The Redcliffe Peninsula is a peninsula located in the City of Moreton Bay in the northeast of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. The area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Newport, Redcliffe, Rothwell, Scarborough and Woody Point.
Redcliffe was the site of the first European settlement in Queensland, and was previously governed by its own local government area, the City of Redcliffe. Today, it falls within the City of Moreton Bay local government area.
As a result of its beaches as well as its coastal, fishing and recreational amenities, the Redcliffe Peninsula is a popular recreational destination within the Brisbane metropolitan area.
Redcliffe Peninsula is home to over 55,000 residents over its total area of . The peninsula is relatively flat with few areas rising more than above sea level.
History
The Redcliffe Peninsula was occupied by the indigenous Ningy Ningy people. The native name is Kau-in-Kau-in, which means Blood-Blood (red-like blood).
The area's first European visitors arrived on 17 July 1799, aboard the Norfolk, a British colonial sloop commanded by Matthew Flinders. Flinders explored the Moreton Bay area and landed at 10:30 a.m. at a location he called "Red Cliff Point", after the red-coloured cliffs visible from the bay, today called Woody Point.
In 1823, the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane, instructed that a new northern penal settlement be developed, and an exploration party led by John Oxley further explored the Moreton Bay area. Oxley recommended Red Cliff Point for the new colony, reporting that ships could land at any tide and easily get close to the shore.
The settlement, along the banks of what is now called Humpybong Creek in Redcliffe town centre, consisted of small, temporary dwellings with gardens and vegetables planted. However the lack of a reliable water supply, attacks by Aboriginal people, large mosquito numbers, and insufficient facilities for safe anchorage meant that the settlement needed to be moved after eight months. The settlement relocated to the banks of the Brisbane River at North Quay, south. Redcliffe was then abandoned, with just a small number of dwellings remaining. Local Aboriginal people called these empty buildings "oompie bongs", anglicised to mean, in reverse, 'dead house', and the name was given to the entire Redcliffe peninsula.
The area was designated as an agricultural reserve in the 1860s, and residential development began in the 1880s. The population grew significantly after 1935 when the Hornibrook Bridge was opened; the two lane, bridge crossed Bramble Bay and linked the peninsula with a more direct route to Brisbane. A replacement three lane bridge, the Houghton Highway, opened in 1979. On 11 July 2010 the new three lane Ted Smout Memorial Bridge opened, and at is claimed to be Australia's longest. The bridge was named to honour Queensland's longest surviving World War 1 Digger. It provides south-bound traffic flow as well as pedestrian and bicycle access, while the Houghton Highway has become a dedicated north-bound traffic bridge.
The Redcliffe Library opened in 2000.
In 2007 the Queensland Government's Local Government Reform Commission announced that Redcliffe would beamalgamated into the adjoining Pine Rivers and Caboolture shires to form the Moreton Bay Region, which was renamed the City of Moreton Bay in July 2023.
Climate
Redcliffe has a humid subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification system, with hot, humid summers and dry, mild winters. Thunderstorms are regular events from late Spring to early Autumn in the late afternoon to early evening. The more severe storms are accompanied by damaging hail stones, torrential rain and destructive winds, however as most storms travel in a north-east direction from past Ipswich then over greater Brisbane, they often lose strength by the time they arrive to Redcliffe.
Landmarks
There are a number of landmarks located in Redcliffe, such as the Redcliffe Jetty, Settlement Cove Lagoon, Suttons and Margate Beaches, Scarborough Beach Park with its Cottonwood trees, Redcliffe Museum, Woody Point Jetty, HMQS Gayundah shipwreck, and two bridges that have become iconic to Redcliffe, the Houghton Highway and Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, which links Redcliffe to the Brisbane suburb of Brighton. Redcliffe features many buildings by the heritage designer-builder Alex Smith. On 14 February 2013 the Bee Gees Way in the Redcliffe CBD was opened and features a statue of the Bee Gees in their youth as residents of Redcliffe. The Bee Gees Way was formerly a pathway that was gazetted for weekend markets.
