The Racecourse Village in Ascot is set to open this month and it brings with it not only sustainable energy but a wide range of retail outlets and a foodie precinct for the local community.
Delicious and authentic Italian food is coming to the development in the form of Vitos Cucina & Bar. Open for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner on Friday and Saturday, it will bring to you all your Italian favourites.
Photo credit: Vitos Cucina & Bar / Facebook
The restaurant is owned by Vito Mandarano, who also owns Vitos Espresso Bar in Everton Park.
Vitos aims to provide the community with modern authentic Italian dishes with a twist. They will be serving eight varieties of bruschetta as well as seafood platters, pastas, and many more.
The restaurant will have indoor and outdoor seating. Their interior combines the colours gray, black, greens, and wooden texture for that classy and modern feel. An airy atmosphere will be provided by the huge windows letting in natural lighting during daytime.
Photo credit: Vitos Cucina & Bar / Facebook
The restaurant will open on 31 July 2018.
Read: Racecourse Village In Ascot Almost Ready To Opens Its Doors
The solar-powered Racecourse Village in Ascot is almost finished. Scheduled to open this month, the project is part of the new $1.2 billion master-planned Eagle Farm Racecourse redevelopment.
Heritage Controversy
Earlier this month, the masterplan has gotten into a controversy when the Brisbane Racing Club (BRC) applied to delist sections of the Eagle Farm Racecourse site from the Queensland Heritage Register. It asked to delist four lots starting behind the Gallopers Sports Club down to the front of Nudgee Rd.
However, Elizabeth Handley, the president of the Brisbane Residents United, said that such proposal shows the development is gradually eating away the heritage of the racecourse.
All’s Well
Nevertheless, the delistment pushed through with the BRC not receiving objections during the feedback period in March of this year.
In light of this, the architectural design of the development paid tribute to the fabric and history of the Eagle Farm Racecourse by adapting some of its elements. They used materials such as exposed brick, terra cotta, timber, and wrought iron, that represented the site’s heritage and its historical significance.
What To Expect
The Village will offer 5,000 sq m of retail establishments. One of them is a Woolworths Supermarket, the first full-line supermarket in the catchment.
Aside from that, there will be plenty of food establishments coming. An Asian-fusion eatery called Koodle will be serving delicious Asian cuisine, whilst there will also be sushi for your Japanese food cravings, courtesy of Sushi Kura.
Fancy a burger? Da’Burgerwill give you tender and juicy patties wrapped in soft buns. For your pasta cravings, Vitos Cucina & Bar will be the perfect stop for you.
For your bread and pastry needs, Ascot Bakehouse will also open at the Racecourse Village.
Preliminary works have begun at the Brisbane Racing Club’s (BRC) car park in Ascot between Lancaster Road, Kitchener Road, and McGill Avenue. This has brought on outrage from the residents upon discovering that mature trees have been removed on the site.
According to the residents, they weren’t informed that the trees were being removed. Environment, Parks and Sustainability Chairman Cr David McLachlansaid that the council has begun initial works, which included the removal of 15 dead and diseased trees.
Cr McLachlan also mentioned that community Have Your Say sessions were held mid-May in which the council said the preliminary works include street trimming and the removal of 18 trees and they will be replaced by up to 50 new trees. He also said that the council wrote to the community in May to send a notification about the park creation associated tree works.
However, residents remain firm that they didn’t know about this. Last month, Cr McLachlan took to social media as well as to address the situation.
His post said that the trees were investigated by senior arborists and also reminded residents about two recent incidents where two significant trees in the area fell over without warning. He said that the council is only following the advice of an expert for the safety of the community.
Residents can view the arborist report at his office.
On the 23rd of June, be part of the Tattersall’s Tiara Race Day at the Doomben Racecourse starting at 10:30 a.m.
Photo credit: BRC
As part of the 2018 Winter Racing Carnival, the race day marks the 153rd anniversary of the Tattersall’s Cup, which was first held in August 1865. Eager punters are in for some great racing action. Of course, there will also be a family area along with free rides and entertainment promising a fun-filled day.
Photo credit: Style Magazines
The glamourous Wintergarden Fashions on the Field will also be back with a new judging panel and exciting prizes. Be sure to express yourself and dress up for the win, and don’t forget that put on the perfect millinery for this posh and glam event.
