The bright future of the Redlands Coast is assured with news that over $73million worth of job generating projects are now complete with a further 71 major projects well underway.

The projects, which are all part of the Redlands Coast Infrastructure Pipeline, feature a mix of tourism, education, health, sports, recreation, community, infrastructure, and agriculture and will propel the region into one of Queensland’s economic powerhouses.

Let’s take a look at why the Redlands Coast continues to be SEQ’s champion city:

Before the European settlement:
The first people to call this part of SEQ home were the Quandamooka people, the traditional owners of this land. The Quandamooka people called Quandamooka (Moreton Bay) home for tens of thousands of years before European settlement in the 1800s.

In 2019 the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation representing Quandamooka People was granted land title over Mulgumpin (Moreton Island).

1800s:
What started out as a small farming and fishing village in the mid to late 1800s soon became a township with cotton growing, timber logging and sugar cane plantations becoming the growing industries.

1900s:
One of the first tourism attractions for the region was in 1906 when special fruit excursion trains ran to Wellington Point, Ormiston and Cleveland during the strawberry season. These trains would run on Saturday afternoons and bring visitors to the area to visit fruit gardens and vineyards. This attraction continued to draw tourists to the area throughout the early 20th century. The Redlands Coast has always celebrated strawberries and this quirky attraction later evolved into the annual RedFest Strawberry Festival we all know and love today.

By 1916 there were 11 schools operating in the region. In 1962 the first high school opened in the district, Cleveland State High School. It only went up to Year 10.

The Redlands Coast currently has 24 primary schools, 10 high schools, 1 school for young people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2 special needs school and a TAFE campus at Alexandra Hills. The $10 million expansion to the local TAFE campus was one of the pipeline projects that was completed last year.

Education is one of our region’s top three growing industries to date, along with construction and health. The Redlands Chamber of Commerce are currently working towards the region becoming the next location for a university campus.

In 1987 construction started on the 35-bed Redland Hospital. On the first day of opening, 36 people presented to the hospital with 4 admissions. In 1999 the hospital saw a $47million expansion which accommodated 144 beds and provided birthing services to the community.

Fast forward 35 years since the opening of the Redlands Hospital, construction has started on the $40 million Satellite Hospital in Redland Bay which will bring critical services to the region renal dialysis, chemotherapy, complex wound management and urgent care.

2000s:
In 2008 the Redlands Shire attained city status and in 2021 it was announced the Redlands Coast would host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Whitewater rafting event at the proposed Birkdale Community Precinct.

With more and more people making the choice to call the Redlands Coast home, we are committed to fighting for the infrastructure our community needs to ensure it continues offer the unique lifestyle we have all come to love.

Learn more about the exciting projects in the pipeline that will make the Redlands Coast SEQ’s champion city: https://redlandscoastchamber.org.au/champions-pipeline/