brisbane

� Announced: July 20, 1998 by the First Presidency.
� Status: Awaiting groundbreaking tentatively scheduled for March 2001.
� Comments: A settlement on the stipulations drawn up in the Brisbane City Council's preliminary approval for the Brisbane Australia Temple has been reached outside of court. With very little time remaining before the case was scheduled to be heard in the Planning and Environment Court, a settlement was reached lifting certain restrictions that would have made normal temple operation a challenge. Groundbreaking for the riverside temple and chapel at 200 River Terrace Kangaroo Point is planned to take place in March 2001 (Brisbane Australia Temple, Daniel Purdie).
The construction of the Brisbane Australia Temple will bring temple blessings more than 500 miles closer to members in that area that must now travel to the Sydney Australia Temple. The new temple district will serve about 16,000 members comprised of the Australia Brisbane Mission, as well as six stakes and four districts (Church News, 8 August 1998).
Taken from http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?brisbane

Temple to transform city skyline
Anthony Marx
27jan01

THE skyline of Brisbane's Kangaroo Point cliffs could be transformed with the construction of a lavish Mormon temple and meeting house.

A legal battle set to play out next month in the Planning and Environment Court could determine whether the $9 million-plus project is built on a prominent site owned by the church.
The Brisbane City Council approved the redevelopment last year but the church has baulked at building and operating conditions which were included as part of that approval.
Church leaders have declined to say whether they will still construct the two buildings on the corner of River Terrace and Llewellyn Street even if they lose their court appeal on February 26.
The church also faces opposition from area residents, who say the development is too intense for the site and is incompatible with the surrounding neighbourhood.
Residents fear it also will exacerbate traffic and parking problems.
Phil Abernethy, body corporate chairman of the River Terraces Apartments next to the planned complex, complained to the BCC that the development would diminish the area's aesthetic qualities and impede the views of about a third of the 63 unit owners.
"The visual impact of this proposal would be severely negative on both the appearance of the Kangaroo Point cliffs, the residential nature of the suburb and the placid residential nature of the streetscape," Mr Abernethy wrote.
The Mormon Church, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has owned the 8497sq m corner block on River Terrace for more than 40 years. An existing building with a chapel and administration offices has been used on the property since the late 1950s.
Under the approved plans, the new complex would accommodate a congregation of 200 and 118 car parks. Two spires � one 15m high on the polished white granite temple and another 11m high on the meeting house � would be features of the buildings upon completion late next year.
The BCC's approval came with a number of conditions, including a requirement that only one building be used at a time, a limit on the hours of operation and a need to erect an acoustic barrier.
One church official described these limitations as "absurd" and "ludicrous".
He said residents' concerns about parking and traffic problems were unwarranted. A far more intense unit highrise would probably be built on the site if the church sold the prime land, he said.
Plans for the Brisbane temple were first announced in mid-1998 to serve a regional area including Queensland, New South Wales, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
There are about 20,000 Mormons and 40 chapels in Queensland.

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