Dutch History Cafe
New Logo
Library Collaboration
Bicentennial Events
History Tours & Events

August 24th’s outing to the Heritage Park at Eagle Junction

First the bad news. All hope seems to be lost for setting aside one of the best examples of Brisbane’s mid-century Dutch built Housing Commission homes at Cornerstone Living. The vision was for 9 Macdevitt Street – a very original building – to become a History Cafe, displaying information about local history, including Dutch immigration and the Dutch East Indies Government-in-Exile at Camp Colombia (Wacol). It was to be run as a self-funded not-for-profit community enterprise with an orchard and outside facilities for neighbours to come together and socialize. Unfortunately the owner/developer Consolidated Property has decided to sell it on the open market.

The house currently serves as the Catchment Centre, or offices of the Oxley Creek Catchment Centre. They have been given an eviction notice of about 2 months. Six months ago, Mr Don O’Rorke, CEO of Consolidated Property, met me and Mr Paul Budde, Chair of the Dutch Australia Cultural Centre, and expressed his support for the project, even kindly offering some funds to market the concept. We were not informed. It appears that profit is overriding the community’s interests yet again. I managed to contact the Brisbane City Council’s Senior Historian, Dr Ross Mahoney in the Architecture and Heritage department. He has had a Heritage listing application on the property under consideration for several years now. On hearing the news of its imminent sale and (very likely) demolition, no sense of urgency was apparent. He reminded me that as a post war home, it is not even covered by Council’s character overlay. As such, it was always going to be a big hurdle that required a great deal of support. Sadly, that has not materialized. This is a significant disappointment, as it brings an end to 4 years of lobbying and a petition signed by more than 1,000 people. I would like to thank Mr Paul Budde for his support.

What do you think of this image as a logo for the group’s new name?

And this, for the website’s homepage?

We’ll be voting on these at the next meeting:

Saturday September 16th
4pm
Coopers Plains Library Meeting Room

All welcome. Please RSVP in the comments below. Anyone who wants to add to this month’s agenda, please comment below (you may need to click on the title of this post for the comment field to appear). Thanks to the friendly and helpful staff of the Coopers Plains Library for printing out these newsletters and offering them to anyone who wants to keep in touch without going online.

Events

There are some great history events on this month. Here are just two of them on Brisbane’s Southside:

Royal Historical Society – The Mermaid, the Castaways, and European Exploration of the Brisbane River. Saturday 9th, Commissariat Store Museum, William St, CBD. Book soon ($25-35)

Brisbane History Group – Yeronga Heritage Tour. Saturday 23rd, Queen Alexandra Community Centre, Cooparoo. Download the flyer here. ($25)

See you there!

Tradecoast Central Heritage Park
Thursday 24th August
11:30 am
87 Schneider Road
EAGLE FARM
QLD 4009

TradeCoast Central Heritage Park Interpretive Centre is at the heart of three heritage sites at the location of Brisbane’s former Eagle Farm Airport. On this visit, we will focus on the stories of Brisbane’s convict era from the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. at the Convict Women’s Prison and Factory. (The other two sites are World War Two sites – Allison Engine Testing Stands and Hangar 7.)

You can bring a picnic or enjoy a meal at one of the food outlets, knowing there will always be plenty of room to spread out over the green grass of the park which covers what was once a Convict Factory, a women’s prison, and a busy airport runway.

The Interpretive Centre is open from 10am to 4pm weekdays. Entry is free. Parking is available via Backhouse Place, at the southern end of the park, and Amy Johnson Place, at the northern end. Meet at the Museum. To arrange carpooling or get a lift from Coopers Plains at 11am, leave a comment below (click this post’s heading if you don’t see the comment field below) or send a message via the Contact Page.

http://www.tradecoastcentralheritagepark.com.au/

Note this is an unofficial excursion and as such, in agreeing to participate, you accept all responsibility for all risks involved.

Pine Lodge Presentation
Brisbane History Group
Harry Gentle Research Centre

On Monday 14th, I gave a presentation about the history of Coopers Plains area to residents of the Pine Lodge retirement centre in Rocklea. Pine Lodge was created by the local Russian community and is situated next door to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God Parish Church. It was well received and I learnt some new facts when I prepared it the day before; notably the conflict of tribal land claims over south Brisbane between the Turrbal and Yagera people. I covered history up to the 1900s and ended with an interesting video about transport by WalkaboutwithRob which I found on the Mapping Brisbane History website on Transportation Systems. Some interesting memories were shared and I invited the residents to put pen to paper and send in any reminiscences they have.

I visited the Brisbane History Group at Riverhills Plaza where they have their library of archives stored. I spoke with the Treasure, Andrew Darbyshire at length who familiarized me with the group’s history. It was founded by Rod Fisher in the 1980s. We discussed the origins of Brisbane and the upcoming bicentenary of settlement in the SE Queensland area and the development of the city of Brisbane. Henry Miller was the first Commandant of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement. Jennifer Harrison’s book on the history of convicts, “Fettered Frontier” is available at the BHG library.

Andrew also informed me that History Queensland provides Public Liability Insurance to member groups. This may be useful information for the Dutch History Cafe project. PLI is often the most expensive outlay of a small business. There is some concerning news regarding 9 Macdevitt Street, as OCCA has been given notice to leave for no explicable reason… it fact it seems quite disruptive. We’ll discuss it at the next meeting.

