Quietly but surely, the vast stretch of land between Caloundra and the Bruce Highway has been converted from cattle grazing to housing. Little Mountain, hidden away in the bush behind Corbould Park racecourse is a surprise package that just crept up on us.
With Parklands on the opposite side of Caloundra Road, it accommodates more than 4000 families, but few could understand the extent of either unless specifically turning into Peirce Avenue or Parklands Boulevard.
After the opening of Corbould Park in 1985, Little Mountain started out as not much more than a few small acreage blocks. Large new homes went up, usually towards the rear of the blocks, and the whole development melted into its bushy background. For residents, it was an escape from suburbia into a rural lifestyle close to Caloundra beaches.
And it has just kept growing since the early ‘90s with new subdivisions being snapped up as quickly as they are developed. There is still a plentiful supply of land available to the south and west for future growth, despite some flood-prone tracts being ruled unsuitable.
Parklands on the opposite side of Caloundra Road also continues to expand to the north and west.
The statistical district of Caloundra West includes Bells Creek, Ivadale Lakes and Meridan Plains and covers 7125 hectares with the population density of 1.37 people per hectare at the 2006 census, a figure now wildly inaccurate as the area just keeps growing.
Having been developed within the past two decades, it has wide and tidy well-planned streets and good connecting roads through to the Kawana Way and the Nicklin Way.
Summing up: Little Mountain and its surrounds in west Caloundra is five kms to the Bruce Highway, 6kms to the Kawana shopping strip and Dicky Beach and 6km to downtown Caloundra. Everything is handy, including two new schools. Affordable housing is a feature of the area, along with more expensive rural acreage.
