Well i currently live in Sunnybank Hills, the area is basically bordered by Bushland in the form of Karwartha Forest and undeveloped bush land. Ive lived in the general area since i was 10rys old so when i moved here bushland was plentiful and always a piece down the road. So since ive moved here susburbs that were previously bushland and even farm land have popped up in the form of Calamvale, Stretton and Algester. So it has being sad to see all the bushalnd dissapear, especially when you think about the fact that kangaroos used to come down the bottom of my street, and we used to stumble over wombat holes and swimming in the local creek(which is now a cement gully)were some good memories.

Anyway, ive noticed in the past couple of years that much focus has being put on making these developments more enviromentally friendly, i personally think its great but then a few of them are bullcrap in what they say. Anyway heres a few photos of shuch developments around my area.

This is seemingly a natural gutter which the developers(devine) are giving a go, looks interesting at least
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/tocc/naturalgutters.jpg

Couple of really old Mango Trees that i hope arent knocked down with development.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/tocc/MangoTrees.jpg

Big parklands, and smaller things you notice like rain water tanks which are becoming a big thing in brissie
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/tocc/athomewithnature.jpg

a interesting road which seemingly goes nowhere.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/tocc/aesthetics.jpg

another road which has no real destination, but love how they make it weaves through the trees, hate to drive along it when im tired though..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/tocc/beauty.jpg

I did take more but my broadband is off line at the moment so im sitting on dialup, theres also another estate that ive got to get photos of tommorow.

same thing happened here. They put a big road thru the bush at the bottom of ym street and are also doing the housing developments.

I can't belive that they still cut down forests to build new suburbs in Queensland. The concept of clearing forests to build suburbs would be considered shocking in Melbourne. Do they still do this in any other state in Australia?

I say save the forests and build more skyscrapers in Brisbane and the gold Coast!

In Victoria all new dwellings must have a 5 star energy rating and a rainwater tank or solar hot water system.

I can't belive that they still cut down forests to build new suburbs in Queensland. The concept of clearing forests to build suburbs would be considered shocking in Melbourne. Do they still do this in any other state in Australia?

Where else would they put the new suburbs? In Brisbane it's either forest or urban, there's no 'in the middle of nowhere' land like there is in Melbourne. We have a much higher rainfall and generally hilly land, which means there's alot more bush. Drive from Brisbane in any direction and direction and you've got urban or bushland for hours in any direction. I still think it sucks that they're getting rid of it though. Especially when they're doing so in such a way that most new estates will never be served by PT, ever.

What I do like to see is them not cutting down every tree on the block. My street was developed 25 years ago, and most people have fairly big gardens now, with some quite tall trees, but the two blocks just developed (one about 3 years ago, and one being built on right this very moment) Are both plain devine - knock everything down, put in a slab and give it some lawn. Type developments. Not a tree in sight. :(

While I dont agree with knocking down forests for development, we have to remember that most of these forests that are being used for development are privately owned land. We are paying the bushland levy so that bushland can be bought to preserve these areas. While I believe that the more scrapers the better to slow the spreading process, it is enevitable that spreading is going to happen. I do alot of work in all suburbs in Brisbane and many of the newer developments are very environmentally credible, at least compared to what they use to be.

I can't belive that they still cut down forests to build new suburbs in Queensland. The concept of clearing forests to build suburbs would be considered shocking in Melbourne. Do they still do this in any other state in Australia?

I say save the forests and build more skyscrapers in Brisbane and the gold Coast!

In Victoria all new dwellings must have a 5 star energy rating and a rainwater tank or solar hot water system.

I think the Delfin Lend Lease development at St.Marys on a former Defence Department site will involve a fair bit of bushland clearing, but not nearly so much as they wanted to do.

Originally Delfin wanted about 15,000 lots/dwellings on the site, but environmental protest from the community means that it will now be whittled down around 5,000 lots with large tracts or particularly significant woodland preserved.

Most of the land surrounding Sydney that is permitted for urban development (and there isn't much) is farmland/market garden, as the bushland surrounding the urban and within pockets (Royal, Ku-ring-gai, Blue Mountains, Georges River, Lane Cove, Sydney Harbour etc etc) edges is pretty much all national park.

A big issue is the disappearing farmland around SEQ, and so not that much forest is actually being demolished.

Grollo, consider that the reason that they're not clearing forest to build further suburbs in Victoria is because was cleared in the past.

