance
station has now been opened close to The Gap.
The Enoggera Dam
is located in the suburb adjacent to The Gap called Enoggera Reservoir
.
schools in The Gap include:
, Ashgrove
and Red Hill
and then, as Musgrave Road, it continues to Brisbane
city. Waterworks Road was widened, from two lanes to four lanes, along the 8 km stretch of road between The Gap and Red Hill between July 1999 and December 2003. Total cost was $50 million
.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, located approximately 11 km west of the Brisbane CBD.
Geography
The Gap is situated on the site of an extinct volcanoVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
and was named for its geographical location in the valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
between Mount Coot-tha and Enoggera Hill
Enoggera Hill
Enoggera Hill is a small mountain of the Taylor Range in the Brisbane suburb of The Gap.Enoggera Hill is close to Mount Cootha and like this peak, it is mostly covered by bushland. The hill is located within the grounds of the Enoggera Barracks.-References:...
(i.e. 'the gap' between hills) which both form part of the Taylor Range.
History
Initially inhabited by the TurrbalTurrbal
The Turrbal are a tribe of Australian Aboriginal people who inhabited the region around the city of Brisbane before European settlement of Australia. Tom Petrie, an early pioneer of Brisbane, shows the kind and trustworthy nature of the Turrbal people. He demonstrates how they were forgiving, even...
people, The Gap was originally heavily forested. With the arrival of European settlement, timber felling became the first industry in the area, and with the removal of the timber the area was turned over to farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
ing. The first crown lease of land was in 1851, to Darby McGrath who ran a sheep station across the entire valley. The first freehold land sale was made in 1858, to P.J. and J. Paten in the area where Paten road runs today. Access to The Gap in the 1850s was via tracks which became Waterworks and Payne Roads. They also provided access to Enoggera Dam
Enoggera Dam
The Enoggera Dam, which is located within the inner, western suburb of Enoggera Reservoir, in Brisbane, Queensland, and was constructed in 1866. It was built on Enoggera Creek and was the first major dam built in Queensland...
which was built in 1866 to provide a water supply for Brisbane. Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the area was broken up into smaller farms for returned servicemen, many of whom farmed poultry and dairy cattle. Many of these farms were too small to be commercially successful, however small pockets of farming remained in The Gap until the 1980s.
From 1879 The Gap was part of the Ithaca
Town of Ithaca
Ithaca was a local government area of Queensland, located in western Brisbane. The Division of Ithaca was first proclaimed in 1879, and originally covered an area that stretched from Windsor, Kelvin Grove and Milton in the east, through to The Gap and beyond the Enoggera Dam in the west...
local government division, then part of the Shire of Enoggera
Enoggera, Queensland
Enoggera is a suburb of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. The suburb is located 6 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD.-History:In 1845 John Brennan purchased six hectares of land in Enoggera. Six years later, Thomas Hayes moved to the area and bought thirty-three acres of land...
from 1887 to 1925.
Masons jam factory used to be located to the east of the Ashgrove Golf Course, but has not existed for the past two decades. A gold mine was located near the entrance to Payne Road Primary School. The billabong
Billabong
Billabong is an Australian English word meaning a small lake, specifically an oxbow lake, a section of still water adjacent to a river, cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end...
between The Gap State High School and Payne Road Primary School used to be a favourite swimming location and over the years has been home to turtles, eels and platypus. It was named Shepherd's Pool, supposedly after a shepherd who was killed by aborigines in 1852, although the name may derive from a P.A. Shepherd, who leased the adjacent land in the 1930s. There used to be a toll gate located on Waterworks Road near what is now the entrance to Brisbane Forest Park.
In 2009, scenes for the feature film Jucy
Jucy
Jucy is an Australian comedy feature film produced in 2010 about the womance between two best female friends. The film was written by Stephen Vagg, directed by Louise Alston and produced by Kelly Chapman...
(2010) were shot in the suburb.
Severe storm
The Gap was severely affected by a major storm on the afternoon of 16 November 2008.A microburst
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
hit The Gap with extremely high winds, causing many trees to fall onto homes and major roads, as well as causing many houses to lose their roofs. The Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, toured the suburb (which he likened to a "war zone"), on 18 November, accompanied by the Premier of Queensland
Premiers of Queensland
Before the 1890s, there was no developed party system in Queensland. Political affiliation labels before that time indicate a general tendency only. Before the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, political parties were more akin to parliamentary factions, and were fluid, informal and...
, Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...
, as well as the State Member for Ashgrove
Electoral district of Ashgrove
The division of Ashgrove is a Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral division in the state of Queensland, Australia.It is located in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, encompassing Alderley, Ashgrove, Enoggera, The Gap, and Newmarket...
, Kate Jones, and the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman
Campbell Newman
Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman is the leader of the Liberal National Party of Queensland. He was the 15th Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 2004 to 2011....