You can buy your tickets here for $20, or you can buy your tickets at the gate for $25. Children under 12 years old will receive free entry to the race course.
For the Members Stand tickets, you can also purchase it online for $40 or at the gate for $50.
The Tattersall’s Club was founded in 1865 and throughout the years has played a significant part in the growth of Brisbane. They remain to be prominent in the horse racing industry in Queensland.
Initial works on Ascot’s new park development are now underway as part of the Council’s commitment to keeping Brisbane clean and green. The new district park is located between Lancaster Road, Kitchener Road, and McGill Avenue.
The park is part of the Racecourse Precinct Neighbourhood Plan, developed between 2009 to 2011. Under the plan, the former Brisbane Racing Club (BRC) members’ car park at the corner of Lancaster and Kitchener Roads will be converted back to public parkland.
Draft of the new park’s concept plan. Photo credit: Brisbane City Council
The historic suburb of Ascot has been home to a diverse community that is constantly growing. This project aims to create an attractive park that can be enjoyed by the community and celebrate the history of the suburb.
Draft of the new park’s playground concept plan. Photo credit: Brisbane City Council
The park will increase accessible green space in the area and will also have a new fenced playground for children to enjoy.
The Council is now finalising the plans after a productive community consultation held in May 2018. The final design for the park will be available in late 2018 and all the feedback from the community will be included.
Construction of the park will take place in 2019, including the decompaction and regeneration of the soil, followed by park embellishment works.
Be ready to make new history at the carnival’s classic events. Highlights of the carnival include five days of classic events, such as seven heart-stopping Group One races, a QueensPlaza fashion showcase, exquisite food, and live entertainment. Check out the list below to see the schedule of events for the racing carnival.
KIRIN Doomben 10,000 Day
Saturday, 12 May 2018 (10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Racing Club
The KIRIN Doomben 10,000 Day marks the start of the racing carnival festivities. This day is the beginning of the grand thoroughbred contest.
Racegoers are welcomed with the beat of thunderous hooves as the Group One KIRIN Doomben 10,000, one of Australia’s best weight-for-age races leads a full black type programme.
Meet the Raceday Ambassador Beau Ryan and party after the last race with headliner Made In The 80s.
Carnival High Tea, proudly presented by Paspaley Pearls
Friday, 25 May 2018 (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.)
Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Racing Club
Hosted by BRC Fashion Ambassador, Damien Anthony Rossi, guests of the annual Paspaley Pearls Carnival High Tea will be greeted with a selection of petit fours, canapes and delicate finger sandwiches beautifully displayed on tiered stands.
The Carnival High Tea will be held in the heritage-listed Tote Room of Eagle Farm Racecourse. The event includes an indulgent sit-down high tea, free-flowing sparkling wine, exclusive QueensPlaza winter fashion parade with guest speakers, a chance at winning a pair of Paspaley Keshi Studs, pop-up stalls from Brisbane’s most-renowned milliners, and exclusive goodie bags to take home.
One of the highlights of the Channel Seven Brisbane Racing Carnival, the Treasury Brisbane Ladies’ Oaks Day is filled with a higher level of entertainment.
On the track, the excitement of racing continues with two Group One races (the Treasury Brisbane Queensland Oaks and Kingsford Smith Cup), one Group Two and five Group Three classics.
Off the track, timeless style takes centre stage as fashion enthusiasts vie for the QueensPlaza Best Dressed title with classic prim and proper suits and the frill of a flawless frock.
The Channel Seven Brisbane Racing Carnival ends with a spectacular finale with UBET Stradbroke Day.
The emotions on track rtise to a feverish pitch as the prize money rises to over $3.8 million, with the prize hotly contested across three Group One races and three Group Two races, including the mighty and pedigreed UBET Stradbroke Handicap.
According to an executive of a leading sustainable real estate company, Brisbane is currently on the right track to becoming a well-planned and sustainable city.
Stuart Penklis, Mirvac‘s Head of Residential said that smart development is the key to a sustainable enhancement of Queensland’s way of life as Brisbane’s population is expected to grow to 4.2 million by 2050.
As part of Brisbane’s Sustainable City Framework, the Council plans to have a Compact Urban Form to achieve a more compact development within and around regional activity centres and public transport nodes and corridors.
