Under the guise of public safety, the Department of Transport and Main Roads has been acting for a developer, McNab, at 250 Boundary Street Hill Highgate Hill. Departmental documents reveal that McNab wishes to put a pipeline from its development at 4/5 Dudley Street Highgate Hill through the Kurilpa Commons, currently occupied by Growing Forward and concerned members of the community. Despite repeated attempts over the past five years for TMR to evict the tenants from the Commons, a committee is currently resolute in its defence of a communal garden, memorial trees, a frog pond, facilities for public meetings and the showing of films and various other community activities.
Here is a recent statement released to the local press by Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and published in West End today on 21 February 2025:
âRecognising the health and safety of local residents and the wider community as the utmost priority, TMR sought to secure the land with a perimeter fence to limit access and ensure a safe workplace for necessary investigations to be undertaken.”
Never once over the past five years of occupancy of the commons has TMR deemed it necessary to inform the community that it suspected there are ‘contaminants’ in the soil. Yet this statement has been published by the Local Press:
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of the community during this time. TMR is diligently working to investigate the situation as swiftly and safely as possible and will keep the community updated.â
The local community has not been taken in by this ruse. They have removed the fencing, and Kurilpa Commons is open to the community once again. Despite this, the Local Press reported this false claim by TMR:
“With testing still underway, there is no clear timeline for whenâor ifâthe garden will reopen. If contamination is confirmed, further action may be required, raising questions about the long-term future of the space.” Published in West End Today 21-February-2025.
So what does internal advice to the Minister for Transport and Main Roads say? Bear in mind there has been no attempt to resume the land from its current occupancy.
However, let’s go back and look at the history of this site at 250 Boundary Street Highgate Hill. The state government has owned the land for over 100 years. In 1928, there was a proposal to run a Tramway from West End across the river to St Lucia. This was to be the future site of the University of Queensland, but at the time, it was owned by the wealthy Mayne family. Nothing came of this plan. So let’s wind forward to 2017 and here what the department was advising the minister.
As with the plan for a Tramway nearly a hundred years before, nothing came of this thought bubble. Then, 5 years ago, the Minister was given this advice.
So what next?
To legitimize the temporary occupancy? Does the Minister seriously consider five years of occupancy, temporary? In commercial terms, that is a long-term lease.
According to a TMR document, MBN 24652, at page 2, a development application for a neighboring property at 5 Dudley Street Highgate Hill had been referred to TMR. The application proposes access to 250 Boundary Street in order to connect to the sewer main on TMR property. The works proposed in the advice to the minister, if approved by TMR, would have considerable impact on the community. The advice reads: “on the 28th of August 2021 a public rally was held by Growing Forward to publicly protest against the developers submission and the story was picked up by the Australian Broadcasting Commission”.
Four (4) years later, thanks to efforts by Growing Forward and resolute defence buy the community, Kurilpa Commons remains open and vibrant.
The Commons is run on democratic lines. Everyone is welcome at the commons anytime, except cops or developers. People just add themselves to the roster and are welcomed by the community. If anyone wants a workshop/event to be advertised on Growing Forward’s Facebook page or want some other assistance for their event from Growing Forward that’s when the committee will have a poll or a meeting to vote on the proposal.
To bee or not to bee that is the question; whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die to sleep, no more and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. To die to sleep to sleep, perchance to dream; Ay, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil. Must give us pause.
Ian Curr, 23 February 2025
https://westender.com.au/the-battle-for-riviera-what-is-happening-at-5-dudley-street/
Trina Massey, BCC councillor for The Gabba, included Kurilpa Commons in her newsletter.
*Kurilpa Commons Under Threat*
On the morning of Friday, February 14, State Government workers, heavy machinery, and police arrived to fence up, remove community created infrastructure, and most probably dig up the gardens within the Kurilpa Commons.
At the time, there was a variety of misinformation, some of it directly from the workers on site. These included assumptions that Brisbane City Council was trying to close down the Commons, that the State Government TMR site had been sold or was about to be sold, and that contamination had been found on site.
Since then itâs been confirmed that contamination was found and registered at the development site next door 5 Dudley Street (December 2024). 1-3 Dudley Street is still under TMR âownershipâ and the testing for contamination has not been completed at the Kurilpa Commons.
The lack of information, alert to community members, and details about what the testing would involve is staggering. This has, of course, sowed and increased mistrust of the State Government and their intentions.
Since Friday 14 my conversations with the department and the Office of the Minister for Transport and Main Roads have focused on halting any immediate work, for the provision of a transparent information transfer via a general community meeting.
Kurilpa Commons isnât just a gardenâitâs a self-managed community space that fosters solidarity, reciprocity, and collective struggle. It includes a farm and serves as a hub for neighbourhood collaboration, offering space for art, music, film, and more.
Contamination testing occurs across Brisbane City. It is rare that sites are closed without provision of remediation or transparent understanding of what the testing would involve.
I stand in solidarity with Kurilpa Commoners in their defence of the Commons and recognise it is still under threat from the State Government with their refusal to pursue any other options other than site closure and excavation.
If youâd like to get involved or keep updated with whatâs happening at the Kurilpa Commons, please follow and contact Growing Forward here:
Growing Forward on Facebook.
Hand drawn image with a three story building in the background in
black and white. A colourful community garden is in the foreground.
The words “Save Kurilpa Commons” are on the top in block letters and
green.