As I grow into the role of Chair of the CPHG, for my own sake, but also other members, I am interested in mapping the local history groups, libraries and museums in our area. Our next meeting is:

Saturday August 19th
4pm
9 Macdevitt Street,
Coopers Plains

All welcome. Please RSVP in the comments below. Anyone who wants to add to this month’s agenda, please comment below (you may need to click on the title of this post for the comment field to appear).

A name change and a new logo.

Archival material was on display at the library last month.

At a well-attended meeting last month, the group resolved to register with the Office of Fair Trade under the name Coopers Plains History Group – dropping the word ‘Local’. It also resolved to open a bank account and pursue plans for preserving the Dutch House as a history cafe.

We need a new logo as a consequence of the name change. The committee will vote on this at the next meeting. In anticipation of this, if you know anyone with some basic graphic art skills that can provide some designs, please get in touch by commenting below please (you may need to click on the heading above first to find the comment field). We had the meeting at 9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains which is currently used as a Centre by Oxley Creek Catchment Association (OCCA).  We toured the property inside and out with some who were able to reminisce about the times it was built; Hank Blessing, Allan Waller and Amanda Kelly. Also with us was Neville Buch, John Prpic, and Bruce Cifuentes – we discussed the possibilities and it occurred to us to try and procure some original fittings from the other Dutch Houses that are soon to be demolished.

Last week, Consolidated Property informed OCCA their tenancy is to be terminated in two months. This was unexpected, as they have new quarters being built, ready for occupancy in July next year. We are waiting to hear from the developers as to what their intentions are.

The display of items from our archives at the library has been replaced by some interesting samples from the Woodturners Association of Queensland. I (Simon) had the opportunity to search through our archives for the first time last week. I was searching for the group’s old official certificate of incorporation. I am pleased to report that the files are well organized, thanks to the previous custodians of the history group, although there is room for further sorting.

Our next meeting will be at the Dutch House again at 4pm on Saturday 19th of August. Come along and find out what the news is. We meet every third Saturday. In September and October, we’ll meet at the library.

9 Macdevitt Street

Our next meeting will be at the Dutch House.
Come as see what we hope will be a history cafe.

9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains

Oxley Creek Catchment Association (OCCA) is the current tenant and is kindly allowing us to meet there and view the interior as well. Hank Blessing, whose father and brother is thought to have worked on building the house many years ago, will be there to tell us what he knows about its construction. Following that, we can discuss the potential for a history cafe. Paul Budde, Chair of Dutch Australia Cultural Centre will also join us. Anita Love from the Griffith University’s Marketing Department will also be there to consider ways to promote the project. The first order of business is to authorize re-registration of CPHG with the Office of Fair Trade and the opening of a bank account. Donations will be accepted to cover these costs.

Don’t miss your chance to view some of the history group’s archives which are now on display at Coopers Plains Library. Thanks to Beryl Roberts and the library staff for organizing this choice selection of our suburb’s history, including a display of the Dutch houses.

Next Meeting
3pm, Friday 28th July.
9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains
Agenda
Registration of association with OFT.
Open a bank account.
Conversation and tour of 9 Macdevitt Street with Hank Blessing, Paul Budde and Anita Love.

To RSVP, please write in the comment field below.
(If you’re reading the News page, click on the title of the post to find the comments field.)

I had the good fortune to travel to Indonesia last month and visit some of its Dutch colonial past.

Jakarta’s Old Batavia Town was built on the earlier settlement of Jayakarta. (Click the link for a thorough coverage.)

Dotted around the country is this quaint bakery chain store – Holland Bakery

What an inspiration for a local Dutch History Cafe! Later this month, the Coopers Plains History Group will hold a meeting at the proposed site – 9 Macdevitt Street, Coopers Plains – to formally register the group with the Office of Fair Trade and open a bank account. The meeting will be followed by a discussion with someone who had personal involvement in its construction. We’re hoping to have a content creator to record the occasion and help promote the project. Keep an eye on this news site for details. The most likely date is Thursday 27th at 3pm.

Simon

News of the Coopers Plains History Group’s Dutch History Cafe project made it into local online news and radio recently.

The Sunnybank Hills News and Mt Gravatt News ran stories on the call to preserve one of the last remaining houses and turn it into a community history cafe and community orchard.

Simon Cole and Paul Budde were interviewed on local radio in English and Dutch. ABC Radio Brisbane’s Queensland Afternoon show hosted by Katherine Feeney called Simon in to talk – a year to the day since he last was on talking about the same topic. To listen, go to 2:44:00 ~ 2:55:30 (11 mins and 30 seconds).

https://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/programs/afternoons/afternoons/102357016

Paul Budde was also interviewed on radio following interest from the Dutch Radio show 4EB and is available on SBS Dutch news.

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/dutch/en/podcast-episode/will-there-be-a-dutch-house-history-cafe-yes-or-no/hgvri005f

The petition is picking up signatories gradually, so please do spread the word and link.

https://www.change.org/SaveTheCommunityGardenAndDutchHouse

For anyone not on Facebook, please use the History Group’s news website where you can now subscribe to get the news as it comes in, once a fortnight. https://coopersplainshistory.bshn.org/news/