OVER the past 12 months, our Glasshouse Country Chamber has been actively advocating and promoting the growth of agritourism in our region.
Thanks to our dedicated committee members, we have been able to host a series of agritourism meetings and workshops with key stakeholders, including local farmers, tourism operators and businesses, to raise the profile of our stunning Glasshouse Country and its fine produce.
Our focus includes establishing a Glasshouse Country farm and food trail, which we are hoping to run in the new year, and working to create a manual to assist keen growers to become farm gate ready.
We are also working towards making a submission to the upcoming Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme about changes that will hopefully assist in making applications for our rural areas more user friendly, cost effective and advantageous for our region.
Our most recent event took place at Bankfoot House where we had three guest speakers – Karen Martin from Yanalla Farms, Andrew Eaves-Brown from Sunshine Coast Council’s economic development unit and Kurt Martin, the recreation trails activation officer.
Karen shared with us her Farm2Plate exchange experience in Beaudesert recently and what that could look like for us hosting a similar event here.
Andrew talked to us about the council’s vision for the growth of agritourism on the coast and our unique opportunity as a region, and how we can work collaboratively.
If any of our local farmers and tourism businesses are interested in being involved in our workshops and meetings, please don’t hesitate to contact our chamber for all the details.
In celebration of our incredible area and produce, this year the chamber’s AGM dinner will showcase some of our great produce in a menu created by Hideaway Weddings. Our AGM is set for Wednesday, September 8 with tickets available for purchase by both members and non-members.
Please contact us on info@glasshousecountrychamber.com.au for further details.