The reality is the developments are a lot better than they were a few years ago. Areas that were constructed 10-15 years ago still have few trees. It gets me annoyed that people who bought a property without any trees can refuse to plant any. These people seem to aggregate, making whole areas horribly homogenous.

One big advantage the newer developments have is underground power. Growing up in Canberra, all of the power lines were on the back fence line which still enables nicely treed streetscapes and high shrubs for privacy out the back. One of the first things I noticed was the lack of big trees in peoples front yards, it does make for a fairly bland streetscape.

Regardless of power lines, I have to agree with Orfeo about people not planting more trees in their gardens, I dont understand it, especially with a climate like Brisbane. Then again, housing blocks are only marginally larger than the houses that sit on them these days so I guess there isnt the room for trees. Its a pity.

^^The council at least should be planting street trees on the nature strip/verge though! That dramatically improves a streetscape!

In my area, inner south, they're planting heaps of trees along the streets. Until a few years ago if people wanted a tree in front of their house you had to buy it and plant in yourself. But about 5 years ago all these tree suddenly appeared, planted by coucil workers. Late last year more trees were put in, probably to fix up the gaps where people have either killed or negelcted the plants. My question is: if this is happening where i live, why isn't it happening in many of the developments? Bare streets look bad, especially if the houses look virtually the same.

well all the new estates built around me in the past few years have streets scape trees, and also a large emphasis on parklands and bushland. Yet in the era before that pre-1995 planting street scape trees was a indulgence that you have to plant your self.

Actually anyone living in the BCC area, you can actually arange to have your whole street planted with trees(depending on how long your street is). Mines only about 30 houses cause its a dead end, but around the start of last year i went on to the website and contacted the right department, and within two weeks we had a council person come out and inspect the street and determine which type of tree would best suit the area and space, and around 1month-2months later they had the whole street planted with the same type of native tree, around 3-4m between each one.

What a impact it made as well, it just makes it look more friendly and green even though the trees are still like overgrown shrubs barely pressing 1.5m it should be extremely good looking in 2-3yrs. One of the trees actually died in front of my house, so once again i contacted the council and they came out and removed the old one and replaced it within a month.

Time scale wise it does seem fairly lengthy, but considering the neighboorhoods going to be around for years to come it is definetly worthwhile.

^^The council at least should be planting street trees on the nature strip/verge though! That dramatically improves a streetscape!

In the last 3 years, Logan city council has planted trees and gardens on just about every nature strip there was (and made dozens more where there wasn't a nature strip previously) It certainly makes the streets look amazing compared to BCC streets (which are just horrible), but it obscures the view of some intersections though. I haven't seen a pothole in logan for years. No elections on that issue :o

One big advantage the newer developments have is underground power.

Yeah, the disadvantage though is that many never get optus/foxtel cable put in, and are set up on pair gain lines, so you have brand new houses that can't get broadband internet. I worked for someone in their home office (the house was in a new Brisbane housing estate) and despite being in an upmarket area, they were limited to sattelite pay tv/internet. the underground power is nice for the streetscape though.

I never knew that about underground power Shado, it surprises me that in this day and age that there isnt a little more forward thinking when it comes to that sought of thing. Then again, I did see on Sunrise the other day that they are starting to release internet by satelite.

Yeah, it's not specifically related to underground power, but Optus/Foxtel are not rolling out any more cable, regardless of the area. (And they rolled it out in overhead areas first, because it was cheaper). There are some areas that are getting it rolled out, but only if the developers come to an agreement with telstra/optus, on who's going to pay for it. Usually the developers have to, so it's not being done or even considered in many developments. At the very least you would hope people could get ADSL.

Internet broadband has been out for many years, but it's been 1 way (ie. you still need a modem to send, but all your downloads come through the sattelite fast). Just recently 2 way sattelite has been available. It's not cheap though.

I can't belive that they still cut down forests to build new suburbs in Queensland. The concept of clearing forests to build suburbs would be considered shocking in Melbourne. Do they still do this in any other state in Australia?

I say save the forests and build more skyscrapers in Brisbane and the gold Coast!

In Victoria all new dwellings must have a 5 star energy rating and a rainwater tank or solar hot water system.

You don't have to believe it because its not true. Around Brisbane you will notice that we are pretty much surrounded by forest and unless you are building a new town center or industrial site you CANT by law cut down trees. Most developers use them in their estates and you can only cut down a tree if its on the house pad you intend to build on or if its a danger to the house.

You will notice that between Gold Coast and Brisbane for instance it appears to be all forest but if you look closely there are houses through the trees. Also there are heaps of areas of new growth around Brisbane that they can clear.

