Information

Around 1950 the Queensland Housing Commission purchased much of the land between Boundary Road and Breton Street, in Coopers Plains, through to Eddington Street, in Sunnybank. Prior to that, the land was held by under the name of Rebeck, Hyde, Comer, and McDonald. The Queensland Government contracted, on 14 June 1951, Concrete Developments Pty Ltd, a consortium of an Australian company and a Dutch company, William Schumaker Pty, to construct 300 housing commission houses for £746,197. Tradesmen and labourers were recruited from The Netherlands to for the project. Most of the skilled workers worked on two year employment contracts with a migration option. Although, skilled migrant workers and labourers were the main workforce, a significant number of local labourers were also employed. The Dutch design of the houses had a broadly consistent floor plan with variations of two or three bedrooms. Most of the building materials and equipment, including cranes, were shipped from The Netherland. The houses were constructed mostly from 50cm thick concrete blocks from a factory the corner of Bellwood and Station Roads, Darra. The timber constructs were imported European pine. The linings as well as the cast-iron enamel sinks and baths were also imported. The original contract for 300 houses was completed in three and half years, around 1955. Another 700 house were anticipated but never completed due to financial difficulties. In 1958 many of the houses were found to contain infestations of wood borers and were fumigated using large encasing materials.

Citations

Coopers Plains Local History Group. A Closer Look at Coopers Plains. 2nd Edition, May 2005. pp. 130-135.

Image Citations

Queensland Housing Commission homes at Coopers Plains, Queensland, 1952. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. 229010.

Map References

Qimagery. Greater Brisbane Area 1951. Scale: 1:16,000.