Page 10 - BOL Feb 22 Edition

Kelly Family Attracted by Lake elly Family Attracted by Lake
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Views over Halpine!iews over Halpine!

Back in 1999, my wife Susan and I bought our land at Mango Hill for the simple reason that we loved the outlook over Halpine Lake, with
little knowledge that the fledgling Mango Hill Progress Association had been instrumental along with local Environmentalists in ensuring
its survival in planning for coming housing developments.

It wasn’t until 10 years later in 2009, when the magnetic pull of the Lake resulted in our family (now with three children in tow), moving
from the southside of Brisbane to our newly built home overlooking Halpine Lake.

It was a bit of a challenge getting to work in Brisbane City in those early days. There wasn’t even a decent bus service, and even when one
was finally introduced to link up with Petrie train station, it still took an hour and a half to get to work. At times I even regretted moving to
the area, especially when there was an accident on the freeway that significantly delayed the buses.
But we had big expectations and we weren’t to be disappointed. To say that a lot has changed in the last ten years is an understatement!

• Travel times within the area have been improved with new roads including the Plantation Road highway overpass and Diamond
Jubilee Way linking Boundary Road in the north to Anzac Avenue in the south.
• Westfield North Lakes has grown from its initial humble beginnings to a major complex including cinemas and the addition of a third
wing to the new K-Mart and Ikea stores.
• Other major retailers have come to North Lakes including Costco, Bunnings, Super A-Mart, Good Guys, Anaconda and Spotlight.
• The opening of the Mango Hill Market Place in December 2014 provided more dining options as well as convenient grocery shopping.
• The long-anticipated rail line opening in October 2016, made a huge difference to the lives of those who work outside the region.
The train station is only a five-minute stroll from our house with trains leaving every six minutes at peak time in the morning. The
commute time has been cut in half with little need to link up bus and train timetables.
• Schools such as St Benedicts, along with the Mango Hill State School and more recently the Mango Hill State Secondary College now
offer great opportunities for local families.
• We even have a day hospital and multi-storey medical specialist centre.
• My wife also volunteers at the new YMCA that opened in 2020 just up the road.

A particularly rewarding experience has been our time volunteering for the Mango Hill Progress Association which we joined not long after
moving to the area. The Association has worked hard in the community for over 35 years. Under President Laurence Christie’s leadership,
the Association is a respected and professionally run organisation that works closely with all levels of government, authorities, local
businesses and residents. We have a band of willing volunteers that devote their time and energy to worthwhile activities for the benefit
of the community, whether it be advocating for much needed changes or conducting community events such as regular skate nights and
annual Christmas festivities or advocating for improvements to traffic and transport flows and local facilities. If you haven’t attended
the Christmas events in the past, you have no doubt heard the fireworks. It was the Mango Hill Progress Association that fought for the
retention of Lake Halpine when plans were underway to drain the lake to make room for more housing. It is fair to say that, without the
association, my family would still be residing on the southside of Brisbane. If that’s not enough, we have made some great friends here in
Mango Hill.

Everything we want and need is right here in North Lakes and
Mango Hill. We don’t need to leave the area. Now that the NBN is
here, I can even work from home. In fact, everyone comes to us now.
Why would we live anywhere else?

The photograph opposite shows Lake Halpine from 120 metres
above our house looking over the train station with Mango Hill
Market Place in the distance.

Cheers

Mark Kelly
Secretary & Life Member of the Mango Hill Progress Association
Mango Hill (Halpine) Resident