As much as Australia’s animals and wildlife are unique, its firefighters are also the exceptional heroes who have been facing the toughest conditions, saving every living being affected by the bushfires. Like many establishments around the country, Cafe Fiori in Kenmore Village Shopping Centre is also doing a bushfire fundraiser to benefit these modern-day conquerors working hard to keep Australian communities safe from harm.
On Saturday, the 18th of Jan 2020, Cafe Fiori will hold a bushfire fundraiser to benefit the firefighters. The restaurant has pledged to donate 50 percent of its sales on meals for this particular day to the Rural Firefighters of NSW.
“The devastation of the bushfires is nothing short of horrific. Here at Fiori, we feel passionately about supporting those souls who have given so much to their community and the communities of others,” the management of Cafe Fiori stated.
Photo Credit: Cafe Fiori Kenmore Village/Facebook
Whilst this is, in itself, a great reason to order food from Cafe Fiori, they will make your visit more exciting as they will also set face painting activities for the kids. Some superheroes in costumes are also scheduled to visit the cafe around 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
So, bring your whole family if you’d like to contribute to a worthy cause, eat good food and enjoy the activities!
Cafe Fiori will begin the fundraiser at 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. For inquiries, phone +61 7 3878 2485.
Glen Olive House. St John’s House of Rest. St Christopher’s Lodge. Friary Pottery and Friary Fayres. Brookfield Centre for Christian Spirituality. Over the years, the Old Friary Complex has gone through multiple incarnations and metamorphosed into what it is now.
The Old Friary Complex located at 139 Brookfield Road in Kenmore Hills was once a special centre for the Anglican friars in Brisbane. Developed as a self-sufficient farm and social facility, the site was formally known as the Centre for Christian Spirituality.
From 1965 to 1987, the Old Friary was frequented by the locals and was referred to as “the Friary” as it was bustling with activities and forging fellowship, especially among the young members of the community. Aside from tending to the nursery and learning pottery, the friars and their friends in the community also carried out social work around Brisbane.
But the history of the Old Friary began decades before this. The house owned and designed by one of Brisbane’s most notable architects, Richard Gailey, was actually built in the 1890s. It was part of a structure known as the Glen Olive House in Toowong.
Mr Gailey from Donegal settled in Brisbane in 1864 and achieved to establish his practice within a year. Known for designing the Fernberg (Governor’s residence), Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Baptist Tabernacle, the Regatta hotel and the Orient hotel, Mr Gailey built Glen Olive as a landmark site with a ballroom, an atrium, and several rooms with extensive verandahs.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
In 1901, Dr E. S. Jackson purchased Glen Olive and decided to sell the property in sections. William Melbourne Watts, then the Queensland’s Land Commissioner, bought a section of the house, which was to be erected at his 47 acres lot on top of a hill in the “beautiful Brookfield district.” Watts bought this land in Kenmore Hills from Charles Patterson, a timber merchant.
By 1925, Mr Watts transferred the ownership to his son, William Phillips Watts, who then sold 24.5 acres of land in 1933 to the Brisbane Franciscan Communities led by Reverend Robert Bates of the Franciscan order of the Church of England. At that time, the Old Friary was known as St John’s House of Rest for aged men.
From St John’s House of Rest to St Christopher’s Lodge
With several staff rooms and a large dining room, the complex could accommodate 30 men who helped cultivate the vast land. But as a hilltop site, this self-sustaining home for the aged was found to be too remote to cater to the needs of its aging occupants. When St John’s Home of Rest relocated to Toowong in 1934, the Brookfield site became a boys’ home and was renamed to St Christopher’s Lodge.
The refuge, now managed by the Franciscan order’s Sisters of St Clare, taught the boys to farm and their produce was regularly sold at the Brookfield Show. The young men were also guided and molded with cultural, moral and religious convictions until they were old enough to leave the boys home and start their new life as adults. Reverend Bates also secured the boys’ education at universities around Brisbane.
However, St Christopher’s Lodge ceased to operate when Reverend Bates died in 1955. Part of the hilltop land was also sold to the Presbyterian Church, which established the Blue Care Aged Care Facility and Iona Nursing Centre in Brisbane.
What remained of St Christopher’s Lodge became a base for the friars for its church missions until the property was transferred to the Corporation of the Synod of the Church of England Diocese. In 1966, the site persisted as a self-sufficient farm and handcraft manufacturers as operated by Anglican Society of St Francis. The structures were also rehabilitated whilst Henry Clark & Sons built a new chapel designed by Merrin and Cranston Architects.
