fig tree pocket brisbane Archives

Fig Tree Pocket House Prices Continue to Grow, Defies Post-Flood Expectations

The 2011 floods devastated many suburbs in the city of Brisbane, but suburbs such as Fig Tree Pocket are still seeing high property price growth despite the unfortunate event.

Data from RiskWise Property Research shows that 95% of the adversely affected Brisbane suburbs during the 2011 floods registered strong 5-year price growth.

Fig Tree Pocket is on top of the list with a recorded 52.7% 5-year price growth.

According to the RiskWise CEO Dolon Peleg, the demand for these properties proves a counterbalance to the 2011 floods and that people are willing to take that risk. He also said that there should be no cause for alarm because insurance companies have changed their product offering and premiums.

Mr Peleg believes that the research helps disprove the notion that these once-flooded areas will suffer poor capital growth and will gain negative buyer reaction. The price growth is boosted by the excellent location of the properties, most of which are on highly sought riverside areas.

Here is the list of the top 10 Brisbane suburbs that have bounced back well in terms of property prices from the recent 2011 tragedy:

Rank	Suburb	5-Year Price Growth
1.	Fig Tree Pocket	52.7%
2.	Yeronga	42.4%
3.	New Farm	40.5%
4.	Tennyson	40%
5.	Indooroopilly	39.8%
6.	Windsor	38.8%
7.	Hamilton	35.7%
8.	Norman Park	34.8 %
9.	Corinda	34.7%
10.	Auchenflower	31.5%

Source: Riskwise Property Research

Skip Bin Explosion in Fig Tree Pocket Leaves Locals Rattled; Innovative Bins On Its Way

A recent explosion in a skip bin in Fig Tree Pocket last December, which injured two men, has prompted calls for locals to be more vigilant in following proper waste disposal procedures.

Three men were filling the bin on McLaren Street when it exploded, which left one with minor burns whilst the other was in shock. They were quickly taken to the hospital. The eruption was so strong that the windows of three nearby houses were shattered.

According to witnesses, the men poured petrol over the pile of rubbish and shrubs in the bin to burn it and reduce it. However, it seems that the vapours have been trapped in the skip bin thus causing the explosion.

It seems like the rubbish found in the bin are mostly garden waste, which easily ignites. The Brisbane City Council has guidelines on where to properly throw your garden wastes:

at a Council transfer station
as compost and mulch in your garden
using Council’s green waste recycling service

There have also been developments in waste collection and reduction over the years to prevent this from happening.

In 2016, Solar Bins Australia developed BigBelly Solar Bins, which are powered by solar panel harnessing the energy of the sun and storing it within the battery. Once it reaches a particular level, the compactor initiates and will compact everything inside that waste basket. It was deployed in 23 areas in Australia.

Photo credit: Solar Bins Australiafig tree

Such innovation has proven to be effective in particular areas in the nation and has significantly reduced garbage collection times and eliminates the need for locals to burn waste in bins.

Be A Wildlife Keeper at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Fig Tree Pocket For A Day

If you’re looking for ways to keep your kids learning and having fun at the same time during this school holiday, then you might want to head on over to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Fig Tree Pocket.

On the 10th of January, you can have your kids be Junior Keeper for a day at the sanctuary. There are three Junior Keeper Programs for your children:

Junior Joeys (5-7 year olds)
Senior Serpents (8-11 year olds)
Teen Keeper (12-17 year olds)

Each program is kept to small groups only to ensure that each child will be able to interact and learn.

Each child will have the chance to experience being a wildlife keeper from preparing food for the animals and feeding down down to cleaning and maintenance as well as training and other enrichment activities.

This program is only available during school holiday periods so make sure that you sign up your kids now! It will be a great experience and one not likely to be repeated until the next holiday break.

Fig Tree Pocket’s Luxurious Rivergum Retreat Reveals its Hidden Gem

In the serene suburb of Fig Tree Pocket lies a mansion straight from an action movie. Along Needham Street, the calmness, the green leafy surrounds may fool you that all is calm until you reach No.36, a huge mansion called the Rivergum Retreat.

