Homepage Latest News Archives - Page 13 of 23

Discover Why This Salisbury Specialty Cafe Is a Hit Among the Locals

More than just the coffee. Discover why cafe enthusiasts are raving about this Salisbury specialty cafe.

Cups and Wells, situated at 224 Lillian Avenue in Salisbury, offers more than just great coffee and scrumptious food. The local cafe prides itself on being a perfect place to unwind, catch up with friends, or even work remotely.

The overall ambience is so inviting; sporting a minimalist interior surrounded by white walls with timber tables and touches of greenery, whilst a green-and-white palette dominates the exterior where diners may opt to sit and enjoy their cuppa.

As for the cafe’s name, the owners say that they took inspiration from “the culture in the olden days where the locals would socialise around the wells as they draw water for their vital sustenance and nourishment.”

specialty cafe Cups and Wells — Photo Credit: Cups and Wells / Facebook

The specialty cafe features an all-day menu that includes Croffle Benedict (croissant and waffle hybrid packed with poached eggs, spinach, onion jam, spicy hollandaise and a choice of bacon, smoked salmon or halloumi) and Big Brekky (eggs your way served with bacon, bratwurst, halloumi, hash browns, smashed avocado, spinach and roast tomato).

Also on offer is a House-made corn-spinach fritter made with either smoky bacon or halloumi filling and served with salsa verde, smashed avocado, charred lemon and roasted cherry tomatoes. Another must-try is their Biscoff Waffle made with Vanilla Belgian waffle with seasonal fruits, pan-fried banana and topped with Biscoff crumb, ice cream and floss.

Drink options include hot chocolate, chai latte, tea, smoothies and shakes. And guess what? They even have babycino (for kids) and Puppucino (for doggies). The coffee fix, meanwhile, is courtesy of Ona coffee.

What they can say about their Cups & Wells experience

“Very outstanding coffee served here, won’t be disappointed if you stop by for a coffee or have nice meal.”
A. Wu

“Cups and Wells has been a sanctuary through a really hard time in my life. The staff are gorgeous, the coffee is delicious and the food is the yummiest! Highly recommend 500/5 stars.”
K. Atburrow

“Came for breakfast today and was amazed not only by the wonderful coffee brew but the harsh breakfast with Halloumi… cannot recommend highly enough!”
C. Donnelly

“Best coffee around! Excellent food too and super lovely staff. We recently ordered breakfast on a weekend and used the Boppl app – food and coffee was delivered to our house SO efficiently. A great addition to the local cafe scene 🙂.”
M. Tiger

Cups and Wells | 230 Lillian Ave, Salisbury QLD 4107, Australia

Public Talk In Nathan To Focus On Managing Doubts And Fears, Making Decisions Confidently

About Dzogchen Rinpoche

HE Dzogchen Rinpoche is the authentic Dzogchen lineage holder and head of Dzogchen Monastery in South India with more than 280 branch monasteries in Asia—mainly in Tibet, India, Nepal and Bhutan and in the West.

He founded the Dzogchen Shri Senha Charitable Society (DSSCS). The charity works to improve the educational, health care and social needs of the surrounding Dhondenling Tibetan refugee settlement and Indian community.

Dzogchen Rinpoche also founded Shenpen, an international network of organisations that support the spiritual and charitable activities of DSSCS and Dzogchen Monastery. Shenpen, meaning “benefiting others”, has branches in America, Australia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Ticket Bookings

Salisbury Hotel To Reopen With New Beer Garden And Sports Bar

Salisbury Hotel will reopen with a brand new beer garden and sports bar following weeks of closure for renovations.

Read: The Green Retirement Site Adjoining Tarragindi Bowls Club To Open in Early 2023

One of the highlights of the $1.6 million renovation is its Sports Bar, which features 10 dedicated racing and odds screens and five of the latest ‘i-select’ touch screens.

The renovation comes after the hotel management noticed the increase in younger families and students moving into the area. To make sure that the pub goes with the needs of the local community, Salisbury Hotel will reopen with a family-friendly bistro featuring a new menu.