Photo Credit: The Old Friary/Facebook
‘Friary Pottery’ and ‘Friary Fayres’
By the 1970s, the friary was used as a temporary housing facility for volunteers. It attracted many guitar-playing hippies who enjoyed tending to the farm, making preserves and moulding pottery. Thus, the brands Friary Pottery and Friary Fayres were born and its products were sold at various Brisbane markets and events.
Some of these products also found its way onto the shelves of the department store David Jones. The items created for Friary Pottery and Friary Fayres were also mandatory gifts to VIPs who visited Brisbane, including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Brookfield Centre for Christian Spirituality
By the 1990s, more extensive renovation and upgrades were done to the site to establish the Brookfield Centre for Christian Spirituality. It became a public place for locals to enjoy some quiet time if there were no booked events taking place. Additional contemplation areas were built and planted with trees with the help of volunteers, whilst a coffee shop with a gift store operated in the area from 1995 to 2004.
In 1998, part of the site became a private residential housing estate known as the Friary Fields whilst the centre continued to be a place of retreat and a venue for community activities. The Brookfield Centre for Christian Spirituality was cited as a local heritage place in 2017.
In 2018, the Anglicans expressed interest to sell or lease the Old Friary despite some opposition from the locals. A year later, the Uniting Church’s Blue Care bought the property under the agreement that much of it will still be used as a community area.
Fig Tree Pocket is among the top waterfront suburbs in Brisbane, a recent study of absolute waterfront properties across Australia revealed.
Knight Frank’s Australian Prime Waterfront Index measures how much an absolute waterfront location can influence the rise in value of a property. The research looked into each major Australian cities for prime property including Sydney, Gold Coast, Perth, Melbourne, and for the first time this year, Brisbane.
In Q3 of 2019, waterfront properties in Brisbane enjoyed a 45.1 percent premium with New Farm, Fig Tree Pocket, and Hawthorne emerging as the top waterfront suburbs.
REA Group’s realestate.com.au reports that the median house price in Fig Tree Pocket at $1,054,000 with 56 houses changing hands from 1 December 2018 – 4 December 2019; in comparison, the Qld median house price is $495,000.
It is Sydney, however, which exhibited the most added value at 94.9 percent, up from 89.3 percent last year. In Gold Coast, premiums went up 66.5 percent, whilst Perth’ value uplift remains at 53.6 percent. Melbourne took a different route, as it saw a decline from 30.4 percent to 27.3 percent.
Across Australia, prime waterfront properties are worth more than their inland counterparts, by an average of 63 percent with homes located on the harbourfront commanding the largest added value of up to 97 percent.
Absolute waterfront properties represents 42 percent of the total number of
super-prime sales across Australia in Q3 2019 — the highest share recorded so far — with homes located on the coast taking 46 percent of the share of all absolute waterfront properties sold during the period.
The report said that demand for super-prime waterfront properties are affected by a variety of reasons such as emotional purchase and sole financial purposes — especially that “waterfront properties are generally the most liquid within each market.”
Kenmore Village Shopping Centre is
sending Christmas cheer to elderly folks who would not have any gift to open
this season of giving.
Through efforts of the Rotary Club of Kenmore and Helloworld Travel Kenmore, the Christmas Giving Tree lets shoppers at the shopping centre spread a bit of happiness to those living in age homes.
Currently,
there are still tickets left, so anyone wanting to express their generosity can
head over to the Christmas Giving Tree located in front of Helloworld Kenmore.
Choose a suggestion from the remaining labelled gift tags hanging from the tree
and return the gift to the people at Helloworld Travel.
Aside from the Christmas Giving Tree at Helloworld Travel, Kenmore Village Shopping Centre is also partnering with Kenmore Rotary Club to receive donations from shoppers through its Christmas Hamper Collection Box. The gift hampers will be given this Christmas season to people in need.
Visit
the collection box at Centre Court to see the full list of suggested items to
donate.
Brisbane City Council has voted in favour of banning townhouses in low-density suburbs and rezoning of emerging suburbs, such as Kenmore, as part of the proposed citywide amendments.
The Council pushed for the townhouse ban in a bid to protect the city’s character suburbs, following feedback from residents during the citywide consultation. The ban will prevent large developments in low-density residential suburbs by restricting the consolidation of lands into 3,000 sqm or more lots.
Also, under the amendment, more than 40 hectares spanning 54 parcels of land in suburbs including Belmont, Carindale, Kenmore, Tingalpa, Wishart, Mansfield, Robertson, Runcorn and Sunnybank will be rezoned from emerging community to low-density residential zone.
Approved as well is the amendment to protect important sites such as the heritage-listed Lamb House and other identified pre-1911 houses across Brisbane, as well as the addition of 128 new sites to heritage mapping.
