IT’S the end of an era as Greenbank prepares to farewell the old Anderson farmhouse and dam, landmarks set to disappear as development creeps further into rural areas.
A digger was at work yesterday by the homestead which sits atop a rise that overlooks the 481 hectares of former grazing paddocks which will become a new suburb of up to 3300 residential homes that has been in the pipeline since 2015.
The paddocks have been home to wildlife including kangaroos. The dam, stretching like a billabong across a corner of the property, is topped with water plants, said to be a sight to behold when in flower.
Shrubbery cleared this week reveals the house raised on pallets ahead of its move by truck to new owners who have an acreage property at nearby New Beith.
Recent clearing and roadside mowing shows bulldozers, excavators and heavy machinery at work towards the rear of the property as the land is prepared for development.
The house is best seen not far from Pub Lane; the dam from the corner of Greenbank and Teviot roads.
Locals lament the impending loss.
“Everyone knows the dam on the corner of two main roads. You drive home from work at the end of the day and look out and it says you’re home. It’s a picture of tranquility,” said one who asked not to be named.
The dam is man-made, built during the mid-1960s, though over time it has become home to birds that include ducks and water fowl.
Locals say two generations of school kids have used the waterhole to cool off on hot summer days; young riders as a stop to let their horses swim.
The work turned heads yesterday as motorists stopped roadside for a better look or to snap pictures.
Developer Mirvac has State Government approval for a 3300 residential homes including a primary school that will cater for up to 1000 students, a neighbourhood retail centre and community health centre.
The Mirvac project is the latest of a number of masterplanned communities under construction as young families leave the city and head west searching for house and land packages.
Mirvac Queensland told Jimboomba Times in July the development would deliver new amenities and existing natural assets and revealed the planning and permits required to address wildlife concerns before the dam was dewatered.
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The Greenbank project will include an 85-hectare conservation parkland, linked to existing Logan City Council owned conservation land via extended walking trails, approximately 25 hectares of regional sports and recreation parks and a series of neighbourhood and linear parks.
Development is one of the biggest issues facing Queensland. In the cities, buildings grow ever taller. Families, meanwhile, are heading west in search of the more traditional house and land packages.
Greenbank, 30km southwest of Brisbane and part of the greater Jimboomba area, is home to new developments that include the Mirvac project.
At nearby Flagstone Rise, a Peet Limited development site on the west of the railway line, the average lot size is about 400 square metres.