Photo credit: CC-BY/Brisbane City Council/Flickr
Having a more compact development means having higher density accommodations around the inner ring of Brisbane. As more people live in areas close to transport and activity centres, the need for car travel will be reduced, encouraging locals to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.
In Rosemary Kennedy and Laurie Buys’ study called the Dimensions of Liveability: A Tool for Sustainable Cities, they have found that people prefer to live in high-density areas due to the walkable access to services, recreation, and work. Such liveability aspects are important for environmental, social, and economic reasons.
Since the Council considers increasing the density within the city limits, the Mirvac head also cited that providing energy and having cost-efficient homes should also be prioritised by the Council.
Photo credit: ascotgreen.mirvac.com
An example of a pioneer green energy development in the area is Mirvac’s Ascot Green development at the Eagle Farm Racecourse.
With their solar initiative, the nine-storey building will have solar panels and batteries installed on the rooftop recreation deck that will take advantage of the sunny subtropical environment in the area. Individual apartments will be connected to the renewable power source to help residents reduce electricity costs by as much as 70 percent.
Such initiative not only addresses the community’s concern on the rising energy prices. It also helps the government achieve its target of having zero net emissions by 2050.
Emily Seebohm has won Australia’s 300th Commonwealth Games Swimming Gold Medal after winning the Women’s 50m Backstroke Final on 10 April 2018, Day 6 of the Games.
The Commonwealth Games may have been an emotional roller coaster for the 25-year-old swimming superstar as she geared up to defend her backstroke gold at the Games.
Seebohm showed superb form in the Women’s 100m Backstroke as she attempted to win her third consecutive Commonwealth Games title. She was able to set a Games record of 58.91 seconds during the initial event heat but Canadian world record-holder, Kylie Masse, caught up and lowered the Games record to 58.70 seconds just a few minutes in the succeeding heat. Seebohm bagged the silver medal in the 100m Backstroke as the Canadian swimmer took the gold.
Photo credit: Facebook/Commonwealth Games Australia
Determined to go for the gold, Seebohm redeemed herself by winning her 14th Commonwealth Games medal in the 50m Backstroke Final. She clocked 27.78 seconds in the event’s final, 0.04 seconds ahead of her competitor Kylie Masse.
Her win has become the Games’ landmark for Australian swimming with a Commonwealth Games Swimming medal tally of 305 golds.
Seebohm won silver and bronze medals in her individual swims and finished strong in the Games with two gold medals, one for the 50m Backstroke and another for the 4x100m Medley Relay. Her Games medal count is now equal to that of the legendary Susie O’Neill‘s 15 Commonwealth Games medals.
Aside from being a huge sporting event, the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) also serves as a unique opportunity to inspire the community to be more active and to live a healthier lifestyle. Several infrastructure projects have been added to several communities including 12 tables for outdoor table tennis in different Brisbane parks.
Photo credit: www.embracing2018.com
The Legacy Program initiative is a great way to support the sports and recreation industry and amplify people’s interest in sports before, during, and after the Games. Each of the projects under the Embracing 2018 Legacy Program is meant to be sustainable to provide facilities that people can utilise to stay active for a long time.
Table tennis is considered to be one of the most accessible Commonwealth Games sports. It allows the participation of people with varying fitness levels and ages. The installation of new tables for outdoor table tennis aspires to provide an environment where different cultures and demographics can come together and have fun while staying active.
All of the tables will be permanently available for public use as it is one way for the Brisbane City Council to create a new lifestyle and leisure opportunity.
Photo credit: http://www.mustdobrisbane.com
Aside from Oriel Park in Ascot, outdoor table tennis tables are also installed at Downey Park in Windsor, E.E. McCaskie Oval in Kelvin Grove, Graceville Riverside Parklands at Simpsons Playground in Graceville, Greenways Esplanade Park in Parkinson, Guyatt Park in St Lucia, Kuringgai Park in Fitzgibbon, Kangaroo Point Cliffs Park (lower) in Kangaroo Point, Orleigh Park in West End, Teralba Park in Everton Park, W.A. Jolly Park in Lutwyche, and Yimbun Park in Sunnybank.
Photo credit: CCO Public Domain / Tobka / Pixabay
You can bring your own table tennis bats and balls or you can borrow from local ward offices which includes Bracken Ridge, Calamvale, Enoggera, Hamilton, Marchant, McDowall, Paddington, Runcorn, Tennyson, The Gabba, and Walter Taylor.
