Maleny, Queensland

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Maleny (26°46′S, 152°51′E) is a small scenic town 90 km north of Brisbane in the Blackall Range hinterland overlooking the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. Nearby towns include Landsborough, Montville and Peachester. Nearby places of geographical significance include the Glass House Mountains and Baroon Pocket Dam.

It hosts the Maleny Wood Expo From Chainsaw to Fine Furniture each year, hosted by Barung Landcare and showcases the regions finest wood artisans.

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[edit] Geography

Situated approximately 450 metres (1,450 feet) above sea level, Maleny has a sub-tropical climate with cool clear winters and warm wet summers. A high annual rainfall approaching 1800mm (70 inches) gives rise to the characteristic green rolling hills. Prior to European settlement, the area was covered in thick sub-tropical rainforest with huge hardwood trees. Timber-getters in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries opened up the area seeking valuable timber, which was prized locally and in Europe. Heavy logging led to the almost complete denuding of the rainforest clad hills in the district around Maleny. Pockets of forest remain in steeper terrain and in one large remnant patch (around 40 Hectares or 100 Acres) which now forms Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve.

[edit] History

The area around Maleny was originally populated by two aboriginal groups, the Nalbo people and the Dallambara group. The area was known for its bunya feasts which happened every third year when the giant bunya tree was in fruit.

The first European to document Maleny was the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt who describes the area in his travel diary in 1844. The first European settlement followed in the wake of the Gympie gold rush of 1867. Maleny was a timber town until the early 1920s and then was a centre of dairy production with a butter factory which declined in the 1960s.

[edit] Tourism

The Maleny Protest in 2004
The Maleny Protest in 2004

Maleny has replaced its timber-cutting and dairying past with tourism with a large influx of people who wanted an alternative lifestyle. As well as being on the Hinterland tourist drive, Maleny attracts day trippers from Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast who are attracted to the various stores, art galleries and specialty shops.

[edit] Development and Protests

Maleny's popularity with tourists from nearby Brisbane and Sunshine Coast brought change with an increase in development. Some local residents have resisted some of the development, the most notable being the new Woolworths. Many locals were opposed to the idea (79% of local residents opposed according to "Market Facts" survey 20/07/05[citation needed]). Of particular concern was that the supermarket was to be built over a significant platypus habitat.Maleny Voice FAQs. Many were concerned that 'Corporate' was seen as moving into the small 'local' town, which perhaps explains why there were no similar 'save the platypus' protests when the library and Riverside Centre were built on the banks of the same creek. Despite protests and an offer to purchase the site for AUD$2 million (pledged by local residents) the supermarket opened. Badges and posters reading "I WON'T SHOP THERE" are seen in Maleny as part of the anti-Woolworths campaign, though active opposition is declining. These events have been documented by national media and have spawned a website and magazine as well as an action group.

[edit] Attractions

Maleny is home to a large number of cooperative enterprises. There are art galleries, health food and organic produce stores, cafes, a co-op credit union, thriving business centre, rural settlements, alternative schools, alternative medical treatment, organic farming, intentional communities, and others.

Maleny hosted the Maleny Folk Festival from its inception in 1987 to 1994, when it was moved to the nearby town of Woodford and renamed the Woodford Folk Festival.

[edit] Baroon Pocket Dam

Baroon Pocket Dam constructed in 1989 is fed by the Obi Obi Creek, a significant tributary of the upper Mary River, which drains the basalt capped Maleny plateau. Water runoff statistics have been kept in this area since the 1940’s showing that the average annual rainfall is 2037mm and the runoff into Baroon Pocket Dam receives annually about 64,000ML. Since its construction the dam has become an important recreation area for the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The Baroon Pocket Dam holds about 61,000 megalitres of water and the treatment plant supplies about 150 megalitres of treated water to the Sunshine Coast daily. There is a sailing club, naval cadet unit, fishing club, secluded accommodation, and picnic facilities.


[edit] External links