Rochedale South

Location

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History

Rochedale South was officially gazetted in July 1979 and lies to the south of Priestdale Road. The suburb of Rochedale is in Brisbane City. Rochedale was the name of the homestead built by the Roche family who settled in the area in 1868. Their property stretched from the current Rochedale State School, north to Ford Road and east to Priest Gully. They also owned the site of Redeemer College. The Roche family grew grapes and citrus.

After World War I, the area was turned over to small-crop farming and, in the 1930s, the family moved into dairying. A repatriation hospital operated in Grieve Road after World War I. The Rochedale State School was established in 1931. Despite requests for a post office in the 1920s, it was not established until 1947.

Much of the land in Rochedale South was originally owned by Robert Grieve and William Underwood. During the mid-1970s, the name of Langford was considered for the area, after Colonel Langford who owned some of William Underwood's property from the early 1930s. Colonel 'Sam' Langford retired to his home on the Springwood estate after World War II and subdivided his land into 40- and 60-acre lots. He lived on Sunningdale Avenue and continued to grow pineapples. In the late 1970s, local residents rejected the proposed name change. In the early 1990s, the idea of a name change was discussed again, following the Brisbane City Council proposal to build a massive waste dump in Gardiner Road, Rochedale. Some locals suggested the name change would avoid connotations of living near a major dump. The move was defeated.

In the mid-1960s, the region began to be subdivided for housing. Strathlands Shopping Centre opened in 1970, with a new Woolworths store added in 1974. St Peter's Catholic School began construction in 1976 and the church was consecrated in 1978. Rochedale South State School opened in 1979. Redeemer Lutheran College opened in 1980. Rochedale State High School opened in 1983. Two major projects were instigated in 1986: construction of the water tower and the approval for IKEA to proceed.