The Gap is a north-western
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
in the
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council.
The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia.
In the , The Gap had a population of 17,318 people.
[
]
Geography
The Gap is by road north-west of the Brisbane GPO
The General Post Office (GPO) in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is a heritage-listed building located at 261 Queen Street. Originally constructed in 1872, it was extended through to Elizabeth Street in 1908. The GPO remains in use by the Aus ...
.
The Gap was named for its geographical location in the valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
between Mount Coot-tha
Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mount Coot-tha Lookout, Brisbane Botanic Garden ...
and Enoggera Hill
Enoggera Hill is a mountain of the Taylor Range in suburb of Enoggera, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (). Its peak is above sea level.
Geography
The hill is located within the Enoggera Close Training Area of the Gallipoli Barrack ...
(i.e. '' 'the gap' between hills'') which both form part of the Taylor Range
The Taylor Range or Herbert Taylor Range is a mountain range on the western edge of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first named The Glenmorrison Range by John Oxley during his exploration of the area in January 1824. In 1828, the colonia ...
.
History
Initially inhabited by the Turrbal
The Turrbal are an Aboriginal Australian people from the area now known as Brisbane. The boundaries of their traditional territory are unclear and linguists are divided over whether they spoke a separate language or a dialect of the Yuggera la ...
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 farming. 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.B. 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
The Enoggera Dam is a heritage-listed dam, which is located within the outer, western suburb of Enoggera Reservoir, Queensland, Enoggera Reservoir, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
History
The Enoggera Dam was constructed in 1866, on the upp ...
which was built in 1866 to provide a water supply for Brisbane.
A timber Primitive Methodist Church opened on Waterworks Road on Sunday 25 May 1873 on land donated by Moses Adsett. A foundation stone for a new brick church was laid on 2 October 1960 by the Reverend Dr Robert William Fulcher. Following the amalgamation of the Methodist Church into the Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most Wiktionary:congregation, congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church o ...
in 1977, it became present-day The Gap Uniting Church. On 15 September 2001 a new auditorium was dedicated by Reverend Dr Ray Reddicliffe, the Moderator of the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia
The Synod of Queensland or Queensland Synod is a state council of the Uniting Church in Australia.
Synod also describes the regular meeting (every 1.5 years) of representatives of the state-wide church. These meetings are known as the Synod in S ...
.
From 1879 The Gap was part of the local government area called Ithaca Division
The Ithaca Division is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in north-western Brisbane.
History
The Ithaca Division was one of the original divisions created on 11 November 1879 under the ''Divisional Boards Act of 18 ...
, then part of the Shire of Enoggera
The Shire of Enoggera is a former local government areas of Queensland, local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in north-western Brisbane.
History
Ithaca Division was one of the original divisions created on 11 November 1879 und ...
from 1887 to 1925.
A map advertised the sale of 800 allotments at Royal Park Estate, now The Gap and St. John's Wood Extension Estate, Ashgrove by F. M. Anglim in August 1927.
Gap State School opened on 22 January 1912. It was renamed The Gap State School in the early 1960s.
Following World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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.
Mason's jam factory was established about 1939 by Claude Hamilton Mason. It was located to the east of the Ashgrove Golf Course (), but closed circa 1990.
The Gap State High School opened on 25 January 1960.
Payne Road State School opened on 27 January 1970.
St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School opened on 29 August 1972.
Hilder Road State School opened on 30 January 1979.
The billabong
In Australian English, a billabong ( ) is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake caused by a change in course of a river or creek, but other types of small lakes, ponds or waterholes are also called billabongs ...
between The Gap State High School and Payne Road Primary School was a favourite swimming location and over the years has been home to turtles, eels and platypus
The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypi ...
. 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 was a toll gate on Waterworks Road near what is now the entrance to Brisbane Forest Park
Brisbane Forest Park (now officially the southern part of D'Aguilar National Park), is located on parts of the D'Aguilar Range. The large nature reserve lies on the western boundary of City of Brisbane into the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, A ...
.
The Gap War Memorial is located at Walton Bridge Reserve () and commemorates those who served in World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
The Gap was affected by a major storm on the afternoon of 16 November 2008. 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.
Demographics
In the , The Gap had a population of 16,692 people.
In the , The Gap had a population of 17,318 people.
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
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, Tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
, Athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...
, Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
and Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
etc.). The Gap also contains over 45 lush green parks, many of which include sporting/recreation areas, playgrounds, pathways, barbeques (wood & electric), toilets and dog off-leash areas. Some of these parks are home to scout clubs, community gardens (the Yoorala Street Community Garden) and other clubhouses.
Adjacent to The Gap is Enoggera Reservoir and Walkabout Creek Discovery Centre. The Reservoir is open for some water-based recreation, while it is not currently being used as a drinking water source, including fishing, canoeing/kayaking and stand-up paddling. Facilities include a paddle craft launch point and designated swimming area. Fishing is permitted from the shoreline or from paddle craft. Bushwalking and mountain biking are accessible from the site, with links in to the D’Aguilar Park trail network.
