The 150-hectare Archerfield Wetlands District Parkland at Durack in Brisbane, built on the footprint of a decommissioned sewage works, has taken out a Landscape Australia Public Design award, beating 26 shortlisted projects from around the country Brisbane Times. The $22 million parkland sits inside a broader $100 million Brisbane City Council commitment to transform Oxley Creek, and was reported on 21 October 2026.
Key takeaways
- The 150-hectare former treatment-plant site in Durack has been converted to wetland parkland by Brisbane Sustainability Agency Brisbane Times.
- The project carries a $22 million capital envelope, part of a $100 million council commitment to transform Oxley Creek Brisbane Times.
- More than 150,000 native plants were planted and more than 170 bird species, gliders and possums have returned to the formerly heavily polluted wetland Brisbane Times.
- Concrete tanks, channels and piping from the former sewage plant have been reused as seating, feature gardens, informal gathering spaces and stormwater management features Brisbane Times.
- The former Inala Wastewater Treatment Plant was commissioned in 1958 and decommissioned in 1997, after operating for almost four decades Brisbane Times.
What happened
The former Inala Wastewater Treatment Plant was commissioned in 1958 to service the growing residential population of the area, originally known as Servicetown, and the area also hosted cattle grazing, the former Oxley Bacon Factory and landfill Brisbane Times. The plant operated for almost four decades before being decommissioned in 1997 Brisbane Times. Brisbane Sustainability Agency then turned the 150-hectare site back into a wetland, with a network of walking and cycle trails, play areas, picnic sites, event spaces and a community centre Brisbane Times. The Durack playground, opened in 2024, is at the centre of the council's $22 million Archerfield Wetlands Parkland project, itself part of a broader $100 million commitment to transform Oxley Creek Brisbane Times.
In an article published 21 October 2026, the project was named winner of the Landscape Australia Public Design award, beating 26 shortlisted projects from around the country; other nominees included Barangaroo Station Park in Sydney, the new Sydney Fish Markets, the Duncraig Adventure Hub in Perth and the Girraween Visitor Precinct in Girraween National Park Brisbane Times. Brisbane's Green Grid, a proposal for the city's urban landscape for the Olympics, was named co-winner of the Landscape Australia Award for Analysis and Planning Brisbane Times.
More than 150,000 native plants were planted to rebuild habitat, and more than 170 bird species, gliders and possums have returned to the formerly heavily polluted wetland Brisbane Times. Brisbane city councillor Tracy Davis said: "Archerfield Wetlands Parkland shows we don't have to choose between protecting nature and creating more to see and do. We can do both" Brisbane Times. Awards jury chair Emily Wong said: "It's about transforming a site that was really underused and degraded into a site that's a public asset" and "Rather than trying to keep the water out, it absorbs the water and slows it down, and also cleans it. That means that the spaces can be open to the public relatively quickly after that happens" Brisbane Times.
Specification read
The reporting does not state a design flow in megalitres per day, a population equivalent, or influent BOD/COD for the original Inala plant, so any current treatment throughput for the redeveloped site cannot be back-calculated from the source. For a comparable Australian municipal site of this 150-hectare footprint, the project would normally call for screening, primary clarification, biological treatment (A2O, MBR, MBBR, SBR or UASB depending on load), tertiary filtration and disinfection, with DAF or ZLD stages added where trade-waste or industrial loads push solids or recovery requirements higher. The award centres on what happens to a treatment train after the operator's service life ends: adaptive reuse of concrete tanks, channels and piping as seating, gardens, gathering spaces and stormwater features, with the same surfaces now used to slow, absorb and clean stormwater on the public realm Brisbane Times. If your Municipal plant is approaching decommissioning on a polluted footprint, the takeaway for buyers is that civil structures can be carried into the next asset class, but influent characterisation, peak wet-weather flow and discharge licence drivers still set the spec. Operators scoping an end-of-life redevelop can compare it against an Integrated Sewage Treatment package for the receiving works and weigh an Industrial Wastewater Treatment Equipment Selection: Matching the Right System to Your Industry approach when trade waste is part of the load. The project also reads as a procurement signal: a $22 million line inside a $100 million council envelope, with adaptive reuse of existing civil assets rather than greenfield replacement, as the value-engineering lever Brisbane Times.
FAQ
What was the headline cost of the Archerfield Wetlands Parkland?
The reported capital envelope is $22 million for the parkland itself, sitting inside a $100 million Brisbane City Council commitment to transform Oxley Creek Brisbane Times.
How long did the original treatment plant operate before the site was redeveloped?
The former Inala Wastewater Treatment Plant was commissioned in 1958 and decommissioned in 1997, after almost four decades of operation Brisbane Times.
What was reused from the old plant in the new parkland?
Concrete tanks, channels and piping from the former sewage plant were reused as seating, feature gardens, informal gathering spaces and stormwater management features Brisbane Times.
What ecological recovery has been recorded on the redeveloped site?
More than 150,000 native plants were planted, and more than 170 bird species, gliders and possums have returned to the formerly heavily polluted wetland Brisbane Times.
