Inala, Queensland

Geography

Inala is 22.1 km by road south-west of the Brisbane GPO.

Inala Avenue/Poinsettia Street is the main roadway east–west and Serviceston Avenue/Rosemary Street and Blunder Road are the main roads stretching north–south.

History

The suburb was named Inala by the Queensland Surveyor-General on 10 January 1952, using a Bundjalung word meaning resting time or night time. It was previously known as Boylands Pocket.

Following World War II there was a shortage of 250,000 houses across Australia. In Queensland alone over 4,000 families were living in makeshift dwellings of tin, calico and canvas. The Queensland and Australian Governments responded by making housing a priority.

The history of Inala started as the suburb of Serviceton, established following a meeting held in a Brisbane RSL Hall in May 1946. A group of ex-servicemen, led by Harold (Hock) Davis, were seeking affordable accommodation for their families during the post-war housing shortage. The Serviceton Co-operative Society was formed and they purchased 480 hectares of flood-safe land, which was then divided amongst the shareholders, giving them 800 square metres each. At that stage, Inala was planned as a satellite town set on a broad, high, gently sloping ridge.

In 1949–1950 the Queensland Housing Commission purchased Serviceton, comprising approximately 850 acres (3.4 km2) of land, from the faltering Serviceton Housing Co-operative. The Housing Commission subsequently annexed another 200 acres (0.8 km2) to the suburb and changed its name to Inala in 1953 to avoid postal confusion with another Serviceton in Victoria.

Inala State School opened on 1 July 1955. In September 1974, it was expanded to include a pre-school.

Inala Methodist Church opened in 1957, becoming Inala Uniting Church in 1977 when the Methodist Church amalgamated into the Uniting Church in Australia.

Inala West State School opened on 2 January 1960 at 2 Deodor Street (end of Biota Street,

Services

Inala has two post offices, numerous medical centres and services, many of which are bulk billing.

Most government services are located within the Inala Plaza precinct and its surrounds. These include a Brisbane City Council Library, Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy, Department of Corrective Services and a Medicare and Centrelink office.

Culture

There are two community halls and a community art gallery.

The Inala Library opened in 1963 with a major refurbishment in 1994 and a smaller renovation in 2011.

Community groups

The Richlands, Inala and Suburbs History Group is dedicated to the research of local history and diverse cultural heritage, historical presentations and book publications on the topics of local history, community and culture.

There are a large number of government funded and non-government non-profit community organisations and programs located in Inala, some of these include Inala Community Centre, Hub Neighbourhood Centre, Inala Community House, Skylarkers Healthy Ageing, Western Districts Out of Home Care, Inala Youth Service, Western Districts Family Steps, Childcare Access, Equity Resource Support Unit.

Parks

Inala has a high ratio of green areas and parks, most of which are named after prominent people who helped establish the suburb or contributed to the community. The parks and the large numbers of grown native trees through the suburb maintain the ecosystem of Inala, quiet environment and clean air.

Special pedestrian walkways between residential houses facilitate residents' access to bus stops, schools, shops and recreational areas. Inala has four dog parks with fenced off-leash areas, shelters, benches and water taps, located at Kev Hooper Park on Lavender Street, at Richlands Depot Park on Government Road, on the corner of Inala Avenue and Sycamore Street, and on Kimberley Street near C.J. Greenfield Park.

Places of worship

In 2016 Census, 31.3% of Inala residents stated no religious affiliation, followed by Inala's two major religious affiliations: Catholic (21.2%) and Buddhism (13.8%).

Inala Uniting Church is at 29 Berrigan Street. It is part of the Bremer Brisbane Presbytery of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Samoa Methodist Church Inala is at 472 Archerfield Road ().

