Revitalising the Glasshouse Precinct
Council is considering options for the future of the Samford Glasshouse Precinct to support community and economic outcomes for Samford and City of Moreton Bay.
Samford Parklands is an important community precinct for City of Moreton Bay. The site provides a scenic gateway to Samford Village and is a place for the community to come together to share and connect over its many uses and functions. The Glasshouse Precinct is a key part of the parklands located in close proximity to the recently upgraded Community Hub and the soon to be delivered Village Green.
Council invited community feedback on what the community wants to see in a revitalised Glasshouse Precinct between 6 November and 4 December 2023. We would like to thank you for your participation and feedback.
This feedback will be considered alongside best practice design principles, site constraints, project budget and market quotes, to inform the final design.
Next steps
Demolition and site clearance of the existing glasshouse structures is planned begin in late October- early November 2024, pending weather and any unforeseen circumstances.
Any future design will consider community feedback, site limitations, and costs.
Designing and delivering new structures in the Glasshouse Precinct will involve significant costs and is subject to Council and other levels of government funding. Timeframes for design and delivery are also subject to these considerations.
Help us capture the past
Contribute your stories or photos about the Glasshouse Precinct to our local history collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
The site is not connected to the sewer system and the cost of establishing a connection is prohibitively high at this time.
The current road access will eventually be closed and replaced by a future intersection closer to Samford Village.
A fenced corridor needs to be established between the farm and Mt Samson Road to allow livestock to move between the north and south paddocks when the new Village Green and associated roads and parking are completed.
Any potential contamination from past uses of the site will need to be investigated and managed.
Two glasshouse structures remain within the precinct. Both structures are over forty years old and very near the end of their design life. The structures do not comply with modern building standards. Hazardous materials including asbestos and potentially agricultural chemical residues may also be present as a result of the agricultural research that was undertaken in the glasshouses.
Options to activate the existing structures for community or commercial use were explored through an Expression of Interest process in 2020/21. After working with potential proponents to explore different ideas this process ended with none of the proposals proving financially viable partly due to the costs of addressing issues with the structures.
To deliver a value-for-money, fit-for-purpose facility, the existing structures will be removed and a new facility needs to be built.
Council is committed to appropriately acknowledging the history and heritage of the site in any future use. How this will be achieved hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it may involve adaptive re-use of the glasshouse elements and/or interpretative information and signage about the former site uses.
We are also working to enhance our local history collection with material about the Samford Glasshouse Precinct. Community members are invited to contribute to this collection. For more information on how to do this please visit yoursay.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/samford-glasshouses-history
In 2020/21, Council invited expressions of interest to activate the Samford Glasshouse Precinct to generate economic activity.
After working with potential proponents to explore different ideas this process ended with none of the proposals proving financially viable.
Council is now exploring alternative ways to bring this space to life.
