Queensland Archives - Mount Gravatt News

A Mount Gravatt East Woman Was Among 16 People Allegedly Charged in a Major Brisbane Drug Trafficking Investigation

A 38-year-old woman was arrested at a Hathaway Street address in Mount Gravatt East during a search warrant on 3 May, as part of a months-long investigation into alleged methamphetamine trafficking that has resulted in 16 people being charged across Brisbane.

The investigation, known as Operation Yankee Rend, was conducted by Brisbane City Criminal Investigation Branch and wrapped up in May after commencing in January. The investigation’s closure resulted in 16 people being charged with more than 90 offences, including trafficking in dangerous drugs, supplying dangerous drugs, possessing proceeds from trafficking and supply, possessing dangerous drugs, and possession of weapons.

The Mount Gravatt East arrest was one of a series of search warrants and interceptions carried out across Brisbane and surrounding areas throughout the operation.

What police allegedly seized

Throughout the investigation, police seized 1.6kg of methamphetamine, 111g of cocaine, a revolver handgun and more than $16,000 of alleged drug cash, in addition to other drugs and drug-related items.

The seizures took place across multiple locations and dates during the five-month investigation. On 7 March, police located a 36-year-old Redbank Plains man on Cedar Road in Redbank Plains.

It will be alleged the man attempted to run from investigators and hide a bag of methamphetamine before he was intercepted and arrested. Investigators further allege a search warrant at a Wivenhoe-Somerset Road address in Somerset on 8 March resulted in the location of a revolver handgun.

The investigation that drove it

Operation Yankee Rend commenced in January following intelligence of methamphetamine being trafficked in Brisbane’s inner north. Brisbane City Criminal Investigation Branch ran the operation, with the City Valley Crime Group coordinating the arrest phase.

North Brisbane District City Valley Crime Group Acting Detective Inspector Sean Webster said the operation had a meaningful impact on local drug supply. “The investigations resulted in the disruption of significant local trafficking and supply of methamphetamine,” he said.

What happens next

The 16 people charged are expected to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court at various future dates. All charges are alleged and none of the accused have been convicted. Investigations are continuing.

Anyone with information about drug activity in the area can contact Policelink via the online form or by calling 131 444. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at crimestoppersqld.com.au.

Published 9-June-2026

Upper Mt Gravatt Centre Precinct Plan Opens for Community Consultation

BCC

Residents across Upper Mt Gravatt now have a direct say in what their suburb’s commercial heart looks like in the decades ahead, with community consultation open on a plan that will shape development along the Dawson Road corridor through to Newnham Road.

The Suburban Renewal Precinct Plan for Upper Mt Gravatt covers the stretch of the suburb anchored by Westfield Mt Gravatt and extending through Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road to Newnham Road, taking in the mix of retail, commercial and residential land that makes up one of southern Brisbane’s busiest suburban centres. What gets built there, how tall, and what kind of neighbourhood it becomes are exactly the questions the plan is designed to settle, and right now, before any draft is written, is the moment when community input carries the most weight.

Feedback gathered during this initial phase goes directly to planners as they prepare the draft plan, which will come back to the community for a second round of input before anything is finalised. Planners expect to put the draft plan back to the community for review in late 2026 or early 2027, with the final version likely to be etched into the city plan by mid-2027.

A Centre Under Growing Pressure

Upper Mt Gravatt already carries a lot of weight for southern Brisbane. It draws shoppers, workers and service-seekers from well beyond its own suburb boundaries, and the infrastructure surrounding the centre, including the Upper Mt Gravatt library, nearby sporting fields, Mt Gravatt Outlook Reserve and Brisbane Metro turn-up-and-go services along the corridor, gives it a foundation that many suburban centres elsewhere in the city simply do not have.

Under current planning settings, landmark sites within the precinct can already reach up to 15 storeys. The precinct plan will work through whether zoning across a wider range of sites should be updated to allow more housing and mixed-use development in the locations best placed to handle it, while protecting the residential streets that surround the commercial core from inappropriate intensification.

Upper Mt Gravatt sits within a broader programme of suburban renewal plans across Brisbane that has already delivered adopted plans at Stones Corner, with work underway at Wynnum, Alderley, Mt Gravatt and Chermside. The approach across all of them centres on finding the best use of underutilised land within established, well-connected centres rather than pushing growth outward into areas that lack the same infrastructure base.

What Residents Are Being Asked

The ideas phase is deliberately open. Residents, business owners and anyone who uses the Upper Mt Gravatt centre can share what matters to them about the area as it stands, what they feel is missing, and what they want the precinct to look and feel like in the future. There are no set options to choose from at this stage. The aim is to hear from the people who actually live and work in and around the centre before planners sit down to draft anything formal.

That covers everything from the types of housing and services the community wants to see near the centre, to the quality of streets and public spaces, to how the plan can protect the character of the established neighbourhoods that border the precinct.

Why This Matters to the Community

Brisbane is growing fast, with around 600 people arriving in the city each week and a projected need for more than 210,000 new homes by 2046. Well-serviced centres like Upper Mt Gravatt, with their transport connections, community facilities and existing employment base, are exactly where that growth is likely to be directed. The precinct plan is not about whether change happens. It is about whether the community shapes it or watches it happen around them.

For residents of Upper Mt Gravatt, Mt Gravatt, Mansfield, Rochedale South and Eight Mile Plains, getting involved now, at the ideas stage rather than the objection stage, gives the best chance of seeing local priorities reflected in whatever is ultimately adopted. Once a precinct plan becomes part of the city plan, it sets the rules for development for years to come.

Residents can share their ideas by clicking this link or by writing to Neighbourhood Planning, Upper Mt Gravatt Centre Suburban Renewal Precinct, Brisbane City Council, GPO Box 1434, Brisbane QLD 4001.

Published 17-March-2026.

Cheaper to Buy Versus Rent in Mount Gravatt

Here’s an interesting point to ponder for Mount Gravatt residents and would-be residents. Given Mount Gravatt’s excellent location, just eight kilometres away from Brisbane’s CBD, recent research data shows that it is actually cheaper for people looking for property in Mount Gravatt to buy, rather than pay rent to a landlord. At Mount Gravatt, renting a unit costs a median amount of $1,918, while the mortgage repayment of the same unit would only be an estimated $1,364 per month.

RealEstate.com cites research conducted by RP Data which shows the fairly unusual discrepancy, observed in Mount Gravatt, Spring Hill, Brisbane City, and 3,227 other Australian suburbs. Apparently, it would be cheaper to take out a three-year fixed interest rate mortgage (with a 5.15% rate) on a property, than it would be to pay rent on it. Tim Lawless, RP Data’s Research Director, says that the “possible reasons for this change in fortune for potential home buyers includes a decrease of capital city home values (2.9% lower than when they peaked in October 2010), lower mortgage rates and tighter rental markets.”

Results also show that rentals are higher for apartment-style housing, and that houses are better options for those looking to purchase, rather than rent, as one moves away from the CBD. This is certainly good news for residents in 71 Queensland suburbs, including those looking for houses in Goodna, Holmview and Burleigh Waters, where mortgage repayments are also found to be significantly lower than median house rental rates.

To read more about the other places in Australia where it’s cheaper to buy rather than rent, click here.

If you are a renter and want to know how much you can afford to borrow based on your current rental payments, use this Reverse Rent Calculator.

If you want to find out how much you will need to cover your desired mortgage loan, use this Mortgage Calculator.

And if you have absolutely no idea what you can afford to borrow and pay, this Borrowing Power Calculator might be able to help.

Photo Credit: Mount Gravatt Mansfield Lions Club