MPP investigates why the hinterland is gaining favour with buyers, and finds it never really went out of style.

Today, ask anyone from down south or even Brisbane to talk about the Sunshine Coast and they will mention Hastings Street or Mooloolaba Esplanade, surfing in Caloundra or fishing Maroochydore’s river, boating, perhaps even diving. But it’s our hinterland that settlers came to and the hinterland that now gives our region its diversity, recreationally, commercially and in terms of property. It’s where many first-home buyers head for affordable housing, where baby boomers retire to and families go to seek a bit of land for the kids to play.

The hinterland has always been defined as the villages, towns and acreages west of the Bruce Highway, but it also includes some suburbs on the eastern side, such as Bli Bli, Kiels Mountain, Rosemount and the Maroochy River communities of Ninderry and Valdora. Further south, the burgeoning Meridan Plains and Bells Creek areas also fall into the hinterland’s footprint.

In many coastal towns you have to jump in the car to get to your favourite wave – does it matter if you are sitting in the car for five or 15 minutes?

With Nambour as its major commercial centre, it takes in the rail towns and surrounding districts from Glass House Mountains north to Cooroy, west through the foothills to the Blackall Range towns from Maleny to Mapleton and beyond to Conondale, the Obi Obi valley and Kenilworth.

The Sunshine Coast region takes up more than 300,000 hectares of Queensland land, and the hinterland claims most of that space. It’s no surprise then that the population density is much lower than the communities on the coastline. At the 2006 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that the Beerwah district had 0.69 people per hectare; Landsborough 0.61; Little Mountain and Caloundra west to the highway had 1.37; Maleny 0.55; Mapleton, Flaxton and the Obi Obi 0.33; Mooloolah 0.61; Nambour 2.59; Palmwoods, Chevallum and Montville had 1.09; Bli Bli and Rosemount district 1.36; Ilkley and Eudlo district 0.55; Kureelpa 0.27; Woombye 1.69 and Yandina 0.55.

It’s a striking contrast to the Alexandra Headland/Mooloolaba area, which has squeezed 23.6 people in every hectare. Even the bustling and always expanding residential area of Sippy Downs had only 2.21 people per hectare compared with 12.31 in Maroochydore, 17.15 in Currimundi and Aroona, and 11.03 in Wurtulla and Buddina.

With the changing expectations of the Sunshine Coast buyer, these population densities must inevitably also change, over time. While the hinterland towns lack beaches, more and more residents are unfazed – if the beach is only a short drive away, as it is from many hinterland towns, does it really matter, when you consider the peace, quiet and space you get in return.

For example, from Bli Bli it takes about seven minutes before you’re standing on Mudjimba Beach. And in many coastal towns you still have to jump in the car to get to your favourite wave – does it really matter if you are sitting in the car for five or 15 minutes? Many Sippy Downs residents can get their toes in the ocean as fast as those who live in Mountain Creek or Mooloolaba.

A few extra minutes on the road to the coast translate to a far greater choice of lifestyle properties. In the hinterland there’s a wide and varied choice of bushland retreats without a neighbour in sight, hobby farms, horse paddocks and quiet residential neighbourhoods with a rural atmosphere. Large acreages west of the Blackall Range from Conondale to Kenilworth and in the Obi Obi Valley are big enough to run cattle or horse studs and yet are still within an hour of the beach.

Smaller acreages in the foothills and river plains from the range east to the highway provide a haven for hobby farmers, and family space for kids who want a pony or simply a slice of peace and quiet. There are creek flats for gardeners, steep forested blocks for a secluded retreat and undulating hills hidden among rainforest, nestling in the foothills or perched on the range with expansive ocean views. And rural doesn’t always mean acreage. Residential estates with allotments in all sizes can be found in the hills, surrounded by paddocks or bushland or in small towns.

Other estates are attractive because they are handy to rail and road connections for commuters – but still not far from the beach. Residents can work in Brisbane and go for a surf on weekends.

Most hinterland towns retain a strong sense of community, where residents can enjoy village life and still feel part of a neighbourhood where they know everyone they meet in the street. Rail towns such as Beerwah, Mooloolah, Eudlo, Palmwoods, Woombye and Yandina still have a traditional rural town centre away from the urban strip, despite being within a 30-minute drive of beaches and CBD shopping and services.

On the Blackall Range, towns from Maleny north to Mapleton retain a picture postcard village appeal and offer a choice of panoramic coastal views or peaceful rural landscapes, while their self-contained seclusion belies their proximity to all services at the bottom of the range. Further east, Dulong and Kureelpa are little more than rural communities yet offer a wide variety of lifestyles, from large residential allotments to acreage, some with stunning coastal views.

Next week MPP takes a look at other attractions of hinterland living.