Ascot Archives - Page 8 of 11

Ascot Consistently Tops Highest-Income Earners List in Brisbane

Ascot has once again topped the list of highest-income earners in Brisbane in the latest report from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) covering the 2018-2019 financial year.

Residents of the upscale northside suburb averagely earned $109,289, matching the average income of Hamilton, its neighbouring suburb. The number, covering the tax returns of more than 10,000 people, are up 0.9 percent compared to the data collected in 2017-2018.

Bardon and Chandler are on the second and third list of highest-income earners in Brisbane with a taxable income of $106,835 and $105,460, respectively. Rounding off the top five are Balmoral, Bulimba and Hawthorne residents with an average income of $104,681.

On the other hand, the average earnings of residents in these 14 suburbs were above $90,000: Teneriffe, New Farm, Clayfield, Hendra, Milton, Paddington, Kenmore, Brookfield, Upper Brookfield, Pinjarra Hills, Pullenvale, Fig Tree Pocket and Chapel Hill.

Ascot and Hamilton are on 54th of ATO’s national rankings with seven of the top 10 highest-income earners coming from Sydney’s postcodes, who are earned above $200,000 for the said financial year.

Of the highest-paid occupations, it’s surgeons, anaesthetists, internal medicine specialists, financial dealers and psychiatrists who are in the top five. However, the country’s biggest taxpayers come from the group who earned an annual income of $37,001 and $90,000, which accounted for 40 percent of the tax returns.

The Doomben Racecourse in Ascot is Now a COVID-19 Vaccination Hub

Just as Queensland reaches a million delivered COVID-19 doses, a new vaccination hub has opened at the Doomben Racecourse in Ascot to facilitate more vaccinations to the Brisbane community.

Ascot’s Doomben Racecourse has become the latest addition to Queensland Health’s constantly-expanding network of COVID-19 vaccination hubs, and according to Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, Doomben is well-equipped and ready to deliver the vaccine to eligible Queenslanders. In total, Queensland Health has expanded its network of vaccination hubs to 18 across the state in total.

The fact that the establishment was already well-known to many Queenslanders and had good transport links meant that it was easy to access. “It’s the perfect location for our growing network of vaccination hubs, which are vaccinating an ever-growing number of Queenslanders,” said Minister D’Ath.

Photo credit: Commander Keane/Wikimedia Commons

Queensland Health is focusing on delivering vaccines to people between the ages of 40 and 49 who have registered for the vaccines, as well as residential aged care workers and disability staff. Vaccinations are also available to frontline staff such as health workers, police officers, and paramedics.

“Today Queensland is set to hit a total of one million COVID vaccination doses delivered, through our GP and pharmacy networks and Queensland Health hubs,” added Minister D’Ath. “Over the last week alone, Queensland Health has administered 71,471 vaccinations, including a record 11,827 yesterday. We want to continue to grow these numbers to get even more Queenslanders protected in this ongoing global epidemic.”

The Doomben Racecourse can be found at 75 Hampden St, Ascot. Eligible Queensland residents interested in registering for the COVID-19 vaccine can do so via the Queensland Health website here.

Ascot Spy House Sold at Auction for Almost $9 Million

Nyrambla, the historical Ascot spy house, has been sold to an undisclosed owner during a weekend auction for almost $9 million.

The deal came through after dark in mid-May 2021 with five registered bidders vying for the historical house. However, the vendor bid of $8.5 million wasn’t reached until a local bidder on the phone negotiated on closing the sale.

Someone in the crowd at the front lawn of Nyrambla thought that the house would be easily snapped up for $10 million but a former resident of the Ascot spy house said that it could be challenging to find a builder that will properly maintain the heritage-listed house.

Nyrambla Ascot Spy House — Photo Credit: Paz Avalos/Google Maps

In its nearly 100 years of existence, Nyrambla was home to many Brisbane personalities, including famous writer and director Bille Brown, farmer’s market queen Jan Powers, as well as Australian artist Lawrence Daws and his wife Andree.

It was the family of Andree who decided to sell the house following her passing. Andree’s son and Lawrence’s stepson, Rick Roberts, has spent some 20 years rebuilding Nyrambla. Meanwhile, Lawrence has since moved to the south of Adelaide in Port Willunga.

The new owner of the Ascot spy house is a friend of the Daws family yet they still acknowledged that it was sad to let go of the beautiful and historical house.

Nyrambla was requisitioned during World War II by General Douglas MacArthur to be used as an intelligence bureau for decoding Japanese radio transmissions. At the house’s garage, members of the Australian Women’s Army Service worked as codebreakers, who were not allowed to discuss their work with anyone, including their families.

Recently, the story of The Garage Girls, as the Nyrambla codebreakers were called, has been turned into a book titled “The Codebreakers” by Alli Sinclair.

St Margaret’s in Ascot Declared Boarding School of the Year

Did you know that St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School in Ascot has once again won the Australian Education Awards Boarding School of the Year?

For the second consecutive year, St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School has been declared the Australian Education Awards Boarding School of the Year. The school, which is located in Ascot, Brisbane, has been operating at capacity for several years, attributing their success and high retention to the inclusive community the school provides for its students.

