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A History by Design
Governing Brisbane |
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The 1925 boundaries of Brisbane, showing the previous local authorities absorbed by Brisbane City Council.
Fryer Library, JS8262.A2G7 1959 |
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On 1 October 1925 nineteen municipalities within a ten mile radius of the Brisbane GPO ceased to exist, replaced by a single authority: the Greater Brisbane Council (GBC). This had a profound impact on the city's development. Growth between the wars would probably have occurred regardless of governmental arrangements, but orderly growth, accompanied by a systematic expansion of vital infrastructure, would simply not have been possible under the old system. |
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As William Earle, Executive Head of the new City Planner's Department, recalled,
"the conflict or parochialism of local interests, the meagerness of financial resources, and many other influences inevitable under the circumstances, combined to defeat every movement in the direction of joint effort or common policy even in matters of common interest." [1]] |
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The move to one Council reflected a worldwide trend towards more central government and, in particular, the application of 'scientific' principles to civic administration. Local interest in the international town planning movement had been growing since 1912, with lectures, conferences and exhibitions in Adelaide and Brisbane, and, in 1914, the founding of the Queensland Town Planning Association. In 1916 the City of Brisbane Improvement Act was passed, enabling the city’s burghers to implement a program of civic beautification. This was followed in 1923 by the Local Authorities Amendment Act, which gave town planning powers to local government for the first time.
Provisions were included to fix the proportion of a block of land which could be covered by structures, and to control building heights. [2]
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An "ideal home" for Brisbane in 1918, replete with pianola, garden and 'sleep space.' It was one of a cluster of display homes built in the Exhibition Grounds as part of the 1918 Town Planning Conference.
Fryer Library, NA9279.A5 1918
The culmination of these legislative developments was the Greater Brisbane Act 1924 which mandated the formation of the GBC and charged it with the responsibility of governing the city.
The scheme, wrote Mayor Jolly, enabled "those in authority to take the broadest view on matters which affect the community as a whole." [3]
The Council assumed control of trams and ferries, electricity generation and supply, water and sewerage. A Council planning department was formed with Earle appointed the city's first full-time planner. Ordinances were passed to give Council aesthetic control of buildings. Anyone proposing to construct, alter or add to a building now needed Council approval, and Council could insist on amendments to designs. [4]
The Architect's Department under A.H. Foster oversaw the completion of some of the city finest edifices, none finer than its own city hall, opened in 1930.
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T.R. Hall's and G.G. Prentice's original classical revival plan for Brisbane's grand new city hall called for a 300-feet clock tower supporting a sculpture of an 'Angel of Peace', facades on Ann and Albert Streets topped with chariots drawn by prancing horses, and corners capped by copper domes. Many of the decorative features were sacrificed in subsequent cost cutting. At its opening on 8 April 1930, the hall was proclaimed a "symbol of civic pride", "an inspiration for citizenship" and an "edifice which for grandeur, dignity and architectural effect was without its peer in the Commonwealth".
(Qld Heritage Register – www.epa.qld.gov.au)
Fryer Library, DU278.A34 1921
Armed with these formidable statutory and administrative resources, the GBC set about rectifying some of Greater Brisbane's inherited problems, while managing the issues of growth and development. By 1929 £350,000 had been spent on drainage, and major works were underway to sewer the inner city and near suburbs.
Transport infrastructure proved an even bigger challenge. Most Brisbanites continued to rely on trams, trains, motor buses, bicycles, horses and their own legs to make their way around. In 1932 the city's fleet of electric trams carried over 68.5 million passengers. [5] But car ownership in the middle class neighbourhoods was on the rise. |
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By 1929, the number of motor vehicles in Brisbane had grown to 30,000. Such a trend, opined Mayor Jolly, was a national problem, but one that had to be faced, "for motor cars have come to stay and if we are to get the best result, then we must have good roads." [6]
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Engineer A.E. Harding Frew's drawing of the Grey Street Bridge, later named after Mayor William Jolly. The location was chosen despite advice from the Council's own experts, who recommended a bridge from Kangaroo Point. It was, however, an historic transport route, having been a regular crossing point for Aborigines prior to European settlement.
Fryer Library, JS8262.A2 J6 1929
His Council allocated almost £750,000 to upgrading and extending the Brisbane road network: over 60 miles (98 kilometres) of new streets were added by 1929. [7] To ease city congestion, a second bridge across the Brisbane River was built, linking North Quay to Grey Street. The original recommendation from the Council's Cross River Commission for a bridge at Kangaroo Point was shelved, but in 1935 the State Government contracted Evans Deakin–Hornibrook Constructions to undertake the project. |
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The city's third cross-river bridge, named after Public Service Commissioner and Bridge Board member, J.D. Story, was opened in 1940.
A further £100,000 was spent on mending or replacing bridges in the suburbs. New street lights were installed along major thoroughfares: the Council would claim some 7000 installations were lighting the way across Greater Brisbane by 1929. [8]
In perhaps the most poignant symbol of Brisbane's fledgling modernity, the city's first traffic lights were installed, in Queen Street, in 1937. "Traffic moves fast in Brisbane," observed Frank Clune, "but not as fast as the pedestrians."[9] |
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Some design elements of City Hall, as originally conceived by architects Hall and Prentice.
The first drawing shows the main entrance, with six Corinthian columns supporting the central pediment. After the building was constructed, Daphne Mayo crafted the sculpture on the tympanum, representing the European colonisation of Queensland. The second drawing depicts the Doric colonnade on the Albert Street Façade, while the third drawing is a representation of one of the hall's end features, with a copper-topped dome prominent.
Fryer Library, DU278.A34 1921 |
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