Brighton is the northernmost suburb of Brisbane City, Australia, located 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of the Brisbane CBD. The Nashville locality makes up much of the southwest of the suburb.
At the 2011 Australian Census the suburb had a population of 9,012. Brighton features mostly suburban housing. The large nursing home Eventide, run by the Queensland Government, is within Brighton.
Brighton was also home to the World War II barracks of the RAAF Air Training School between December 1940 to May 1946 and was built on reclaimed land. After this time it became The Eventide Nursing Home. More than 700 patients were transferred from Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island to the facility. It was announced in late 2012 that the nursing home will close because ensuring the aging buildings complied with building codes was uneconomic.
Demographics
In the 2011 census, Brighton recorded a population of 9,012 people, 51.1% female and 48.9% male.
The median age of the Brighton population was 40 years of age, 3 years above the Australian median.
78.4% of people living in Brighton were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 69.8%; the next most common countries of birth were England 5.3%, New Zealand 4.3%, Scotland 0.8%, Philippines 0.6%, Ireland 0.5%.
91.4% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 0.5% German, 0.3% French, 0.3% Italian, 0.2% Tagalog, 0.2% Cantonese.
History
The main pub in Brighton is the Brighton Hotel located along Beaconsfield Terrace. An early settler, Captain William Townsend, bought the Brighton Hotel and used it as his home and, once sold in 1893, it was used as an orphanage. It resumed being a hotel in 1912.
Education
Three primary schools are located within Brighton; Brighton State School, Nashville State School and St. Kieran's Primary School. The northside Autistic Children's Therapy Centre is also located in Brighton.
Brighton Wetlands
Brighton has a wonderful woodland wetland protected by the local government. This natural reserve is made up of three woods; namely Goodenia Woods, Pimelea Woods and Dianella Woods. The land is so called a wetland as it fills with water during heavy rain which flows into a small tidal creek, Copold Creek, that flows under one of the main roads of Brighton, Beaconsfield Terrace, and then leads to Bramble Bay between 15th and 16th Avenues.
Brighton Esplanade
Brighton is a desirable Brisbane suburb due to both the ease of public transport, such as the train service from nearby Sandgate, and also the bayside esplanade. This peaceful parkland esplanade follows the coast between the Houghton Highway bridge and Sandgate. The esplanade is used by walkers, cyclists and families. Brighton's beach is used by kite surfers and also walkers during low tide. The road that follows the esplanade is called Flinders Parade named after the navigator Captain Matthew Flinders who was the first European to discover the area in order to establish a penal colony for Lord Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales.
Bridges
All three bridges that have connected City of Brisbane to Redcliffe City commenced at their southern end at Brighton and at their northern end at Clontarf. The first bridgeHornibrook Bridge has been closed and is now mostly demolished save for the . Currently there are two bridges, Houghton Highway and Ted Smout Memorial Bridge. Government Traffic monitoring cameras enable a real-time view looking north from brighton to Clontarf. http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Traffic-cameras-by-location/Traffic-cameras.aspx?name=Brighton - Houghton Highway Bridge - Deagon Deviation (North-East)
Heritage listings
Brighton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Amenities
Brighton is serviced by a fortnightly visit of the Brisbane City Council's mobile library service in the car park at Decker Park on 25th Avenue.