Once called Cobbs camp because of its strategic position on the Cobb & Co route between Brisbane and Gympie gold, the pleasant rural township of Woombye is perfectly located for commuters on the main northern rail line and the Bruce Highway.
It has a terrific little town centre with a supermarket, butcher, baker, pharmacy, and newsagency as well as takeaways, specialty stores and a growing number of sidewalk cafes.
Surrounding hillsides produce not only perfect pastoral pictures, but historically well suited the pineapple industry, on which its prosperity was built. During the 1960s it was a busy bulk-loading centre for the Golden Circle cannery and in 1971, the Big Pineapple, which is within its boundaries, opened.
Providing a town centre for the many fruit growers meant housing originally spread from the main street to the surrounding farms. Many of these have long since found a new purpose as residential estates.
While this has opened up more living choices, there are still small acreages and plenty of opportunities to enjoy rural peace while being only 20 minutes from Maroochydore.
The first burst of real population growth came after the second world war and continued steadily until the 1990s when it really took off as a desirable place to live. Perceptions by this time had changed so that “rural” translated to “Pleasantville” rather than “Hicksville”.
Today, Woombye has a land area of 1380 hectares and at the 2006 census, a population of 812 or a density of 1.69 people per hectare.
Summing up: Woombye has evolved from farming to a prime residential area that enjoys the township infrastructure that comes with being a prominent part of local history. This includes its shopping centre, a wide choice of state and private schools, sportsgrounds and train station. It’s a country lifestyle handy to everything.