Other amendments include the adjustment of car parking space requirement: a minimum of one car park per bedroom; two car parking spaces for apartments with two to three bedrooms; and two-and-a-half car park spaces for apartments of four or more bedrooms.
“The proposed ban on townhouses and apartments in low density residential areas in BCC is likely to result in increased pressure on the housing market and less diverse and liveable housing in high-demand areas of Brisbane,” Property Council of Australia said.
PCA also added that the amendment could result in 322 fewer direct and indirect jobs per year and potential gross value loss for the Queensland economy of about $47 million per annum.
The amendment package will be sent back to the State Government for final review and approval.
‘Tis the time to have a joyful evening full of food, shopping and entertainment as Brookfield’s Bush Christmas and Twilight Market is set to happen on 6 December 2019 at the Brookfield Showgrounds.
Ho ho ho! Who’s ready for Christmas?
Whether you’re still on the hunt for some Christmas presents or you just want to have a relaxing yet fun Friday night out, Brookfield Showgrounds for the Christmas Twilight Market and Bush Christmas celebration surely sounds like a great idea.
Brookfield Markets and Brookfield Show Society have joined forces in creating this free family-friendly event, and it’s deemed to be the best Twilight Market there is yet.
Photo credit: Brookfield Markets/ Facebook
Running from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., the event will feature a number of local businesses and handmade lane stalls to offer guests a variety of items that are perfect gift ideas for Christmas.
Also in line with the Holiday season, the Brookfield Showgrounds will be decorated with Christmas trees, ornaments and lights.
Food stalls and an open bar will also be placed at the venue for everyone’s enjoyment.
Apart from the food and shopping stalls, there will also be plenty of entertainment activities lined up for the night. These activities include pony rides, bush animals, face painting, jumping castle, and even a visit from Santa Claus himself.
Visitors will also delight in merry Christmas carols and line dancing that will take place at the event.
Brookfield’s Bush Christmas and Twilight Market is a fundraising event for the Brookfield State School.
The Council will finally cut the speed limit on Brookfield Road to 50km/h, nine years after the community petitioned for its reduction. The new speed limit, down from 60kmh, will take effect by the year-end as pavement markings and other signs and safety measures have yet to be set in place.
Pullenvale Councillor Kate Richards confirmed the speed limit reduction on Brookfield Road in a press statement. It comes after a hearing with the community, which also involved parents of the students attending the Brookfield State School.
Apart from enforcing the new 50km/h speed limit, the Council plans to install the following features along Brookfield Road and the stretch of Boscombe Road, where the school is located:
Speed Awareness Monitors (SAM), before school term one in 2020
Two flashing Horse Crossing Ahead signs, projected for early 2020
Pedestrian crossing near bus stops and between Brookfield and Boscombe Roads, subject to consultations and availability of funds
Unfortunately, Cr Richards said that Brookfield State School “did not the criteria for a school zone,” which commonly has a 40km/h speed limit.
Photo Credit: chuttersnap/Unsplash
Brookfield Road is a downhill slope, which makes it easier for motorists to speed. During the summer season, the cast of the western sun makes the road stretch quite difficult to see. Council is making these changes in the interest of public safety.
“We are committed to actions that improve safety for all road users and will continue to deliver projects to make Brisbane an even better place to live,” said Cr Richards.
Whilst it is not considered as an auction-led city, Brisbane has shown notable auctions activity growth in recent years, especially in sought-after suburbs like Kenmore.
The latest Domain report analysed the number of auctions data in each suburb, as well as the number of properties sold by auction and its correlating clearance rate, over the 12-month period to August 2019.
The study revealed that Kenmore and WIshart are the top Brisbane suburbs for auction clearance rates with 62 percent. That figure is more than double Brisbane’s average of 30 percent during the same period.
The attraction of Kenmore lies in its value for money, considering the 10 percent price difference between Kenmore and Chapel Hill. Wishart, on the other hand, have some properties selling for $200,000 to $300,000 over their reserve. Low turnover and the Mansfield catchment are its main auction clearance rate drivers.
Other suburbs with high clearance rates include Kallangur-60%, Chapel Hill-57%, Chermside West-55%, and Wavell Heights-54%.
The report, however, notes that these suburbs, including Wishart and Kenmore, have low number of auctions. It is therefore important to look at other factors that affect the auction activities on a particular suburb, such as the number of properties listed, how many of these properties were withdrawn, and the number of auctions that were held.
As far as Brisbane suburbs that recorded the largest number of auctions, Camp Hill leads the list with a total of 104 auctions in the 12 months to August 2019. Other auction-heavy suburbs include Sunnybank Hills, Paddington, Calamvale, Wynnum, New Farm, Bardon, and West End.