Integration has always been one of the school’s top priorities, teaching the staff how to perform duties outside of their respective departments. Teachers would know just as much about boarders as boarding staff, and vice versa.

Photo credit: Facebook/St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School

This is especially important for St Margaret’s as the boarding house and their residents play an integral role in the school, and this unity fosters a sense of community and cooperation.

The school itself is owned and operated by the Society of the Sacred Advent Schools Pty Ltd which was founded in 1892. St Margaret’s was founded in 1895, closely following six core values: courage, faith, integrity, passion, respect, and spirit. It is an independent school for day students and boarders, with a total of 810 students from pre-prep to Year 12 — 170 of which are boarders.

The school can be found at 11 Petrie St, Ascot. For more information, visit their website here. Follow their social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and announcements concerning the school.

Meltz Gourmet Pizza Bar: Popular Ascot Restaurant to Serve the Last Slice

Another popular restaurant in Ascot has announced it will be closing its doors and serving its last pizza slice on 30 June 2021. The owner of Meltz Gourmet Pizza Bar, located on Racecourse Road, said that he’s looking to pursue other opportunities after running his restaurant for three and a half years.

In a post on Instagram, Kellum Tate said that negotiations for the lease renewal of Meltz Gourmet Pizza Bar fell through thus the decision to close the shop. He also said that he’s not considering moving into a new location and continue the brand he built. However, he is hoping that someone would be interested in “snapping up the opportunity” to takeover Meltz Gourmet Pizza Bar.

“This was not a decision made lightly,” Mr Tate said. “However, I have decided after 3.5 years of dedication to Meltz as a local business and building the brand, it is in the best interest of my family to pursue other business opportunities which will provide a friendlier work/life balance.”

In the remaining months, the pizza bar will continue to prepare and serve customers for its final hoorah.

Mr Tate bought the restaurant from its previous owners in September 2017 and rebranded it into a gourmet pizza and bar, serving “a wide range of pizzas, burgers, calzones, and loaded salads to suppress any appetite.” As a fully licensed bar, the eatery had been a regular hangout for the young crowd but families with kids, as well as the oldies who occasionally enjoy pizza with beer, also frequented the pizza place.

Meltz Gourmet Pizza Bar thrived amidst the pandemic, when lockdowns, work-at-home orders, and dining restrictions were in place, affecting many businesses all over Brisbane.

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A post shared by Meltz Pizza (@meltzpizza)

Doomben Station in Ascot Due for Platform Upgrades

Transport and Main Roads will begin the platform upgrades at the Doomben Station in Ascot using a new design and methodology developed specifically for Queensland Rail. Work to be carried out will entail raising the platform but it will be a quick process and will not require the isolation of overhead powerlines.

Commuters frequenting the Doomben Station, however, are advised to be on the lookout as the majority of the civil works will be underway from 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, 10 April 2021, to 6:30 a.m. on Monday, 12 April 2021. Minor works will then be carried out in the following weeks but will not disrupt the railway’s operations.

Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey said that the new modular system will bring “reduced maintenance costs” and a “longer lifespan” to the facilities at the Doomben Station. This project is part of the $50 billion infrastructure guarantee of the State Government and will support 14 jobs and businesses like Virginia Sheet Metal (VSM), Austact Civil, Customised Traffic Management (CTM), Secure Corp and Blackbox.

“This is great news for commuters and people who use Doomben station to visit the race track, especially for our older travellers, parents with prams and locals who use mobility aids like wheelchairs,” Mr Bailey said.

“It’s also great news for these businesses, who are just some of the hundreds getting involved in upgrades like this and major projects like the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail, supporting jobs as we recover from COVID-19.

“Making Doomben more accessible adds to new stations being built in the heart of Brisbane as part of Cross River Rail, making it more accessible for local commuters to get to their destination.”

The Doomben Station is vital to racegoers and commuters traveling to Ascot, Hendra, Clayfield, Wooloowin, Albion, Bowen Hills and the CBD.

Bernborough Ascot in Doomben Racecourse Gets Green Star Rating

Bernborough Ascot in Doomben Racecourse has received its first 6 Star Green Star Communities rating from the Green Building Council of Australia in recognition of its sustainable and eco-friendly development.

The $270 million Leadlease retirement facility, featuring strategic and sustainable designs from Marchese Partners, completed its first stage in October 2020 and has been seen as a benchmark for green community living in Brisbane.

Bernborough Ascot has been envisioned in a well-positioned section of the Doomben Racecourse, which will take advantage of the cool air and natural ventilation of the environment. Before the construction, the developers had to carefully relocate and preserve a 140-tonne weeping fig tree.

Upon the completion of the project, this residential site will have “300 large luxury independent living apartments and penthouse-style homes.” Some parts of the dwellings are already open to residents.

The buildings will feature a number of connected walkways and green spaces or communal gardens, with carefully selected plants, that will be immensely enjoyed by its residents. The facility’s main energy supply will come from solar panels and its water sources feature have been engineered to lessen the needless consumption of potable water.