For the new menu, expect some classic comfort food such as parmys and schnitzels as well as fried pickles, loaded wedges, prawn linguine, and pizza cob loaf.

Salisbury Hotel is a child-friendly venue and has a kids play area. Furry friends are also welcome in their outdoor dining area.

As for accommodation, the hotel has 16 air-conditioned units, each containing its own ensuite bathroom, TV, bar fridge, and tea and coffee facilities.

Whilst the beer garden and sports bar are closed for makeover, patrons can still visit the venue’s bistro and gaming room seven days a week from 10:00 a.m.

Launch Weekend

To celebrate the reopening, the hotel will hold a Beer Garden & Sports Bar Launch Weekend from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May 2022.

Friday Local’s Night

Live music
FREE chicken wings from 5-6pm
Tradie Club Giveaway & Double Tradie Dollars

Saturday All-Day Party

Live music
Community Gold Coin Donation BBQ
All-Day $20 burger & schooner
Merch giveaways, gaming cash draws

Sunday Family Day

Live music
Kids eat FREE between 12-2pm
Balloon artist & face painters
Nova 106.9 and the Nova Casanovas
All-Day $25 pizza & jug
Merch giveaways, gaming cash draws

For bookings and more details, visit Salisbury Hotel’s website or follow them on Facebook or on Instagram @salisburyhotelmotel.

The Green Retirement Site Adjoining Tarragindi Bowls Club To Open in Early 2023

Construction is well underway at The Green, the new retirement community that is also expected to rejuvenate the Tarragindi Bowls Club. The site is expected to open in early 2023.

Since mid-2021, the Tarragindi Bowls Club has temporarily made the Salisbury Sports and Community Club its home following the start of the retirement village’s construction.

According to RetireAustralia, the bowls club will remain the central recreational site of the community, once it opens, and will feature a 10-rink championship-quality bowling green.

All residents of The Green will automatically get a free membership to the bowls club, where they could also invite friends to play or enjoy great food at the cafe. The redevelopment will also see additional car parking areas for the visitors.

“So whether you take bowls seriously or you just seriously want to have fun, you’ll be able to socialise over a friendly bowls match or establish your legendary status as a fierce competitor on the lawn.”

The Green provides 92 units with at least a dozen carefully considered apartment designs. Emergency support will also be available 24/7, while professional home care services can also be accessed on your terms—occasionally or daily.

Meanwhile, the Tarragindi Bowls Club has been holding regular play days at the Salisbury Bowls Club every Tuesday (9:00 a.m.), Thursday (1:00 p.m.), Saturday (1:00 p.m.). The Brekky Bowls held every second Sunday of the month has also been maintained.

Infratil and NZ Super Say May Consider Selling RetireAustralia

Construction at RetireAustralia’s ‘The Green Tarragindi’ | Photo Credit: RetirementAustralia / Facebook

Infratil and NZ Super Fund have announced that they will undertake a strategic review of their ownership in RetireAustralia which may involve an outright sale. The retirement village operator is currently redeveloping the former Tarragindi Bowls Club site into a retirement facility to be called The Green Tarragindi.

In a statement, Jason Boyes, Infratil Chief Executive, said that the company has performed “extremely well in very trying times“. And with the business performing strongly, Infratil feels that now is the right time to assess the scale of their investment in RetireAustralia and whether there is a higher value investor who would be willing “to support delivering the business’s strategic plan”.

Photo Credit: RetirementAustralia / Facebook

“We continually assess the shape and structure of our portfolio to ensure it delivers the best long-term value to New Zealanders. With a strong management team in place and the business performing well, it is time to consider what ownership structure is best for RetireAustralia and for us” NZ Super Fund Senior Advisor Real Estate Toby Selman said.

Infratil and NZ Super Fund acquired RetireAustralia in 2014 for $640 million with each owning a 50 per cent stake in the company. Over the coming months, both companies will engage with market participants and study their proposals which may include a sale.

