Sunnybank, Queensland

Sunnybank Brisbane, Queensland
Sunnybank lowlands with Typha (rushes) in foreground and Sunnybank Railway Station in background. Site was originally part of Sunnybrae farm.
Population	8,091 (2011 census)
• Density	1,839/km2 (4,760/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4109
Area	4.4 km2 (1.7 sq mi)
Location	16 km (10 mi) from Brisbane CBD
LGA(s)	City of Brisbane
State electorate(s)	Sunnybank
Federal Division(s)	Moreton
Suburbs around Sunnybank: Coopers Plains Robertson Macgregor Coopers Plains Sunnybank Eight Mile Plains Acacia Ridge Sunnybank Hills Runcorn

Sunnybank is now a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia much reduced in size from the previous suburb of Sunnybank. The separate Town of Sunnybank was absorbed into the City of Brisbane. This older Sunnybank area is still known locally as Sunnybank. Rolling hills and the headwaters for both Stable Swamp Creek and Bulimba Creek have drawn people and wildlife to the Sunnybank area. At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb recorded a population of 8,091.

The Jagera Indigenous people were the first to inhabit the area well over 20,000 years ago. Early settlers noticed that the Sunnybank district had good rainfall and a beautiful loamy soil, somewhat sandy in character, that produced beautiful displays of natural wild flowers. From the mid-19th century it developed into a farming area with prosperous fruit and poultry farms and gardens of every kind.

Opening in 1938, The Oasis, with lush gardens, swimming pools and a mini zoo became Brisbane’s most popular tourist attraction. The Oasis was located at 141 Station Road, Sunnybank.

The Town of Sunnybank in the 19th century was part of a much larger area known as the Parish of Yeerongpilly, but a distinct town outside of the area known as Brisbane. In 1885, the railway line was extended from Yeerongpilly, and names had to be given to the railway stations along the line. Sunnybank got its name from a local farm, Sunnybrae, owned by the Gillespies, when 2 acres (8,100 m²) of land were taken over for the railway. Brae is Scottish for the English word bank, so the area was given boundaries and named Sunnybank.

By the first part of the 20th century, farmland increasingly gave way to suburbia. General Motors Holden established a car manufacturing plant on Bradman Street at Acacia Ridge, creating a major source of employment for the entire city of Brisbane. With the Commonwealth games being held in 1982 at the Queen Elizabeth II sporting complex (QE II), now known as the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC), and Expo 88 years later, Brisbane and its suburbs like Sunnybank were shown to the world. With new land releases rare in the region, developers have turned to building higher density residential and commercial projects.