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east of the island were surveyed into saleable lots, a reserve of sea
17
coast was left as directed in 1878. This reserve distinguishes
Coochiemudlo from the other inhabited southern Moreton Bay
Islands which were surveyed prior to the 1878 Surveyor General’s
18
ruling, and where lots extend to the high water mark. The creation
of an esplanade reserve enables the protection of the environmental
values of coastal margins, better management of coastal hazards
and the provision of opportunities for public access and recreational
19
use of the coastal fringe. The Surveyor-General’s instructions
mean that Coochiemudlo’s Emerald Fringe still remains in public
hands, free from urban development. There has been minimal
change to the shape of the original reserve, from the time of
gazetting to the present day (see attachments 4&5).The retention of
the Emerald Fringe has also provided protection for woodland
ecosystems that once covered the whole island and which are now
classified as endangered in South-East Queensland (see
attachments 6).

By 1887 the name Innis Island had been dropped and the popular
aboriginal name anglicised to Coochiemudlo was used. First land
sales occurred in 1888 but in 1895 the only permanent residents on

17 Jones, ‘Coochiemudlo Island in the Nineteenth Century’, p. 31: ‘On January
th
24 1888, a government advertisement in the Brisbane Courier advertised 90
allotments on Coochie Mudlo Island.’
18 General Directions for the Guidance of Surveyors 1878 (Qld).
19 The RMA Quality Planning Service’Origins and Importance of Esplanade
Reserves’ http://www.qualityplanning.org.nz/index.php/planning-
tools/land/esplanade-areas/origins-and-importance-of-esplanade-reserves
(accessed 10 October 2017)

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