Meeting Point: Fish Lane Town Square (adjacent to Bar Brutus)
End Point: West Village, Boundary Street
Guides: Seleneah More & Melissa Buirchell
Tour Length: Approximately 2km on relatively flat, accessible footpaths.
Access: Both the starting and finishing points are easily accessible via public transport.
Join us for an insightful evening walking tour exploring the principles of safe, inclusive, and liveable urban environments. Based on the Safe Cities, Safe Streets framework developed by The Zonta Club and Qld Walks, this tour invites participants to consider how urban planning can support community wellbeing—particularly after dark.
As we walk through South Brisbane, we’ll examine how urban design choices made over the past 20 years have shaped the built environment and influenced the experience of residents and visitors alike. The discussion will highlight key concepts in high-density living, walkability, lighting, visibility, and social connection, offering practical perspectives on creating safer streets.
About the Guides:
Seleneah More is a Torres Strait Islander woman who has lived in Kurilpa for over 20 years. A passionate urban planner, she lives with her young family in a small unit—trading car ownership for community connection. Seleneah is President of the West End Community Association and a Director at Tenants Queensland, committed to making Kurilpa a vibrant and liveable urban neighbourhood.
Melissa Buirchell is an architect and active member of Kurilpa Futures. She brings deep insight into the challenges of designing for high-density communities, with a focus on creating urban environments that are sustainable, liveable, and safe for all.
ABOUT
Kurilpa Futures: Founded in 2012, Kurilpa Futures began as a grassroots, volunteer-led group focussed on local planning issues. Since then, we have been advocating for meaningful community consultation in decision-making processes, ensuring that our voices are heard in the rapidly densifying Kurilpa area. Our work prioritizes:
- Managing climate change through initiatives such as Resilient Kurilpa.
- Promoting active transport and street safety for our diverse community
- Expanding green spaces through community gardens, street and park plantings
- Collaborating with other community organizations to address urban planning challenges locally and beyond.
Resilient Kurilpa: Founded in 2022 in response to the major flood event in February 2022 that impacted thousands of residents on the Kurilpa Peninsular, Resilient Kurilpa is a volunteer-led, grassroots community group focussed on climate change preparedness and resilience in a city built on a flood plain. Our vision includes:
- To nurture an informed, skilled, and connected community, empowered to rapidly and safely respond and recover to climate disaster events.
- To support groups to learn from the past and implement practical and inclusive mitigation strategies.
- To be a leading community in grassroots disaster resilience building and share knowledge with local and global climate disaster communities to adapt for their own contexts.
West End Community Association (WECA): Founded in 2004, WECA is a volunteer-led, not-for-profit, incorporated association dedicated to creating a connected, diverse, and livable community within the Kurilpa Peninsula. WECA’s work focuses on advocacy, sustainability, arts, and cultural initiatives.
- Arts and Culture: Hosting events like the Kurilpa Derby, West End Festival, and First Nations-led projects to foster community connection through the arts.
- Representation: Amplifying community voices through candidate forums and keeping residents informed via social media and e-newsletters.
- Sustainability: Promoting livability with initiatives like Resilience Kurilpa, advocating for sustainable development and public space access.
- People: Strengthening the community by providing opportunities for volunteering, subcommittee participation, and student placements and training.