The Davidson St Creek Restoration Project

Summary

Nestled in the Lower Brisbane catchment area, Newmarket has welcomed the first completed phase of the Davidson St Creek Restoration Project.

As part of its Brisbane River Recovery initiative, Brisbane City Council, in partnership with Save Our Water Zone and with support from the State Government, Federal Government and Healthy Land and Water, wants to restore and enhance a small section of Breakfast Creek within Corbie Park, adjacent to Davidson Street.

Healthy Land and Water affirms one of the crucial steps toward improving and protecting the health of South East Queensland waterways is by supporting communities to develop an emotional connection with their local waterways.

The initial stages of the project commenced in early 2018 when project leaders identified the lack of community engagement with their local waterways. The 2017 Report Card found that 31 per cent of residents living in the highly-urbanised Lower Brisbane catchment were interested in using their local waterways on a weekly basis, and only 30 per cent were motivated to protect them.

The project team found the most effective way to reach out and establish this emotional connection was to approach the restoration project by hosting a community workshop. The workshop allowed residents to share their ideas about important design features and explain what the creek meant to them.

Funding for the community-led designs and implementation of Healthy Land and Water’s Water Sensitive Urban Design elements, such as water wise street trees and raingardens, has been provided by the Federal Government as part of the Improving Your Local Parks and Environment Program. Additionally, the State Government has funded the development of educational tools enhancing the opportunities for capacity building within the local communities.