Emerald Fringe Update

Emerald FringeEnvironment
Written By Angela Hoskins

By Jan MacIntyre (CIHS President)

Exciting developments for the Emerald Fringe on Coochiemudlo Island!

Conservation Management Plan for the Emerald Fringe

At a late December 2023 meeting, representatives from the Coochiemudlo Heritage Society (CIHS), officers of Redland City Council (RCC), and Councillor Lance Hewlett, Division 4 reached an agreement recognizing the importance of a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the heritage listed Emerald Fringe. A CMP would assist all RCC development activities of the Emerald Fringe. The development of the CMP would be pursued by RCC officers subject to budgetary restraints.

While State regulations typically require a landowner to develop a CMP for heritage-listed sites, the unique scenario on Coochiemudlo Island involves the State Government as the landowner, with RCC managing the land under trust. Therefore, a specific regulation mandating a CMP for RCC does not exist, making this agreement noteworthy.

The Conservation Management Plan will play a pivotal role in focusing on the heritage overlay of the Emerald Fringe. This is particularly significant as July 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of the locally heritage-listed Emerald Fringe. The heritage listing traces back to the 1878 Directions by the Queensland Surveyor General, stipulating a 30-metre-wide coastal reserve when constructing roads. In 1885, George MacDonald’s survey of Coochiemudlo Island adhered to these instructions, establishing the current layout of a central residential area encircled by a coastal esplanade reserve.

The esplanade, following the tradition of providing a road or path by the sea, allows residents and visitors to enjoy a walk around the island, unaffected by tidal changes. As of now, Coochiemudlo stands as the only inhabited island in Queensland with an intact esplanade reserve, devoid of major structures along its circumference – a truly unique feature.

The upcoming celebration in July 2024 marks not only the heritage listing milestone but also emphasizes the island’s distinctive layout and the preservation efforts underway. Stay tuned for special activities planned to commemorate this occasion and cherish the island’s cultural and natural heritage. Keep posted in our events calendar for information about the celebration event in mid 2024.

Angela Hoskins

Built my first site in 2000 and steadily learned what it takes to make websites work. Dabbled in WordPress back then, still do. Since building my first Squarespace site in 2016, I’ve been impressed with the relatively streamlined approach to website design and development that Squarespace offers compared to WordPress. SEO was a major challenge from the start — I’ve spent a lot of time keeping up with what’s required to get sites working, ranking well on a SERP. I have confidence with what Squarespace offers for SEO.

Having worked for more than 10 years in the web team of an inland, regional university in Australia and dealing with frustrations that come with working for a large corporate enterprise, the idea of setting up my own web design business became my goal.

Set up my business in late 2017. Opted for a sea change, too: I now live on Coochiemudlo Island 45 minutes from Brisbane. Love working from home. Love working for small business clients. Still get casual work with the university.

Challenges? The main one is pricing my work for small businesses. Doing quality work, doing the research to be up to date in the industry, takes time; it’s hard to factor in this time to my pricing while being competitive in the market and affordable for many small businesses.

https://sitecontent.com.au
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The Sixth Island — the Name Matthew Flinders called Coochiemudlo Island 225 years ago
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