Seeing the eye-catching mansion from the road is exciting, but the experience of stepping into its massive Zen-like foyer is truly breathtaking. The magnificent river view from the floor-to-ceiling-windows gives new meaning to the term “eye candy”.

The sprawling mansion has luxuriously appointed rooms, a state-of-the-art entertainment area, a beautiful kitchen that will bring out your inner chef, and an infinity pool that overlooks the river.

2_gvkeuq — Photo credit: www.domain.com.au

A House with a Secret

But what makes the house even more special is the secret it keeps in its library. The library seems innocuous enough. It has a sitting area and shelves of books. But it has something straight out of a James Bond movie. Pull out some innocent-looking bookshelves and you can step into a secret hideaway — a room and a bar.

On the Market

The mansion was built in the early 1980s. It was renovated after the current owners bought it in 2008. These days, the mansion is once again in the market and is considered to be one of Brisbane’s most expensive properties.

Upcoming Lone Pine Sanctuary Research Centre in Fig Tree Pocket To Help Save Koalas

Located in Fig Tree Pocket, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the biggest and oldest koala sanctuary in the world. Inside the sanctuary is an abundant community of koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, wombats, various reptiles, and other species. To support the sanctuary, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk committed a $2-million koala research centre to be finished in June 2018.

The planned research station will be built on riverside land. It will be located at the general entrance to the sanctuary. The council will also help by contributing $1.3 million over four years to aid with the scientific research.

Plans are also underway to expedite the purchase of a 750-hectare, privately-owned koala habitat which will be used to plant more koala food trees for the sanctuary.

The Welfare of the Koalas

Mayor Quirk said that the concept behind the new research facility is to make it available to the public. With it, they hope to spread awareness on the life of koalas and how Australians can contribute to lengthen the koalas’ lives and boost their reproduction.

Some parts of the research centre will be open to the public to allow visitors to become more aware of the lives and the issues that koalas are facing now. In urban areas, koalas lead difficult lives due to the destruction of their natural habitat areas. There have also been reports of dog attacks and incidents of chlamydia, causing the deaths of the koalas.

The research centre also aims to bring together universities and other institutions to advance life-saving research about the species.

Koala Conservation

Concern for the lives of koalas is growing. Koala guru Ruth Lewis from Ipswich is among those who have taken action to protect the marsupial. Ms Lewis is happy and proud that her suburb is looking after the koalas really well. Based on a study by Dr Bill Ellis, Ipswich is one of the areas that still maintain a large and healthy population of koalas.

The aim of conservationists is to save the whole species by procuring large areas for conservation of koalas. Agreements were made with private land-owners and community partners for a more effective implementation of their move towards conservation.

Ending the Deadly Epidemic

A vaccine is also going through trial to stop the chlamydia epidemic that is killing Australia’s koalas. There is a huge number of koalas that have been reported dead due to the deadly disease over the last two decades.

Chlamydia is caused by chlamydia pecorum, which is a bacterium that spreads from livestock from Europe. Antibiotics work on the early stage of the disease, but these don’t see to be enough.

Peter Timms of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland has been developing a single-injection chlamydia vaccine that can deliver long-lasting protection. They tested the vaccine on 21 free-ranging koalas in Queensland’s Moreton Bay region. Six had early-stage chlamydia, whilst the other 15 were already chlamydia-free. After six months, the chlamydia-free koalas were not infected, despite the fact that half of the koalas in their habitat were infected.

However, the vaccine wasn’t a success because after nine months, three of the 21 vaccinated koalas became infected. Nevertheless, it still slowed down the spread of the disease. Mr Timms remains motivated and plans to vaccinate 50 wild koalas in Petrie.

With the research centre’s impending 2018 opening in Fig Tree Pocket, more koalas in the area can enjoy a better quality of life soon.

Photo credit: CC-BY/Kim/Flickr