A collaborative engagement program undertaken to determine the future of this once-in-a-generation site for the Redlands Coast.

Client: Redland City Council

Redlands Coast has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform an important, 62 hectare parcel of land into an exciting, world-class precinct of local, regional and national significance. Fourfold Studio was engaged by Redland City Council in early 2021 to work alongside Council on the Birkdale Community Precinct Engagement program. This included delivering a highly successful engagement and communications program which received over 2 millions impressions and over 5,400 people participating in an engagement activity over the 7-week period. There was an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the community with a high level of interest in getting involved.

The team embarked upon an innovative engagement program focused around 5 project themes: education and discovery; agriculture and rural tradition; heritage and history; environment and ecology; and adventure and recreation. The program included online engagement, 2 community open days, 1 stakeholder forum, 10 pop-ups, 6 static engagement hubs and 3 youth workshops. To assist the community in imagining potential future uses for the precinct, Fourfold coordinated five leading design teams to develop a design render or vision board for one of the five themes. They were used as a conversation starter and to raise awareness of what might be possible.

The engagement process was highly successful. A snapshot of engagement outcomes include:

• Over 1,600 people responded to the online survey

• Over 13,000 people visited the project Your Say project page. This included 3 in 4 Birkdale households

• Over 3,000 attended an open day over 2 days

• Approximately 700 attended a pop-up

The engagement process undertaken for Birkdale Community Precinct has given a voice to community aspirations for this exciting project and will ensure that decisions made about the future of the precinct align with the aspirations of the local community. The next phases of the project include the development of a site vision, followed by a precinct master plan. It is anticipated that this collaborative process will ensure that the final project outcomes will be well-used and cherished both now and into the future.