Monday 15 September 2025
Stage 5 of the Laidley Creek Restoration Master Plan is underway to rehabilitate a further 1km of Laidley Creek in the Lockyer Valley as part of a long-term partnership between Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd (PBPL) and Healthy Land & Water.
PBPL is injecting a further $1.65 million to fund the fifth stage of works that will improve water quality within the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay by preventing sediment runoff.
The work will be delivered by Healthy Land & Water. Once completed, it’s anticipated to prevent, on average, approximately 5,925 tonnes of sediment entering Laidley Creek every year.
PBPL CEO, Neil Stephens, said Stage 5 builds on significant earlier investment by the Port, which has been a project partner since the first stage of works commenced in 2015.
“Once this latest phase of the Master Plan is complete, the five stages of work will have rehabilitated 3.8km of Laidley Creek,” said Mr Stephens.
“Sediment pollution from degraded creeks and rivers is a big problem in the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, as it is across many Queensland waterways. It’s exacerbated following severe weather events, as we saw after ex TC-Alfred (March 2025) and the floods of 2011, 2013 and 2022.
“We also know sediment pollution has a detrimental impact on the health of marine ecosystems from research and monitoring conducted by PBPL and our partners.”
Mr Stephens said the Port was driven to act by research that identified sediment erosion from waterways in the Lockyer Valley as the primary source of sediment to Brisbane River and Moreton Bay.
“Ten years ago, we took the innovative approach to redirect funding from port development projects to onsite creek rehabilitation – around 100km outside the port gate – because that is where the research showed we could have the biggest impact.”
“Since then, PBPL has invested $6.4 million to fund the rehabilitation a total of 4.3km of highly degraded creek banks in the Brisbane River Catchment. This includes significant work at Laidley Creek as well as Downfall Creek (with Brisbane City Council) and Woogaroo Creek (with Ipswich City Council).
“By addressing sediment at its source, these works are helping to support long-term ecological health and waterway resilience across Southeast Queensland.”
Stage 5 works are anticipated to be completed in 2026.