Reports say that among those who have already expressed an interest was private equity company Brookfield which acquired Aveo in 2019 for $1.3 billion and was the second highest bidder in the Stockland Retirement Living auction held recently.

RetireAustralia currently owns 28 retirement villages in NSW, SA and Qld. New units are currently being developed at The Rise at Wood Glen and Forresters Beach in NSW and at The Verge and The Green in Queensland.

Late last year, Infratil reported that RetireAustralia’s underlying profit rose 71 per cent over the six month period between 2020 and 2021. Given this strong performance, RetireAustralia’s total sales for FY2022 is projected to between 480 and 500 units compared to 343 the previous year.

Fire Destroys Historic Rocklea Munitions Works Building

Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Fire has gutted and caused major structural damage to the heritage-listed Rocklea Munitions Works in Salisbury, a historic textile factory which was decommissioned in the late 1990s.

On 7 March at around 9.30 in the evening, Multiple Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) crews rushed to the conflagration on the corner of Assembly Street and Bearing Street where the historic building is located.

As smoke blanketed the area, QLD fire and emergency services asked nearby residents to close windows and doors amid concerns of asbestos coming out of the burning building. Fire crews had the fire under control half an hour later with no casualty or injury reported.

The Rocklea Munitions Works is regarded as one of the largest industrial complexes to be built in Queensland during World War II. The RMW was constructed in the early 1940s and covers an area of more than 80 acres on the then known as Compo Road (now called Evans Road) in Rocklea.

The historic structures at the corner of Assembly and Bearing Streets | Photo Credit: Google Maps

At its peak, The Rocklea Munition Works employed some 3,000 factory workers and produced a total of 137,729,208 million rounds of small arms ammunition (between March 1942 and October 1943) along with 1,221,122 brass cartridge cases for 25-pounder shells.

The former textile factory was one of the eight RMW buildings that served as a munitions factory during the second world war. The steel-frame building features a saw-tooth roof design which allows natural light to penetrate the building, thereby, reducing energy consumption. When RMW shut down after WWII, many of these buildings were repurposed and leased to businesses.

Tarragindi Community Garden: Championing Domestic Waste Reduction

Photo Credit: Tarragindi Community Garden / Facebook

Did you know that the Tarragindi Community Garden has so far rescued more than nine tonnes of food waste since it opened in 2020? Get to know this community garden that has been championing domestic waste reduction through responsible waste management.

The Tarragindi Community Garden is a volunteer group formed in 2019, consisting of Tarragindi locals who are passionate about turning the community waste management around.

The group established the community garden, situated within the grounds of the Wellers Hill Bowls Club, through the leadership of Renae McBrien with a vision of a shared backyard where everyone can enjoy the pleasure of growing their own food and sharing it with the rest of the community.

Group founder, Renae McBrien and 2021 WasteSMART Champions Awardee — Tarragindi Community Garden group founder, Renae McBrien and 2021 WasteSMART Champions Awardee
Photo Credit: supplied

To fund their project, they came up with a scheme that would not only encourage the members of the community to donate but leave donors with a sense of ownership. Through their “tree and bed sponsorship” program, the community garden was able to cover their cost of construction whilst acknowledging the families that helped fund the project by putting their names on the plaques around the garden.

Tarragindi Community Garden, 2021 WasteSMART Community Awardee | Photo Credit: supplied

Apart from growing food, the community garden hosts a community composting hub, through the support of the Brisbane City Council, that collects local domestic and commercial food waste and turns it into hot compost.

They have thus far diverted 9 tonnes of organic waste from the landfill and converted it into free landscape supplies for the garden with the rest (approximately 9 x 25L bags a month) given away to the community.

