Sunshine Coast Council has made a $9.5 million land acquisition to expand green spaces for recreation, sport and conservation purposes to support the region’s rapidly growing community.
The 214 hectares on Rainforest Drive, Meridan Plains is located in an area to become known as the Lower Mooloolah River Green Space – one of council’s five major green spaces and in addition to Mountain View, the Regional Inter-urban Break, Blue Heart Sunshine Coast and the Coast.
The land is a long-term strategic acquisition and its final land uses will be determined through a future site assessment and master planning process, the council stated.
Sunshine Coast Council Environment and Liveability Portfolio Councillor Maria Suarez said the purchase, made via the Local Government Infrastructure Funds (LGIP) for sport and recreation purposes, would expand the publicly accessible open space network and was important to both the community and environment.
“This land provides an opportunity to establish a regional sport and recreation precinct and provide future recreational trail linkage opportunities to the north and south,” Cr Suarez said.
“It also has environmental importance as it helps to protect and enhance significant biodiversity and cultural values and assist to maintain and responsibly manage the floodplain.
“The Rainforest Drive acquisition is a valuable contribution to plan and protect the emerging Lower Mooloolah River Green Space building on the existing public lands in this area.
The acquisition is one of the transformational actions in the Environment and Liveability Strategy 2017.