Decking in Nambour
The foot of the Blackall Range
Nambour is a rural town 101 kilometres north of Brisbane, in the sub-tropical hinterland at the foot of the Blackall Range. It was the capital of Maroochy Shire and is the administrative centre of the Sunshine Coast Region. The locality had 12,145 people at the 2021 census. The greater region includes Burnside, Coes Creek and Perwillowen.
Petrie's Creek
Tom Petrie's party entered Petrie's Creek in 1862 for the cedar and made a permanent logging camp, and the first permanent European settlement came in 1870. When the North Coast railway to Brisbane opened in 1891, the town was renamed Nambour after a cattle station. Wikipedia says the name comes from naamba, the red-flowering bottlebrush.
Sugar and a lost mill
The Moreton Central Sugar Mill began operating in 1897 and closed in 2003, and the cane tramway closed at the end of 2001. A section of the track can still be seen in the roadway of Mill, Currie and Howard Streets. The former mill workers' housing at Mill and Bury Streets is heritage-listed. Older workers' cottages may have decks and verandahs of their own.
Fire and rebuilding
A fire in 1924 destroyed many of the timber buildings on the main street. Nambour Hospital opened in 1930 as Maroochy District Hospital, and much of its acute service moved to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2017. If you build a deck near timber structures, ask how the builder will deal with fire separation and bushfire rules, and who confirms them.
Farmland changing hands
Many former cane farms around Nambour have been turned into grazing, turf farms or sold to developers, and the Maroochy Research Station, a 61-hectare subtropical fruit and nut research centre, was established in 1945. Larger rural blocks may mean longer driveways and a long haul for materials. Ask a builder whether distance adds to the price.
Hinterland weather
Nambour is in the hinterland, so a deck may face different weather from a deck at the beach. Ask each builder how the deck will cope with shade, damp and leaf litter, whether the boards and frame suit those conditions, and what you will need to clean. The climate figures are published by the Bureau of Meteorology and not sourced here.
Check the licence and the council
The QBCC register lists licensed contractors, and a licence is needed for work above $3,300. Sunshine Coast Council lists the building approvals required, and Nambour is part of its area. Ask each builder who will lodge a permit, whether a private certifier will be involved, and whether you are paying for it.
Cedar and bottlebrush
The name Nambour comes from an Aboriginal word, naamba, referring to the red-flowering bottlebrush Callistemon viminalis. In 1862 Tom Petrie entered Petrie's Creek with 25 Turrbal and Kabi Kabi men, including Ker-Walli, Wanangga and Billy Dinghy, hoping to cut the cedar growing nearby. Nambour is 101 kilometres north of Brisbane.
St Joseph's timber and the Baptists
St Joseph's Catholic Church opened on 2 January 1893 on a 5 acre site donated by Daniel Currie, and about 1950 it was demolished for a new church whose foundation stone was laid on 16 April 1950. Its timber was reused to build Our Lady Star of the Sea at Maroochydore as a cost-saving measure. Nambour Baptist Church opened in July 1914 and a new church opened on 25 August 1921.
How far is Nambour from Brisbane?
About 101 kilometres north.
What happened to the sugar mill?
It operated from 1897 and closed in 2003.
What is the Blackall Range?
The range at whose foot the town lies, in the hinterland.
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