Mount Gravatt Outlook Reserve

In 1893 the New South Wales Colonial Government created a recreational reserve of 132 acres on Mount Gravatt which had formerly been a timber reserve. In 1915 another 160 acres were added. The management of the reserve was the responsibility of the community and clearing the bush and levelling the road by hand, the local residents constructed three roads up to the reserve using only voluntary labour. A road to the summit was first constructed in 1914. 

During his term as Lord Mayor of Brisbane (1925-1931), William Jolly identified the purchase of additional parks and vantage points around Brisbane as a priority for the newly formed Council. The provision of additional “breathing spaces” and the acquisition of “vantage points” on the ranges and hills around the City was pursued with considerable vigour by Jolly. He secured a number of vantage points around Brisbane for public use – 405 hectares were added to Mt Coot-tha Park, Whites Hill was acquired and Mount Gravatt mountain reserve land was transferred to the Brisbane City Council in 1927. The mountain became a popular excursion destination and a private kiosk was established to cater for the crowds flocking to the area. The kiosk burned down in 1938. Construction of the present road up the mountain was an intermittent relief work project undertaken during the 1930s Depression. American anti-aircraft guns and search lights were erected at the summit in 1940 although there is no evidence that the area was used in any way directly with the war effort.

 

In the early 1900s Gertrude and Joshua Petty built their home on land now occupied by the picnic area Gertrude Petty Place. Some of the existing trees, including the mango grove, were planted by Mrs Petty, who donated land for the construction of part of the Lookout road.

Development was initially slow in the Mt Gravatt district, with exploration and settlement to the north at Stones Corner and further south along the route between Ipswich and Cleveland. The district owes its development to the dray and coach traffic along Logan Road, Cobb & Co beginning a service through Mt Gravatt in 1864. In 1865 the government held the first major auction of land along Slack’s Road between Creek and Holland Roads with German immigrants taking up much of the land for fruit growing and general agriculture. By 1870 Mt Gravatt was emerging as an established village. A postal line from Brisbane to Logan passed through Mt Gravatt in 1865 and in 1877 a post office was established there. The first school in the area was opened in 1874. General farming and fruit growing dominated the area until the 1890s. In 1885 the first section of railway to Beenleigh was opened and in 1889 this extended to Southport, drawing traffic away from the Mt Gravatt area and hampering development for a time. 

In the 1880s and 1890s subdivisions in the area along Creek and Broadwater Roads brought settlers into the area. Development had stalled by the end of the First World War after which the Queensland Government resumed land for returned soldiers establishing soldier settler farms. Throughout the 1920s Mt Gravatt remained a village isolated from Brisbane. The boom in settlement of the district came after the Second World War when the Queensland Housing Commission established residential estates from Creek Road to Cavendish Road and the privately developed Chester Housing Schemes also began. The population in the area increased from 1,170 in 1947 to 12,630 in 1966. The first water supply arrived in 1950 and the first tram service commenced operation in 1951. In 1970 the Garden City Shopping Centre was opened in Upper Mt Gravatt and the area has continued to expand and continues to be a popular residential area.

Geologically, the Mt Gravatt Reserve contains regions of folded cherts and also a cave formed by percolating groundwater in a colluvial valley fill. This cave is the largest example known in southeast Queensland. 

The Reserve accommodates a number of large reservoirs, two picnic areas and a lookout platform on the vantage point summit. Mount Gravatt Outlook Drive winds its way through the Reserve from the northeast corner off Shire Road and climbs up to the summit lookout. At 195m the summit is a prominent vantage point for Brisbane affording expansive views across to Moreton Island, Moreton Bay, Brisbane City and the Brisbane Hills. The summit is a small plateau and accommodates a lookout platform to the north, a feature garden bed to the centre, and a playground, picnic area and communications facility to the sloping edges to the east, south and west.

The Lookout Platform is a raised circular concrete platform enclosed by a round metal tubing fence. The platform is covered with irregular granite paving. A truncated concrete column bearing a small round concrete table stands on a small circular concrete pad in the middle of the platform. The table bears a brass disc which is a permanent survey marker north point. The concrete edge and surface of this table is badly broken up. A round disk supported by a vertical metal flange bearing a map indicating the landmarks observable from the lookout stands north of the podium.

A circular feature garden stands to the middle of the summit plateau and consists of two round beds encircled by a concrete footpath. A low stone wall stands to the bed adjacent to the footpath and another low stone wall with four squat concrete stone piers encircles the garden bed to the middle of the feature. The beds are planted with immature eucalypts, some groundcover vegetation and smothered with weeds. 

The Gertrude Petty Place picnic area accommodates a number of picnic tables in a quiet treed setting to the northeast corner of the Reserve.  

Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve is an important vantage point for Brisbane. 

The Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve is in a satisfactory condition for a bushland area in an urban setting. Domestic pets and feral animals are having a negative impact on the bushland as is the dumping of garden and household waste. There is some weed infestation of certain areas of the Reserve, particularly the areas adjacent to residential blocks and there are also areas of erosion along some of the well used tracks. The operation of trail bikes within the Reserve is of concern. 

There is concern that future planned development of the Mt Gravatt campus of Griffith University may involve the clearing of bushland which could threaten the integrity of the Reserve and surrounding forested areas. 

The lookout platform and circular feature garden on the summit of the Reserve are in poor condition. The concrete table bearing the permanent survey marker is badly broken up and deteriorating. The circular feature garden is unkempt. 

The toilet block adjacent to the water reservoir near the Gertrude Petty Place picnic area is vandalised and generally the surrounds are unkempt.

1. Brisbane City Council - City Assets Branch Conservation Management Study Stage 1 Report. November 2002