Also in Brisbane all new homes now must have rainwater tanks so runoff from roofs and gutters can be collected. This is not only good for gardens in dry times but is most usefull during Brisbane's massive storm season when 50mm of rain can fall in an hour causing major flooding - rain water tanks aleviate this and help stop flash flooding.

jt

I have not seen any rules about having to put rain water tanks in - so at present we are not doing that, but it will be good if it does happen. Our clients seem to be keen to keep as many trees as they can on a site.

Do you work for a new home builder Brizzy-Mike?

You don't have to believe it because its not true. Around Brisbane you will notice that we are pretty much surrounded by forest and unless you are building a new town center or industrial site you CANT by law cut down trees. Most developers use them in their estates and you can only cut down a tree if its on the house pad you intend to build on or if its a danger to the house.

heres a tip, head out into the suburbs where the developments are taking place, these are not in anyway town centres and many of them being cut down are now the sites of crappy little easements, pools and bare and boring parks

I haven't been to have alook at Devine's 'Sunnybank Grove' development yet. I really should seeing as it's only 10 minutes away on the bus. :lol:

I also like how 'Montrose' at Calamvale has a large portion of the site for conservation purposes. Althought ithere's probably only a few years left before all the land of Benhiam Street zoned 'emerging community' will become housing. Not long till all the land around Villa World's 'Calamvale Park' becomes filled in with housing. Were already seeing infill development in that area take over with 'Nottingham Manor' and an extension north east of 'Calamvale Park'.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Calamvale_District_Local_Plan.png

Actually I too wasn't aware of such laws ABS and JayT. Around my area many new houses are going in WITHOUT rainwater tanks - leading me to believe it is not yet a "law", maybe a "suggestion"? However, I do know that Tamborine Council requires all new homes to have rainwater tanks for housewater as they are no longer connecting town water supplies. The new houses there must also have a complete sewerage recycling system, as the council are no longer providing sewerage services to new houses either. (I think similar rules also now apply to Beenleigh and/or Beaudesert??)

I can see my house hehe..

Yeah, you're right. It isn't law yet, but is being encouraged and susidised to encourage increased use. However, over at 'Sanctuary Pocket' at Forest Lake they include solar hot water and rainwater tanks standard. The same will happen with a new Australand development at Heathwood next to 'Sactuary Pocket' in a few years time.

Man I've turned into a planning geek. :runaway: ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Calamvale_District_Local_Plan.png

Notice the plan includes a large district park between Formby Street and Ormskirk Street? This is because the land is mostly waterways and not suitable for housing.

I visited the estate yesterday and took a heap of pictures. I'll store them on PhotoBucket and post them here if anyone is interested.

^^I'm interested! :D

The pictures are currently 1600 x 1200 and there's 35 of them. In can convert them to 800 x 600 to reduce size. They will be ready in 1/2 an hour.

DEVINE'S SUNNYBANK GROVE - SUNNYBANK HILLS

Here's some of the photos I took of Sunnybank Grove on the 28th September 2004. I've included the 10 best out of 35 images and reduced them to 800 x 600 to reduce problems with bandwidth.

This is an example of the stormwater drainage system used at Sunnybank Grove:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_02.jpg

This is a view from within the estate facing west down Tallowood Way to the entrance on Jackson Road:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_03.jpg

This is an example of the natural drainage swales on Stringybark Street facing south:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_05.jpg

Another example of the drainage swales facing west on Ribbonwood Street:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_06.jpg

This is an example of where Sunnybank Grove on the right merges with another estate on the left called Hellawell Grove:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_09.jpg

This is a view from within Hellawell Grove facing west. Hellawell Grove is a small infill subdivision of only 14 homesites. Unlike Sunnybank Grove this estate has grassed, rather than landscaped drainage swales.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_11.jpg

This photo was taken in the centre of the Sunnybank Grove development facing south west down the path of the electricity easement that crosses the estate. Devine have used this opportunity to create open space and are planning revegetation using Australian natives:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_19.jpg

This image is facing north east along the electricity easement where devine are planting a community fruit orchard under the power lines:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_20.jpg

This is an example of the landscaping around Stage 2 of Sunnybank Grove:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_27.jpg

Finally this is a photo of one of the streets in Stage 2 of Sunnybank Grove. Currently Devine have not yet built anything in Stage 2. However, they are planning on constructing house & land packages within the next few months:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/ABS_85/Sunnybank_Grove/Sunnybank_Grove_28.jpg