. Also touring the suburb to survey the storm damage was the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson
Martin Ferguson
Martin John Ferguson AM , Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Batman, Victoria. He was born in Sydney, the son of Jack Ferguson, who was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1976...
.Kevin Rudd pledged Commonwealth support for residents affected by the disaster and the State Government is also providing financial assistance for storm victims.
Brisbane City Council commented that there are water exemptions for cleaning up debris from the storm, and that extra garbage collections will take place specifically to collect rotten food following long-lasting power loss to storm victims.
Debris from the storm was so extensive that bus services to The Gap were disrupted on Monday, 17 November 2008 (the day following the storm), with buses terminating at West Ashgrove
Ashgrove, Queensland
Ashgrove is an inner suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, located approximately 4 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. Ashgrove is a leafy residential suburb, characterised by its hilly terrain and characteristic Ashgrovian houses built in the early 20th century...
instead of continuing driving to The Gap.
Attractions
The district was later subdivided into blocks of land for housing estates. The recreational activities of inhabitants of the suburb are well catered for, with many facilities including many sporting clubs (Soccer, SquashSquash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, Athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
etc) and there are a number of lush green parks.
The Gap is also where the main entrance to the Brisbane Forest Park is located. A major bushland area in Brisbane's west, Brisbane Forest Park has many Australian wildlife species, including marsupials, birds, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and reptiles. Brisbane Forest Park also has an information and wildlife education centre.
Facilities
The suburb has a small shopping village (which extends from Walton Bridge Reserve to The Gap State High School and Payne Road State School). There are also Christian churches of many denominations, as well as a local Police StationPolice Station
Police Station is a American TV series that aired in syndication in 1959. Stories were taken from actual files.- Cast :*Baynes Barron as Sergeant White*Larry Kerr as Detective Chuck Mitchell*Henry Beckman as Detective Stan Abramson...
in the suburb.
Ashgrove
Ashgrove, Queensland
Ashgrove is an inner suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, located approximately 4 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. Ashgrove is a leafy residential suburb, characterised by its hilly terrain and characteristic Ashgrovian houses built in the early 20th century...
Fire Brigade, which is at West Ashgrove
Ashgrove, Queensland
Ashgrove is an inner suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, located approximately 4 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. Ashgrove is a leafy residential suburb, characterised by its hilly terrain and characteristic Ashgrovian houses built in the early 20th century...
, is also in close proximity to The Gap. Also, an ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
station has now been opened close to The Gap.
The Enoggera Dam
Enoggera Dam
The Enoggera Dam, which is located within the inner, western suburb of Enoggera Reservoir, in Brisbane, Queensland, and was constructed in 1866. It was built on Enoggera Creek and was the first major dam built in Queensland...
is located in the suburb adjacent to The Gap called Enoggera Reservoir
Enoggera Reservoir, Queensland
Enoggera Reservoir is an outer suburb of Brisbane, Australia located north-west of the CBD and bordering the Moreton Bay Region and The Gap. It contains Peewee Bend....
.
Schools
The primary and secondarySecondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
schools in The Gap include:
- The Gap State High SchoolThe Gap State High SchoolThe Gap State High School is located in the suburb of The Gap in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with a student population, in 2008, of 980. The Gap State High School is an Education Queensland Secondary High School....
(public state school) - The Gap State School (public state school)
- Hilder Road State School (public state school)
- Payne Road State School (public state school)
- St Peter Chanel Primary School (independent school)
Transport
Travel to, and within, The Gap is by road. As well as private vehicles, The Gap has a good public bus service. The main arterial road through The Gap is Waterworks Road, which heads east through the suburbs St Johns WoodSt John's Wood, Queensland
St Johns Wood is an unbounded locality within the suburb of Ashgrove in Brisbane, Australia. The area was originally a large property with a homestead called Granite House, which was founded in 1856. The house is still in good condition and the original property has been subdivided to make way for...
, Ashgrove
Ashgrove, Queensland
Ashgrove is an inner suburb of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia, located approximately 4 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. Ashgrove is a leafy residential suburb, characterised by its hilly terrain and characteristic Ashgrovian houses built in the early 20th century...
and Red Hill
Red Hill, Queensland
Red Hill is an inner suburb of Brisbane, Australia, located 3 km north-west of the Brisbane CBD. The suburb is very hilly and mainly residential, with shops and small businesses located on Musgrave and Waterworks Roads...
and then, as Musgrave Road, it continues to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
city. Waterworks Road was widened, from two lanes to four lanes, along the 8 km stretch of road between The Gap and Red Hill between July 1999 and December 2003. Total cost was $50 million
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
.
External links
- ourbrisbane.com website - The Gap section - official Brisbane City Council website
- Brisbane Forest Park, Mount Nebo Road, The Gap - official website (home page)
- University of Queensland: Queensland Places: The Gap