Kangaroo Point Cliff lights

A poignant reminder of historical flooding of the Brisbane River.

Members of Urban Crag volunteer to clean up Kangaroo Point cliffs

One of the attractions of the Kangaroo Point Cliffs is the ability to enjoy rock climbing and other recreational activities after hours with the aid of lights shining upon the cliff. Most rock climbers are local workers who frequent the cliff after clocking off in their day jobs. What a great way to unwind! Our international visitors are also attracted to this unique crag that is literally only 500 metres from the city centre, it is truly an Urban Crag.

In early 2011, Brisbane suffered a natural disaster which caused major flooding along the Brisbane River. Urban Crag members volunteered and assisted council workers clean up the sludge left by the receding waters. As a user group of the recreation park, we felt obliged to give something back.

This unfortunate event caused damage to the lights at the bottom of the Kangaroo Point cliff. These lights no longer allowed rock climbers to enjoy their recreational activities at night without the need of a head torch and in some extreme and resourceful cases, the aid of a noisy generator to power their own lights.

Kangaroo Point cliffs is flooded by the rising Brisbane river.

The Brisbane flood waters laps the Kangaroo Point cliff walls. The lights are totally submerged.

For months, the climbing community waited patiently while Brisbane rebuilt itself. Understandably there were bigger priorities. However, it seemed other parks along the river, in particular South Bank and less important jobs (taps, barbecues) got more attention than the safety of providing adequate lighting. Soon the climbing community got restless. Eventually, promises were made to the climbing community that funds had been allocated to install new lights on poles. By the end of 2011, the lights were finally replaced but not with the promised lighting setup. Instead, the new lights were inadequate at lighting the whole cliff and the multi-coloured lights made it harder to see. Climbers once again resorted to bringing in their own lighting to compensate for the lack there of.

The latest issues have been raised directly with the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and the  Riverside Parks Flood Recovery project is again consulting with the climbing community to remedy the situation. Urban Crag will be sending members along to public consultation meetings and we will report back here to keep the climbing public in the loop. You may also find other climbing sites, groups and people fighting for this cause too.

Let's hope we get Kangaroo Point cliffs looking great once again.