Brookland Village History 2009 - Twenty Five Years of Brookland Village | Página 2

Extract from a 1999 Social Club presentation by Bill Witte Supplied by Shirley Sharp In the Beginning Long before Later Years came into the picture the land on which Brookland is built was owned by the Gardam family, the well known Brisbane silk and wedding attire specialists. The area of the land is 4.803 hectares or in imperial terms 12 acres. The property included a large house and tennis court in the higher section and variety of fruit trees and around the lower perimeter was spread a number of huge gum trees. Regrettably the seven remaining gum trees had to be cut down and destroyed as the buildings progressed. The Gardams family sold the land to the Bond Corporation and they in turn sold it to Later Years Ltd. Later Years borrowed the finance with which to buy the land and to build the first 28 Independent Living Village Units. The financiers were the Permanent Finance Company (now owned by Suncorp). The Brookland Retirement Village is resident funded and is conducted by Queensland Villages Pty. Ltd. on behalf of Later Years, a non-profit organisation of which two of residents are “full remembers.” Later Years was founded by the late Bert Martin O.B.E, who was also the inaugural Chairman of the Company. There will never be a more spacious retirement village built in Brisbane than Brookland and the reasons are: 1. At the time of planning, the number of units at Brookland was restricted to the maximum density allowed by the Brisbane City Council 2. Later Years, which owns Brookland, is a non-profit company. 3. The council regulations have since been relaxed and this allows new developers to squeeze more units into an available space on the basis that more units the more anticipated profit is to be made.

Australian Flag The original flad was donated by our then Federal Member, David F. Jull M.H.R. The gift package included a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which hangs on a wall of our assembly room. It also included a coloured print of the Australian Coast of Arms. The original flag has long since worn out and has been replaced a number of times. Flagpole In 1987 the Social Club was given a discarded steel electrical light polo and a decision was made to convert it into a flagpole. By purchasing a length of additional matching tube for the tapering top end, and a contraction for allowing the pole to be lowered to ground level for maintenance purposes at the bottom end, we were in business. Alec Smith single-handedly dug a cubic metre hole in the ground and with the help of a resident working bee and Peter Kit, plus a group of bags cement, we concreted the purchased base into place. Some scraping, painting and straightening was necessary, but the finished job looked highly professional. Thanks to Alec Smith we can be sure that it will never ever blow down! Just for curiosity we sought a quote from a contractor for the erection and supply of a similar flag pole and the quote was $1200. The total cost of our effort $190. White Seat Supplied by Peter Baker Finch of Annerley The white metal seat under the jacaranda tree at the turning circle near the reception area was purchased by the social club in October 1988. This was made possible by a generous unsolicited gift of $150 from the Rotary Club of Mt Gravatt. $95 was added by the social club to make up the total cost. This included a polished steel plaque acknowledging its origin.
Editor Note: A number of items have since changed within Brookland Village since this presentation in 1999.