This legacy project is supported by the Queensland State Government in partnership with the Brisbane City Council. The delivery of the project is also part of the Public Domain Improvement Program (PDIP) which funds minor capital works that provide a range of long-lasting benefits to the community. The project also aims to provide the best possible experience to visitors of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).
Emily Seebohm, holder of 11 national swimming titles and daughter of a swimming teacher from Ascot State School, has definitely made her mother and her country proud.
Seebohm and her siblings received their first swimming lessons from their mother Karen, a qualified learn-to-swim teacher currently working at Ascot State School. Considered one of Australia’s most versatile professional swimmers, Seebohm has come a long way from those first lessons, making a name for herself in competitive swimming, especially in the Backstroke events.
Seebohm was just 14 years old when she won her first national 100m Backstroke title. Just recently, Seebohm swam her way to her eleventh title in the Commonwealth Trials. She is getting ready to defend her title in the coming Commonwealth Games, determined to maintain her perfect gold medal record in the 100m Backstroke event for the third time.
Credit: Facebook/Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games – Channel 7
Proving her versatility as a professional swimmer, Seebohm also won the 50m Backstroke and ranked second in the 200m Backstroke, just a whisker ahead, at 0.01 seconds, behind the 16-year-old Kaylee McKeown who took first place. She also made it to the finals of the 100m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly at the trials.
The Pressure From Winning
Photo credit: Facebook/Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games – Channel 7
This three-time Olympian admitted that the pressure of trying to maintain her winning streak is massive. She admitted that her nerves got the best of her at the recently concluded trials and this affected her performance in the events.
As one of the most experienced and most dominant swimmers in Australia, she recognizes the fact that her actual performance during the Commonwealth Games will be the ultimate pressure test. She said that McKeown’s win in the 200m Backstroke trials has also motivated her to do better in the Games.
World Records
Photo credit: Facebook/Australian Dolphins Swim Team
Seebohm started her record-breaking streak in 2008. When she competed at the 2008 Brisbane Catholic Schoolgirls Championships, she managed to break the 50m Backstroke Commonwealth and Australian Records with her time of 28.10 seconds.
A few weeks later, she broke the World Record of 28.00 seconds in the 50m backstroke during the semi-finals of the 2008 Australian Championships, with a time of 27.95 seconds.
However, just a day later, Sophie Edington leapfrogged ahead when she clocked 27.67 seconds in the finals of the same event.
Seebohm chose not to swim in the finals to focus on the 100m Olympic backstroke event. She made what she considers to be the right decision, clocking in at 59.78 seconds, the fifth-fastest of all time. This made her the first Australian woman to finish in under a minute.
Seebohm once again set a new world record at the 2009 Australian Short Course Championships, where she clocked 58.54 seconds in the 100m. This performance broke American Natalie Coughlin’s record of 58.80 seconds.
Since then, Seebohm has become one of the most decorated swimmers in Australia, delivering wins in the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, and other events in between.
Event Schedules
Will Seebohm be able to maintain her perfect gold record in the Games? Cheer her on by watching her on the following dates.
Women’s 50m Backstroke
Monday, 9 April 2018
Heat 1 – 10:49 a.m.
Heat 2 – 10:51 a.m.
Heat 3 – 10:53 a.m.
Heat 4 – 10:55 a.m.
Semifinal 1 – 8:57 p.m.
Semifinal 2 – 9:02 p.m.
Final – Tuesday, 10 April 2018 7:50 p.m.
Women’s 100m Backstroke
Friday, 6 April 2018
Heat 1 – 11:18 a.m.
Heat 2 – 11:21 a.m.
Heat 3 – 11:24 a.m.
Heat 4 – 11:27 a.m.
Semifinal 1 – 8:55 p.m.
Semifinal 2 – 9:00 p.m.
Final – Saturday, 7 April 2018 8:03 p.m.
Women’s 200m Backstroke
Sunday, 8 April 2018
Heat 1 – 10:31 a.m.
Heat 2 – 10:35 a.m.
Heat 3 – 10:39 a.m.
Final – 7:37 p.m.
Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay
Thursday, 5 April 2018
Final – 9:50 p.m.
Women’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Final – 9:43 p.m.
All swimming events will be held at the Optus Aquatic Centre in Gold Coast. Plan your route to the venue with the help of the official Journey Planner from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