My passion to help people live healthier lives brings me into direct contact with a broad range of physical issues and ways to help them. This includes feedback from regular customers at Amcal+ Pharmacy in Kenmore.
In one such recent conversation, David, a regular customer from Kenmore Hills, told me about how he had been suffering from very low energy, mediocre sleep and lack of mental clarity until a year ago.
Photo credit: Kenmore Amcal Pharmacy / Facebook
So many of us feel there are not enough hours in the day. We run from one thing to the next until we fall into bed at the end of the day. It is estimated that 1.5 million Australians see their doctor about fatigue.
There can be many reasons for fatigue, such as medical, lifestyle choices, work-place related, and emotional concerns. There are many ways that you can help yourself to combat fatigue.
Photo credit: Kenmore Amcal Pharmacy / Facebook
When it comes to lifestyle factors, there are a few things that can be considered. On average an adult should be getting 8 hours sleep a night, yet many people don’t make this a priority. Also, a lack of exercise and a poor diet can affect our ability to deal with stress and can lead to fatigue.
Rhodiola and Ashwagandha Against Fatigue
In David’s case, his research unearthed two supplements that were getting strong reviews. He bought both at our store and started to take them based on the recommended dose on the container.
“Initially I just took Rhodiola and I was amazed at how it gave me a boost of energy and mental clarity for several hours, my productivity improved dramatically it felt like I now had a lot more capacity to work my brain,” David said.
Rhodiola rosea is a herb that grows in the cold, mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. A study by Anghelescu et al found that Rhodiola offered a comprehensive treatment of stress symptoms. The study also found that the herb can prevent chronic stress and stress-related complications. Another 11 studies were conducted, of which 8 found that Rhodiola enhanced physical performance and eased mental fatigue.
David continued: “Then I started to try Ashwagandha and frankly the feeling that gives you is not easy to describe other than to say something that would have caused me great stress before now feels easily manageable, the feeling of wellbeing and optimism lasts for several days for me after taking one small capsule.”
There are studies that show Ashwagandha helps make your body more resilient by significantly improving your body’s ability to deal with stress and anxiety. One study showed that through the use of Ashwagandha, their cortisol levels decreased by 28%. Cortisol is a hormone that increases when the body is responding to stress.
At Amcal+ Kenmore, our team is trained in knowing what supplements suit common ailments and conditions. There are also many products that combat unusual ailments as well as target general wellbeing. The science of living healthily is evolving rapidly and embracing it can bring many health benefits to our daily lives.
Peter Jones is the owner of Amcal+ Pharmacy Kenmore and he has over 10 years experience as a pharmacist. Peter has a special interest in skincare and is passionate about helping the local community.
You can find Amcal+ Pharmacy Kenmore at Shops 33/34, 9 Brookfield Rd, Kenmore QLD 4069, Australia.
Kenmore local Peter Hegedus has once again put his hometown on the map as his powerful documentary, “Lili,” was featured in two major film festivals this year.
In June, Mr Hegedus submitted “Lili” to the Sydney Film Festival competition for the Documentary Australia Foundation Award. The documentary emerged as one of the 10 finalists.
Mr Hegedus’ work was also one of the highlights of the Brisbane International Film Festival, where he graced the panel discussion with the audience after the screening.
Filmed in 2018 in his native land of Hungary and across the continent in Canada, “Lili” is about a young mom who had no choice but to leave for Australia without her two-year-old daughter at the height of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. Her second daughter, Edie Hart, found out about her missing sister, Lili, named after her mom, as a teenager living in Brisbane.
Sixty years since the deadly revolution, Edie is still looking for an answer on why her mother abandoned her older sister, an answer she seeks for closure, to heal the trauma once and for all. Mr Hegedus and his film crew followed her family in their search to deliver an emotional story of desertion, facing one’s demons, and ultimately, reconciliation.
“This film is about how people justify their actions and expose themselves, how history shapes the fate of families,” Mr Hegedus, who also works as a professor at Griffith University, said. “What happens to families who are torn apart and how that trauma is passed on to the next generation.”
Photo Credit: Lili Documentary
Mr Hegedus has long been an unwavering part of the Hungarian community in Brisbane. Born in Budapest, he moved to Kenmore in 1991 and studied film at the Queensland College of Art. He has been gracing and bagging several awards at film festivals in Australia and around the world since becoming a professional filmmaker in the late ‘90s.
Visit the ‘Lili’ website to buy the film or request a screening. You can also join their mailing list to know if it’s showing in your area.