Green Building Council of Australia CEO Davina Rooney commended the developers behind Bernborough Ascot for achieving such a feat and it certifies the retirement facility’s topnotch standards.

Bernborough Ascot is part of Brisbane Racing Club’s master plan to turn the Doomben and Eagle Farm racecourse into an integrated community. To learn more about this development, visit the official site.

The Coffee Club Ascot to Close After 22 Years

Plan your last coffee meet-ups at The Coffee Club Ascot now because this popular cafe and favourite hang-out along an equally popular shopping strip will be ceasing operations soon, after 22 years.

The Coffee Club Ascot, located on Racecourse Road, is shutting down in March 2021 but a new tenant is expected to take over the premier location.

“For many years, this site has enjoyed ‘first option’ status for breakfast, lunches and a central meeting place for coffee. Situated only a skip from Eagle Farm Racecourse, the site enjoys abundant walk by traffic and is nestled amongst many boutique stores,” Commercial Brisbane stated in the listing.

The Coffee Club was established in Australia in 1989 as a cafe/restaurant with full table service. The first store was built on Eagle Street Pier in Brisbane CBD.

Five years later, the business became a franchise and has reached over 400 stores in nine countries, with most outlets in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The Ascot outlet was the 37th store to open.

In early 2020, The Coffee Club rebranded to cater to the younger market but COVID-19 struck and affected the usual stream of customers.

In December 2020, two other outlets also shut down in Queensland. A liquidator for The Coffee Club said that rents have been unsustainable during this uncertain period.

St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School #5 in Top 10 Most Expensive QLD Schools

Did you know that St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School ranks #5 in the list of the Top 10 most expensive schools in Queensland?

Here’s a rundown of the State’s priciest schools.

School	Fees	Extra	Total
Brisbane Grammar School	$28,230	$1,220	$29,450
Brisbane Boys College	$24,724	$2,444	$27,168
Brisbane Girls Grammar School	$26,555	$0	$26,555
Anglican Church Grammar School	$23,944	$1,990	$25,934
St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School	$24,560	$0	$24,560
The Southport School	$24,438	$0	$24,438
Somerville House	$23,940	$0	$23,940
St Aidan’s Anglican Girls School	$22,120	$1,735	$23,855
Clayfield College	$19,165	$2,665	$21,830
St Peter’s Lutheran College	$20,360	$516	$20,876

A 2021 National School Fees Report from Edstart showed that 40 percent of private schools across the country did not increase fees for the incoming school term whilst Queensland’s average school fees increase for 2021 was down to 1.19 percent compared to 1.87 percent for 2020

Despite the annual trend of increasing fees, around 7 percent of Queensland schools also had a minimal increase for 2021 as a relief to families.

Such was the case of St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School. In a statement to enrollees, the administrative officers said that families will receive discounted rates for 2021’s first semester for full payments made before the start of Term 1.

Photo Credit: St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School/Facebook

“The effect of this discount is that all families will be issued tuition fees based on 2020 levels for the first half of 2021,” the statement read.

“This does not apply to boarding fees or any other charges. The School has an all-inclusive fee policy. The fee covers the cost of all compulsory activities including tuition, QGSSSA sport, technology, year level camps, class excursions and a range of facilities used in the course of a normal school day.”

However, Edstart CEO Jack Stevens said that non-government schools wouldn’t be able to sustain flat fees or lowered fees in the long run due to mounting expenses like administration compliance, increased staff and facilities upkeep. Mr Stevens said that these factors will more than likely drive school fees up in 2022.

Edstart, launched in 2016, is a payment provider helping families and students manage the cost of education.

Sirianni’s in Ascot Turns Over Business After 5 Decades

A popular grocery store in Ascot has changed hands five decades after it opened. Sirianni’s on Alexandra Road, which was managed by a family of immigrants from Italy, has been turned over to the Hopper Group.

The new owners run various IGA stores in suburbs like Maroochydore, Milton, New Farm and St Lucia. Hopper Group also owns Greenslopes’ bRED bakery and the Hawthorne Garage grocery.

Tony and Rose Sirianni officially ceased to be the owners and operators on the first week of December 2020.

Tony’s parents, Napoleone and Elisa Sirianni, opened the grocery shop in 1965, and introduced produce like zucchini and artichokes to their customers.

Tony and Rose, as well as Tony’s brother Ugo, expanded the business in the 1990s with a deli, pies and Italian ready-to-eat meals prepared in the store’s kitchen.

Ugo, sadly, passed away two years ago.

“From humble beginnings, the Sirianni Family worked together over the past five decades to create a family-owned grocery store that prides itself on quality food and personal customer service,” the family said in a Facebook post to announce the turnover. “It is now time for our family hand over this unique business to new owners.”

“We know that a lot of you have been customers for many years and some even who recall the original store,” Mr Sirianni added.

” Although the store was rebranded a number of times over the past 55 years…our customers have always referred to this store as Sirriani’s. We have been endeared by so many members in our local community and as such, we have a lifetime of memories.”

Meanwhile, Tony and Rose will help out their son, Leo, who runs another Ascot grocery store on Racecourse Road but he is also planning to retire from the business in a few years.