Brisbane Racing Club car park restored to Ascot Park
Joni Mitchell sang ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ in grief of lost green space but in one Brisbane suburb they are banishing the cars and rebuilding a historic park, and the plans look eye-catching.
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JONI Mitchell sang ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ in grief of lost green space but in Ascot they are banishing the cars and rebuilding a historic park.
A triangle of land next to historic Eagle Farm Racecourse will be restored to its former glory as a turn-of-the-century park after decades as a Brisbane Racing Club car park.
The land, wedged between Lancaster Rd, Kitchener Rd and McGill Ave, was handed to Brisbane City Council to be converted back to public parkland in April this year.
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That process started nearly 10 years ago with the Racecourse Precinct Neighbourhood Plan, when it was decided that the BRC carpark should be converted back to parkland.
This Brisbane City Council released the final designs for the park this week.
Cr David McLachlan (Hamilton) said he was “very pleased” the park had reached this stage after its already “interesting history”, which included a close shave with development.
Brisbane Racing Club chairman Neville Bell said in September the area would remain a vital part of the Eagle Farm Precinct.
“The council is to be commended for its vision to beautify the park to make it now even more appealing as an area for everyone to enjoy,” he said
The State Government gave Queensland Turf Club the land that became Eagle Farm Racecourse in 1863, the racecourse was built by 1865 and the Ascot Station in 1882.
Cr McLachlan said the railway line cut off the triangle of land and created a stranded asset for the Queensland Turf Club, so they leased it to Hamilton Shire Council.
“That’s when it got laid out as a park,” Cr McLachlan said.
The landscaped trees from that layout can still be seen, despite many being pulled down earlier this year.
Hamilton Shire Council was amalgamated into Brisbane City Council in 1924.
“It returned to the possession of the Turf Club after the Second World War, after 1946, and that’s when it started its second life as a car park,” he said.
The Queensland Turf Club merged with the Brisbane Turf Club in 2009 to become Brisbane Racing Club.
“Then Brisbane Racing Club wanted to develop their assets and that included this area — their original proposal was to put townhomes on that site,” he said.
“That’s what I fought against.”
Brisbane City Council approved the Brisbane Racing Club’s master plan but that approval included a condition that the club give the land back to the council as a park.
“That takes you through to today,” Cr McLachlan said.
The council said the design would hark back to the Hamilton Shire Council park that occupied the site in the early 20th century.
There will be a new toilet block near McGill Ave and across the road from the main park, to the north, there will a dog off-leash area.
Cr McLachlan said the council would tender for a company to construct the park “very soon” and he hoped to have contracts ready by the end of the year.
He said work should begin February and be finished by about September 2019.
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