Inala Samoan Church conduct their services at the Old Inala Hall on the corner of Abelia Street and Rosemary Street (); it is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Inala Tongan Church conduct their services at the Seventh Day Adventist Church at 124 Crocus Street (); it is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Forest Lake Samoan Church conduct their services on the corner of Corsair Avenue and Inala Avenue (approx ); it is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Other churches and religious places in the suburb include:

• Anglican Church, St Hugh's Parish Inala
• Assemblies of God (Australian Christian Churches)
• Buddhist Temple Chùa Pháp Quang
• Buddhist Temple Chùa Phật Đà
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Christian Reformation Community Church
• Citipointe West Church
• Gospel Hall
• Great Hope Baptist Church
• Multi-Cultural Baptist Church
• Place of Peace Church of the Nazarene
• Salvation Army
• Seventh-day Adventist Church
• St Mark's Catholic Parish
• Sikh Temple Guru Nanak Gurdwara
• Vietnamese Catholic Community Brisbane (Cộng Đồng Công Giáo Việt Nam Brisbane)
• Vietnamese English Baptist Church (Hội Thánh Tinh Lành Báp-tít Việt-Anh)

Sports

Sport and recreation facilities include a Police Citizens Youth Club gym and fitness centre, a number of Brisbane City Council parks and recreation areas, sport ovals and facilities, and the Inala Skate Park (D.J. Sherrington Park).

Other sporting clubs include:

• Blue Fin Fishing Club
• Brisbane Lions Soccer Club
• West Inala Panthers Rugby League Football Club
• West Inala Panthers Junior Rugby League Football Club

Transport

Buses conduct services from Inala bus station near the Inala Plaza shopping centre through the Inala suburb, to railway stations nearest to Inala: Richlands, Darra, Oxley, to Forest Lake Village Shopping Centre, Mount Ommaney Shopping Centre, Garden City Shopping Centre, Princess Alexandra Hospital and QEII Hospital. Richlands railway station opened in 2011 and is now Inala's closest rail link, approximately 3 km from central Inala. Paths for easy pedestrian and bike access from Inala to Richlands station are set in the area development plan. Inala also has bus connections to Salisbury, Moorooka and Coopers Plains railway stations, and to Woolloongabba busway station, South Bank and the Brisbane City via the frequent express bus route 100 that operates from early morning until late night.

Inala has a very good access to Ipswich Motorway, Centenary Motorway and Logan Motorway, and further to Warrego Highway and Cunningham Highway.

Political representation

Les Bryant, former ALP Richlands Ward Councillor, represented Inala in the Brisbane City Council for 17 years, 1991–2008. Les was succeeded by Milton Dick (Australian Labor Party) in 2008, who moved into Federal politics winning the Federal Division of Oxley in 2016. Charles Strunk (ALP) won the renamed old Ward of Richlands, now Forest Lake Ward, in 2016, to become the new Brisbane City Councillor for Forest Lake Ward. Annastacia Palaszczuk (ALP) was the Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Inala from 2006 to 2023; she became Premier of Queensland in 2015 and retained her position until her retirement in 2023. A by-election was held in March 2024 to elect Margie Nightingale. She retained her seat in the 2024 Queensland state election

Architecture

The development of Inala coincided with the emergence of architectural modernism in Australia. The innovative designs of young southern architects such as Robin Boyd, Roy Grounds and Harry Seidler featured the efficient use of space with minimal ornamentation, utilisation of new materials and techniques, and above all design simplicity, while striving to build solid houses that would require little maintenance. Inala was designed and built in Modernist Revival style with elements of Art Deco. It was both aesthetically successful and a practical architectural solution.

The post-war worldwide shortage of building materials coupled with huge demands created the impetus for exploring and using new materials and techniques in Inala. The choice to use reinforced concrete in the construction of Inala houses was made because of its strength, reliability and flexibility. Inala also had the advantage of good access to the local cement and concrete made from washed river sand and lime from Moreton Bay coral shipped up the river by barge and processed at Darra. Concrete was an ideal material for the fashionable Modernist style. Inala houses were built on raised concrete foundations, framed with hardwood timber, floored with hard-wearing brushbox, with silky oak used for window frames. The outer walls were constructed of poured concrete approximately 18 cm thick, internal walls and ceilings – with rendered wire lath. These robust construction techniques also served to minimise maintenance costs and achieve a long life span of the houses.

Notable residents

Former Inala resident, Joanna Lindgren was an LNP Australian Senator for Queensland in 2015 and 2016; the niece of Neville Bonner AO, Joanna is the first Aboriginal female Senator for Queensland.

References

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