Archerfield Wetlands Parkland
Discover and connect with nature
Archerfield Wetlands Parkland is located in Brisbane’s south-west, approximately 12 kilometres from Brisbane’s Central Business District (CBD). The 150-hectare parkland contains a variety of habitats including eucalypt forest, open grassland, freshwater wetlands and creeks. These habitat areas support over 170 different bird species.
While Archerfield Wetlands hosts a diverse range of important ecosystems and habitats, historical land clearing and land use activities, including a wastewater treatment plant, waste disposal, industrial meat processing, landfilling and grazing, have left a legacy of contamination, clearing and altered landforms and watercourses.
The Archerfield Wetlands Precinct Plan was released in 2019 following extensive community consultation. It establishes the vision, priority actions and improvements to transform 150 hectares of underutilised green space into a new public parkland that balances environmental and community needs.
The two signature community project outcomes for the Archerfield Wetlands Parkland are:
- a district-scale park located at the old Inala wastewater treatment plant on Bowhill Road, Durack – completed and opened September 2024.
- a shared walking and cycling trail called the Archerfield Wetlands Discovery Trail that provides access through the 150-hectare site – completed and opened July 2022.
Archerfield Wetlands District Park
The four-hectare District Park sits within the wider 150-hectare Archerfield Wetlands Parkland and includes a range of facilities for the community to connect with nature and each other, including:
- a large adventure play space with water play features.
- a youth hub with basketball court.
- a community event lawn.
- a bush resources garden.
- Oxley Creek Catchment Association’s headquarters including a native plant nursery to support environmental rehabilitation of the Oxley Creek catchment.
- picnic shelters and barbeque facilities.
- a versatile, bookable community meeting and event room.
- access to the Archerfield Wetlands Discovery Trail.
The Archerfield Wetlands District Park playground has been designed to challenge and appeal to children from around the age of 6 up to 12. Children using the playground should be supervised at all times.
Archerfield Wetlands Discovery Trail
The Archerfield Wetlands Parkland Discovery Trail opened on 4 July 2022, allowing Brisbane residents and visitors to enjoy over 3-kilometres of tracks and trails within the Archerfield Wetlands Parkland precinct.
Community vision and engagement
Feedback received from the community played an important role in shaping the Archerfield Wetlands Precinct Plan and reflects Brisbane Sustainability Agency’s commitment to building relationships and working together with the community and stakeholders.
A community stakeholder reference group was established to inform the development of the Precinct Plan. Drawing on local stories and knowledge, the diverse group of people helped shape and strengthen the Precinct Plan.
A draft Precinct Plan was publicly released in June 2019 and was followed by a four-week community consultation and engagement program. More than 150 individual feedback responses were received that demonstrated the community’s support of the vision for the site, with 90% of survey respondents in agreement with the draft Precinct Plan.
While the draft Precinct Plan received a high level of support from the community, feedback received was used to further enhance and strengthen the Precinct Plan, in particular relating to:
- vehicular access and parking in the northern part of the parkland
- shared path connections to nearby residential areas
- balancing environmental conservation with walking tracks and trails that enable visitors to experience the wetlands
- respecting neighbouring residents and businesses in planning for the site.
Download the Archerfield Wetlands Precinct Plan (PDF, 8MB).
In 2022, Brisbane Sustainability Agency prepared the Archerfield Wetlands Vegetation Management Plan (PDF, 12MB), to guide a strategic, yet adaptive land management approach through staged improvements, enhancing diverse biodiversity values whilst acknowledging constraints of a modified environment (nearby-airport, flooding, bushfire).
FAQs
How many plants have been planted at Archerfield Wetlands?
Over 100,000 – see the Biodiverse Brisbane Initiative for more information.
What sustainability features have been incorporated into Archerfield Wetlands District Park?
- 67,000 new trees, shrubs, grasses and ground covers have been planted within the District Park to cool the site, soak up excess stormwater and provide habitat for birds and animals.
- The construction materials selected for the park structures and landscaping are low maintenance and long lasting.
- The concrete used in the project is eco concrete, which means there is less car-bon generated in its manufacture than normal concrete.
- Existing relics of the decommissioned Inala Wastewater Treatment Plant were repurposed rather than demolished. These relics have found new lives on site as seating, landscape features and even a stormwater cleaning basin.
- The roof water collected off the roof of the Wetlands Community Hub building is piped to two 10,000 litre water tanks. The water collected in these tanks is used by Oxley Creek Catchment Association for plant watering in their nursery.
- The Wetlands Community Hub building has a rooftop solar array providing elec-tricity to the building as well as a solar hot water heater.
- Landscaped rain gardens, swales and basins across the park collect the storm-water running off the car park and other paved areas. As the stormwater passes through these features the soil, gravel and plants work together to gradually filter out pollutants and rubbish before the water is then released into the adjoining wetlands.
Project timeline
2018
- Archerfield Wetlands Parkland identified in Oxley Creek Transformation Master Plan.
2019
- Draft Precinct Plan is released for consultation
- Precinct Plan finalised and released.
2020
- Detailed planning begins
2021
- Construction commences for Archerfield Wetlands Discovery Trail
2022 – July
- Archerfield Wetlands Discovery Trail completed
- Vegetation Management Plan completed
2023 – January
- Construction commences for Archerfield Wetlands District Park
2024 – September
- Archerfield Wetlands District Park completed
Resources
Links
Explore our other programs
Oxley Creek Transformation
Pine Mountain Quarry
Mt Coot-tha Precinct
Sustainable Action Training
Biodiverse Brisbane Initiative
Flood Resilient Suburbs Programs
Sustainable Business Hub
