Welcome back from the Easter long weekend. I hope you all found some time to enjoy a little bit of Queensland. Hopefully with a little bit less rain and a lot more time for friends and family.
Going around our office on the adventure we all had, and it strikes me that each of our experiences was influenced by the decisions of landscape architects & land managers before us. I found a separated bike path in Mooloolaba, just running alongside the ever-busy Brisbane Rd. It’s not a route I would have ridden with my son previously, but now, as a safe, enjoyable path has been provided and we used it multiple times.
A couple of other colleagues enjoyed our national parks in Queensland and Tasmania, which they were able to access through managed interventions into pristine environments. We all want to enjoy these spaces and it’s a precarious balancing act between protection and access. The ongoing evolution of how this is handled is as complex as it is interesting, with the Cooloola National Park Great Walk Development Proposal recently coming under the spotlight for treading the line between providing national park facility and commercial interest.
And back in our urban centres a lot of activity was generated in the local parks with Council programs and workshops – I’m told the skateboard lessons were a hit!
Wherever you were, the influence of design would have been unavoidable, and I think the instances of good landscape architecture is becoming more and more evident. So, congratulations AILA Qld, you’re a part of making everyone’s holidays that much better!
There has been some progress within Brisbane City Council on industry engagement for the Olympics Legacy. They have commenced the very exciting – Inner Spark project: calling on our city’s thought leaders to submit ideas that have the potential to spark something exciting in our inner city into the future. We’ll be sending out an email to members shortly on the opportunities to be able to contribute to this project.
Keep well.
Tessa Leggo, AILA QLD President