Bracken Ridge, Queensland

The suburb is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of the Brisbane central business district. The southern border is formed by Telegraph Road, one of the oldest roads in the suburb, and a portion of the western border is formed by the Caboolture railway line. A number of housing estates are located within the suburb, including The Oaks, Enbrook Heights and the most recent development Sungate Estate.

The terrain in the suburb is, as the name suggests, generally hilly. The highest area of the suburb features a park and a reservoir; from this height it is quite easy to see Moreton Bay to the east and the CBD to the south.

The Turrbul people are the traditional owners of the area. [4]

The first land sales in the area occurred on 3 August 1857, with the first purchase being made by William Loudon. John McPherson and James Ferguson bought land at the next land auction on 28 April 1862 and were the first to buy and settle on the land. [5]

The Bracken Ridge Library opened in 1987.[6]

Bracken Ridge is home to a variety of persons on the socio-economic scale. The majority of residents are professional couples and families. The estates south of Barbour Road, the homes surrounding the "ridge" and St Joseph's church, the areas on top of the hills, "Enbrook Heights Estate" and the most recent development "Sungate Estate" are affluent. The average price for a home in the suburb was $513,499 in 2020.[7] 86% of these homes are owner-occupied or in the process of being purchased.

In the 2016 census, Bracken Ridge recorded a population of 16,936 people, 51% female and 49% male.

The median age of the Bracken Ridge population was 36 years of age, 2 years below the Australian median, and 1 year below Queensland median. Children aged 0 - 14 years made up 20.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.1% of the population

Of people in Bracken Ridge 51.8% were married, this higher than the State and National level.

72.6% of people living in Bracken Ridge were born in Australia.[3] The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 4.6%, England 3.3%, India 2.9% Philippines 2.5%, Fiji 0.8%.

82.0% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Punjabi 1.4%, Tagalog 1.4%, Hindi 1.2%, Malayalam 1.0% and Filipino 0.7%.

• In the Brisbane City Council, Bracken Ridge is represented by Cr Sandy Landers (Liberal), who has served since 2019.
• In the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the Electoral district of Sandgate is represented by Stirling Hinchliffe of the Labor Party.
• In the Australian House of Representatives, the Division of Petrie is represented by Luke Howarth (LNP).

Shopping strips are located in Gawain Road and Barrett Street. A more substantial shopping centre is located on the corner of Telegraph Road and Norris Road. There is also a small shopping centre near the Bracken Ridge Tavern incorporating a Woolworths, chemist and a newsagent on Barrett St. There is a pub (The Bracken Ridge Tavern which incorporates 'Phoenix') on the corner of Barrett and Denham Streets, and a sports centre located on Bracken Ridge Road.

The Brisbane City Council operates a public library on the corner of Barrett St and Bracken St, next to Ferguson Park.[8]

Bracken Ridge is also home to Bracken Ridge District Cricket Club based at McPherson Park, with McPherson also being the homeground of the Bracken Ridge Little Athletics Club "Roadrunners".

The Bracken Ridge Central Lions club hold a monthly miniature and electrice steam day on the 4th Sunday of each month at Mcphersons Park. Established in 1997. The monthly days sees hundreds of residents turn out.

Bracken Ridge has an Indoor Sports Centre and also has a netball club "Ridgettes" who are a part of the Brisbane Netball Association on Rode Road in Chermside.

There is a large number of parks in the suburb, including Enbrook Parkland and the Bill Brown Sports Reserve on Telegraph Road, Bracken Ridge Reservoir, Ferguson Park and Stanley Day Park. There are also a number of churches present, including the Catholic, Baptist, Uniting Church and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denominations. An Islamic community centre lies just across the border in Bald Hills.

There are a number of schools and educational institutions in the suburb:

• St John Fisher College
• Bracken Ridge State School. This school opened on 26 August 1957.[9]
• Norris Road State School[9]
• Bracken Ridge State High School (formerly known as Nashville State High School). The school opened on 23 January 1967[9] but changed its name on 25 September 2000.[9]
• St Josephs Catholic Primary School
• Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Bracken Ridge campus.

Bracken Ridge has a number of parklands and reserves that are popular with the community. The website for the Bracken Ridge Ward Councillor has more details, including each park's facilities and history.[10]

• Barrett Street Reserve: Accessible from Barrett and Snooker Streets
• C. Slaughter Park: Located between Phillips Street and Ranes Court
• Albion Park: Situated on Caulfield Street, Cluden and Doomben Places
• Enbrook Parklands: Located on Telegraph Road with walkway access from Enbrook Heights estate adjoining the Bracken Ridge Plaza shopping centre
• Ferguson Park: Located on the corner of Barrett and Bracken Streets
• Fred Francis Park: Accessible from Bracken Ridge Road, Bracken Street, St John Fisher Drive and from Sungate Estate via Greendale and Brookvale Places
• Gawler Crescent Park: Located on Gawler Crescent south before Gawler meets Whyalla Close
• Harold Dean Park: Accessible from Gawain Road, Lynette and Torre Streets
• Isaac Best Park: Located in David Street
• McPherson Park: Ideally accessible from Denham Street, Yaraan Street or Tomah Road
• Mensforth Bushland: Located on Childs Street
• Michael Place Park: Located between Michael Place and Barbour Road
• Oaks Park: Located on Barbour and Denning Roads
• Peter Gaskell Park: Located on Elm Crescent and Maple Close, off Childs Street
• Talltrees Street Park: Cardell Place and Talltrees Street, off Quinlan Street
• Wendy Turnbull Park: Accessible from Caruso Place, Corvette Crescent and Enbrook Street

Bracken Ridge has a few heritage-listed sites, including:

• Bald Hills Cemetery: 225 Barrett St

• Trent Dalton - author of Boy Swallows Universe [11]
• Emily Seebohm - Olympic swimmer
• Paige Parker - Australian rules footballer playing in the AFLW
• Bernard Flewell-Smith - soldier and fruit grower

Media related to Bracken Ridge, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons

• University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Bracken Ridge
• "Bracken Ridge". BRISbites. Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008.
• "Bracken Ridge". Our Brisbane. Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008.