Stretton, Queensland

Stretton Brisbane, Queensland
Population	3,776 (2006 census)
Postcode(s)	4116
Location	18 km (11 mi) from Brisbane GPO
LGA(s)	Brisbane
Federal division(s)	Moreton
Suburbs around Stretton: Sunnybank Hills Runcorn Kuraby Calamvale Stretton Karawatha Drewvale Drewvale Karawatha

Stretton is a suburb on the south side of Brisbane, Australia. It is 17 kilometres from the Brisbane Central Business District, and borders the suburbs of Calamvale, Sunnybank Hills, Karawatha, Kuraby, and Drewvale.

History

In the early 1800s, Stretton and many of today's suburbs around the Sunnybank area were part of a vast area known as Coopers Plains. In 1861, Governor Bowen declared a wide area that included Eight Mile Plains to Stretton as a Brisbane Agricultural Reserve.[1] This agricultural reserve was originally used as a source of timber, but when it was found to be good farming land, settlers quickly turned it into farms that produced sought-after fruit, vegetables, and poultry.

Stretton was gazetted as a suburb of Brisbane in 1971, and was named after George Stretton, who settled in the area in the 1880s. George Stretton was born in 1827 near Derby in England.[2] After immigrating to Australia he became the first postmaster at Browns Plains in 1872, while at the same time he and his family ran a hotel at Browns Plains.

Population

More than 65 per cent of households in Stretton are couples with children; 22 per cent are couples without children, and 10 per cent are single-parent households. In 1989 there was controversy regarding the sale of land to Asian investors,[3] and there is a large Asian population in the suburb today. With rare exceptions, the dwellings in Stretton are stand-alone houses — generally modern, brick and tile. Houses in the north-west corner of Stretton include many huge, multi-storey mansions.

Environment

A military map from 1922 shows only four houses in the area that is now Stretton. In the 2006 census, there were 3776 residents, and more areas have been cleared and built on since then.

The northern part of Stretton includes several hills, but the land flattens out towards the south. The southern part has more vegetation, as it joins Karawatha Forest to the south-east and the Calamvale Creek wetlands on the south-west.

Society and education

There are no churches in Stretton, but numerous places of worship exist in the nearby suburbs of Calamvale, Sunnybank Hills, Kuraby and Berrinba. Stretton State College is located at the southern (Drewvale) end of the suburb.

External links

• BRISbites
• Our Brisbane
• History of Stretton
• Real estate profile of Stretton
• Critters of Calamvale Creek wildlife of Calamvale and Stretton