By Mitch Gaynor
THE Sunshine Coast hinterland is being redefined by a wave of development that will shape its communities for generations.
For years, the region has been defined as much by what it wasn’t.
It wasn’t the coast or a commuter suburb and, until recently, rapid growth seemed to be happening elsewhere.
Despite sitting barely an hour north of Brisbane, towns including Beerwah, Glass House Mountains, Beerburrum, Landsborough and Maleny have largely retained the feel of communities the development boom had skipped.
But more than $6.5bn in two key rail projects is reshaping the southern hinterland, while new industrial land, housing and tourism ventures are changing how and where people live, work and spend.
The $1bn Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade is transforming the corridor between Beerburrum and Beerwah in what is at times an uncomfortable and wholly disruptive change.
Planning for the $5.5bn first stage of The Wave, connecting Beerwah to Caloundra, is under way ahead of construction next year, with trains expected to run before the 2032 Olympics.
That investment comes as the region prepares for substantial population growth.
Figures sourced by GC&M News show the Beerwah and Landsborough SA2 populations are projected to rise from a combined 32,685 in 2026 to 60,273 by 2046.
Member for Glass House Andrew Powell, first elected to the seat in 2009, said The Wave represented more than another transport project.
“For the Sunshine Coast, it’s a bit of a coming-of-age project,” he said.
“Change is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity.”
Closer connections
At its most practical, better rail means easier access to Brisbane and the coast.
Brisbane becomes a more realistic daily commute with extra and faster services, while Beerburrum, Glass House Mountains, Beerwah, Landsborough and Mooloolah Valley will be better connected.
Coastal employment, health and education centres also become easier to reach without getting in a car.
While Beerwah’s emergence as a major junction and town centre seems new, successive regional plans have long envisaged the town playing a larger role. Development, however, has not arrived gradually.
“It’s all just come in one big whack in the last couple of years,” Mr Powell said.
He acknowledged that pace had been “incredibly confronting” for parts of the community.
But he said Beerwah would increasingly accommodate more housing, health services, shopping and jobs, with higher-density development around the railway station and further industrial and commercial opportunities.
“We want to make sure that there are local jobs as the population grows,” he said. “We don’t want people necessarily commuting elsewhere for jobs, so I think you’ll see some change in both industrial and commercial opportunities around Beerwah.”
Important period of growth
Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace said he was proud to have helped secure federal funding for projects now taking shape across the region.
“One of the most important pieces of that puzzle is the Beerburrum to Nambour Rail Upgrade,” he said.
“In 2018, I was proud to help secure the then Coalition Government’s initial $390 million commitment to get this long-awaited project moving.”
Mr Wallace said the upgrades were increasingly important as the hinterland continued to grow.
“We need better public transport, more reliable rail services and infrastructure that gives people genuine alternatives to sitting in traffic on the Bruce Highway,” he said.
“And it cannot simply be about accommodating more people. We need to make sure places like Beerwah, Landsborough, Glass House Mountains and Beerburrum remain great communities to live in, with the infrastructure, local jobs and services to match that growth.”
Jobs close to home
That question of how to turn growth into a stronger local economy rather than simply more commuters is central to the town and wider region’s prosperity.
Council’s proposed planning scheme provides additional industrial land at Beerwah as part of a wider attempt to address a shortage across the Sunshine Coast.
It also proposes mixed-use development near major transport corridors and centres, bringing housing and business closer together.
Division 1 Councillor Jenny Broderick said the opportunity was to create a more attractive, connected and active Beerwah town centre rather than allow the railway station to become somewhere people simply passed through.
“It’s going to be really important for that Beerwah centre to be walkable and connected,” she said.
Her vision includes a revitalised Simpson and Turner streets precinct, stronger pedestrian links, public spaces and a broader mix of retail, offices and housing.
Cr Broderick said managing that change would require residents to have a genuine say in what their communities became.
“We need the community buy-in, and so that’s why I’m just constantly open to people to come and tell me not just what they don’t like, but tell me what you do want and how we can make it happen,” she said.
The growth pressures will not be confined to the existing town centre.
Beerwah East also remains identified as a major long-term growth area, although a timeframe remains elusive, with Halls Creek to the east of the Bruce Highway set to proceed first.
Mr Powell said development outside Beerwah would be more gradual, with protected land and infrastructure capacity limiting how far some communities could expand.
Holding on to tradition
But growth, he said, could not come at the expense of industries that had long defined the hinterland.
Mr Powell said while housing, rail, industry and tourism would grow, a strong agricultural economy, including forestry, remained essential.
“Farming is part of our heritage, and I want to ensure whether it’s pineapples, strawberries, dairy, that that continues,” he said.
For Mr Powell, the challenge was making sure the hinterland still recognised itself when the major projects were finished. “By 2032 it’ll be a different community.
“But I reckon together we can make it a better one.”