Some of the partners in the community who compost in the hub include:

Two local florists – floral and foliage waste
Two local coffee shops – coffee grinds
Wellers Hill Bowls Club bowling green waste – garden waste
Local brewery – spent beer and hops
Local primary school – brown tuckshop bags and food waste
Local Childcare centre – all daily food waste

Another initiative of the group is the Tarragindi Toppers recycling hub which captures small plastic lids, bread tags and beer and wine bottle tops for processing and reusing by Australian circular economy projects including:

253 kg of bottle tops – community volunteers process this into colours for recycling by EVOLVE plastics – Crestmead into building materials.
61.4 kg of bread tags – hand sorted into colours and donated to Transmutation in South Australia to be made into plastic bowls, platters, plant pots etc.
4.2 tonnes of PVC pool toys, air mattresses, umbrellas, shower curtains and donated to PLOYS in Bundaberg to be reused into school swim bags, library bags, purses etc.
16kg of beer and wine metal tops – recycled directly back into a Brisbane scrap metal facility.

The group also conducts free community composting workshops, free community native bee workshops with the Tarragindi Scouts groups, community worm farm workshops as well as deliver community information lectures at the BCC Masters Composting Course.

They also do monthly Tarragindi Community garden working bees with free giveaway compost bags for the community, recycling education sessions at local Tarragindi child care centres, and recycling education sessions at local primary schools.

In the 2021 WasteSMART Champions Awards, the group captured two awards: University of Queensland Brisbane’s WasteSMART Champion for Renae McBrien and WasteSMART Community Award for The Tarragindi Community Garden.

Tarragindi Community Garden | 34 Esher St Tarragindi QLD 4121

Wellers Hill Bowls Club in Tarragindi Opens for Flood Victims Seeking Shelter

Editor’s Note: UPDATE (2 March 2022) – The Wellers Hill Bowls Club initiative has wound down and Council advises residents to proceed to the Chandler Arena instead.

Residents in the southside who have nowhere else to go and need a safe haven from the devastating floods are welcome to seek shelter at the Wellers Hill Bowls Club on Esher Street in Tarragindi.

The club operators announced that they will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for those who will need a dry place to enjoy some food, use the toilet facilities, and rest after the stressful weather events for the past few days. The site has accommodated more than 30 flood victims and their pets, and they are expecting more in the coming days.

“We have a big hall and plenty of tables and chairs. We are animal friendly so you can bring your pets. We have coffee and tea facilities as well as a kitchen,” Anthony Neven said. “Our address is 34 Esher St or give me a call at 0411 415 373.”

Whilst originally intended to open for overnight stays, the operators of Wellers Hill Bowls Club said that Council has asked them to direct flood victims looking for a place to sleep at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler, a pet-friendly evacuation centre.

Nonetheless, the clubhouse will still welcome donations for the flood victims, such as toiletries and warm blankets for those coming in for the day.

Aside from Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler, the Council has also turned the Kedron-Wavell Services Club into an overnight shelter/evacuation centre in the northside, which will accept only trained service animals with their families.

Evacuation Kit Must-Haves

Evacuees are advised to bring the following items to the temporary shelters:

Mobile phone and charger
Spare clothing
Toiletries
Important documents (e.g. insurance papers, passports, birth certificates, backup of computer files)
Necessary medication and prescriptions
Needs for infants such as formula or nappies
Bedding, pillow, and blankets
lead and muzzle for dogs
food for pets
litter and a litter tray for pets

Track Emergency Info and Updates

For essential trips, however, check for road conditions via the Department of Transport and Main Roads updates. Also, follow the updates for other impacted services at Council’s official site.

For flood emergency assistance contact the SES on 132 500. For life-threatening emergencies, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Time to Step Up, Tarragindi! Clean Up Australia Day Is Coming

Photo Credit: Clean Up Australia / cleanup.org.au/

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Update from Clean Up Australia as of 2 March 2022: The safety of our community is of paramount importance so we encourage you to reschedule your Clean Up in the event of bad weather. Any areas affected by heavy rain and damaging winds will need attention when it is safe for volunteers to gather outdoors.)