The Gap is also where the main entrance to Walkabout Creek, in what was previously known as Brisbane Forest Park
Brisbane Forest Park (now officially the southern part of D'Aguilar National Park), is located on parts of the D'Aguilar Range. The large nature reserve lies on the western boundary of City of Brisbane into the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, A ...
, (now officially the southern part of D'Aguilar National Park
D'Aguilar National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia. It contains the D'Aguilar Range and is located along the northwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area. The park is traversed by the winding scenic Mount Nebo Road and Mount Glo ...
), is located. A major bushland area in Brisbane's west, there is an information and wildlife education centre, with many Australian wildlife species, including marsupials
Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a ...
, birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
, fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
and reptiles
Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...
. For a number of years, now, there has been a resident platypus
The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypi ...
named Burrun at Walkabout Creek and, more recently, a second platypus named Willum (Burrun's half-brother). Bred at Healesville Sanctuary
Healesville Sanctuary, formally known as the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary, is a zoo specialising in native Australian animals. It is located at Healesville in rural Victoria, Australia, and has a history of breeding native animals. It is on ...
in Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, they are the sons of Barak, the platypus at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Ashgrove Golf Club is located at 863 Waterworks Road, this club was formed in April 1939 as a nine-hole format. Over time the club expanded to eighteen holes utilising freehold and leased land. The land was originally a dairy farm and market garden. Mark Winston was the original owner who leased the land to the club until the club bought the land in 1950 for £12,000. The club celebrated the 75th anniversary of the formation of the club in April 2014.
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 is a local Police Station
A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...
in the suburb, at 965 Waterworks Rd.
A Queensland Fire & Rescue Station (515 Waterworks Rd, Ashgrove) and a Queensland Ambulance Service
The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) is the state emergency ambulance and patient transport provider in Queensland, Australia. QAS is part of the Queensland Government under the Queensland Health portfolio and is one of the largest ambulan ...
station (84 Baileys Rd, Ashgrove), are in close proximity to The Gap.
Amenities
The Gap is served by a fortnightly visit of the Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...
's mobile library service at the car park in the sports ground at the end of Glenaffric Street.
There are also Christian churches of many denominations, including:
* The Gap Uniting Church, 1050 Waterworks Road ()
* St Mark's Anglican Church, 1073 Waterworks Road
* The Gap Baptist Church, 1125 Waterworks Road
* St Peter Chanel Catholic Church, 41 Chaprowe Road
* Rivercity Family Church, 59 Settlement Road
Education
The Gap State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at the corner of Waterworks and Settlement Roads (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 593 students with 44 teachers (36 full-time equivalent) and 31 non-teaching staff (18 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education
Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...
program.
Payne Road State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 171 Payne Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 283 students with 24 teachers (18 full-time equivalent) and 18 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.[
Hilder Road State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Kaloma Road ().] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 465 students with 42 teachers (35 full-time equivalent) and 20 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.
St Peter Chanel Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at 41 Chaprowe Road ().[ In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 404 students with 32 teachers (26 full-time equivalent) and 19 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent).][
The Gap State High School is a government secondary (7–12) school for boys and girls at 1020 Waterworks Road ().] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 1456 students with 117 teachers (109 full-time equivalent) and 50 non-teaching staff (42 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program.
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 Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough ...
, Ashgrove and Red Hill and then, as ''Musgrave Road'', it continues to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
city. Waterworks Road was widened, from two lanes to four lanes, along the stretch of road between The Gap and Red Hill between July 1999 and December 2003. Total cost was .
Popular culture
In 2009, scenes for the feature film '' Jucy'' (2010) were shot in the suburb.
Robert Forster (musician)
Robert Derwent Garth Forster (born 29 June 1957) is an Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist and music critic. In December 1977 he co-founded an indie rock group, the Go-Betweens, with fellow musician Grant McLennan. In 1980, Lindy Morrison j ...
, one of the founding members of the musical group, The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster (musician), Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only co ...
, grew up in The Gap and wrote about the suburb in his 2016 memoir, Grant & I.[Forster, Robert (2016). Grant & I: Inside and outside the Go-Betweens. Penguin Books Australia. .,]
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and Libretto, librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University ...
's novel ''Johnno'' references The Gap on two occasions, as does the debut novel of journalist Trent Dalton, ''Boy Swallows Universe''.
Many of the scenes in the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting
* Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
children's show '' Bluey'' are inspired by the creator's experiences living in The Gap.
Photos of The Gap
File:A-street-in-The-Gap-Brisbane.jpg, A street in The Gap
File:The-Gap-Enoggera-Hill.jpg, Enoggera Hill at The Gap
File:The-Gap-2.jpg, Walton Bridge Reserve at The Gap
File:Walton Bridge Reserve at The Gap.jpg, Walton Bridge Reserve at The Gap
File:Mount-Coot-tha-and-TV-Towers QLD.jpg, Mount Coot-tha
Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mount Coot-tha Lookout, Brisbane Botanic Garden ...
and the Television Towers, and Walton Bridge Reserve
References
External links
* ]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gap
The Gap, Queensland,
Suburbs of the City of Brisbane