It’s time to Step up to Clean up! Join the Tarragindi Community Clean Up event and donate your time to clean up the environment on Sunday, the 6th of March 2022, as communities around the country observe Clean Up Australia Day.

What is Clean Up Australia?

The Clean Up Australia campaign was started by Ian Kiernan, AO, in 1989. Kiernan was a yachtsman who represented Australia in the BOC Challenge around-the-world solo yacht race in 1986-87.

During that trip, he got to see the shocking amount of rubbish that is clogging the world’s oceans. With the help of his friends, he then organised the Clean Up Sydney Harbour event in 1989 that attracted 40,000 volunteers and collected over 5,000 tonnes of rubbish. The successful event gave birth to Clean Up Australia Day in 1990.

In 1991, Kiernan was asked by the United Nations to replicate the initiative and invite the global community to get on board as well, and so the Clean Up the World operation was launched in 1993. The not-for-profit, non-government apolitical event saw more than 30 million people in 80 countries participating.

Ian Kiernan – Clean Up the World Welcome Message | Video Credit: cleanuptheworld / YouTube

In Australia, Clean Up Australia Day has become the largest community-based event in the country, three decades after its inception, empowering communities to make a difference by cleaning up and preserving the environment for future generations.

As an organisation, Clean Up Australia works with individuals, community groups, businesses and schools across Australia providing them with free Clean Up Kit including bags, gloves, information and promotional materials, as well as public liability insurance coverage.

Why participate in the Clean Up Australia Day?

Australia’s litter problem continues to grow. Plastic wastes that the country generates alone are estimated to be around 2.5 million tonnes each year and only 13% is recovered whilst 84% is sent to landfill. Moreover, around 130,000 tonnes of this rubbish find its way into waterways and into the ocean which negatively impacts precious marine life.

Video Credit: Clean Up Australia / YouTube

Interested individuals, community groups, businesses or schools may register their clean up event or participate in the following events:

• Tarragindi Community Clean Up, Ekibin Memorial Park – 8 am -10 am, Sunday 6 March

• Middle St, Coopers Plains – 3 pm – 5 pm, Sunday 6 March

• Beryl Roberts Park, Coopers Plains – 5 pm – 6 pm, Sunday 6 March

Apart from participating in the Clean Up Australia campaign, you can do your part in keeping the environment clean by staying away from cheap products that don’t last long, avoiding single-use items, buying second-hand clothing and recycled products and fixing damaged items when possible.

First-Ever Outdoor Roller Derby Court to Open in Salisbury

Did you know that Brisbane will soon have the very first outdoor roller derby court in Salisbury? The sports and recreational site is currently under construction and will transform the unused netball courts at the Salisbury Recreation Reserve.

According to Cr Vicki Howard, the chair of Field Services, six outdated netball courts at the reserve will be transformed into two outdoor roller derby courts based on the community’s request. Speaking with ABC Radio, Ms Howard said that they have been working with the southside roller derby leagues to deliver this request as roller derby has become popular in recent years.

The councillor also said that netballers have moved to other facilities, thus the site has not been used for many years. The remediation of Salisbury Recreation Reserve will also bring more green spaces in the area for the community to use when there are no roller derby practices or games.

Ms Howard expects that the facility will open to the public by the end of March 2022. Brisbane’s other roller derby court is in Stafford in the north but it’s an indoor facility.

Councillor Steve Griffiths also confirmed the remediation work at the reserve.

“Six of the existing netball courts, which are showing significant surface cracking and undulation, will be turned into two roller derby courts,” he said.

“The remaining three netball courts closest to the creek require removal. Turf will be installed in their place, along with drainage and a seating mound within the turfed area.”

Per Brisbane City Council, “The entire hard court area in Salisbury Recreation Reserve will be closed to complete the works and to enable construction to proceed safely. Fencing and signs will outline and enclose the construction area and safe pedestrian access around the site will be maintained at all times.”

For feedback about this project, residents may phone the project team on 1800 669 416 (business hours) or Council at 07 3403 8888 (off-hours).