The Shire of Maroochy was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it amalgamated with its neighbours to the north and south to form the Sunshine Coast Region.
History
In 1842, Andrew Petrie explored the coast north of Brisbane and discovered the Mary River with a small party including two Aboriginal men from the Brisbane River region who spoke the Yuggera language. Their name for the local black swan was "Muru-kutchi" or "red-bill". Petrie hence named the area Maroochy.
The area was originally incorporated as part of the Caboolture Divisional Board on 11 November 1879 under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. On 5 July 1890, Maroochy split away and was proclaimed as a Maroochy Division in its own right, with an area of and headquarters at Nambour.Queensland Government Gazette, 5 July 1890, p. 658. It did not initially contain Buderim or Kenilworth. The first elections were held on 13 September for three councillors, each of whom represented one subdivision. By 1895, council chambers had been erected firstly on Blackall Terrace and then at Station Square adjacent to the Nambour railway station, where they were to continue meeting until 1978.
With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Maroochy became a shire council on 31 March 1903. The first land sale in Maroochydore in 1908 allowed along the coast to be opened up, allowing for the development of the towns of Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba. The council commenced supplying electricity in 1927, and a hospital was opened in 1930. With the start of major development in South East Queensland in the late 1950s, Maroochy Airport (now Sunshine Coast Airport, the major regional facility) was opened in 1961. The Shire grew rapidly from this point onwards.
Fires were a persistent problem in the hinterland region, and on Anzac Day in 1948, a fire significantly damaged the Shire Chambers. In 1978, the Shire moved its offices to a new location in Bury Street, Nambour, with the old facility in Civic Square remaining as a civic hall. On 15 August 1986 a fire damaged this beyond repair—it was bulldozed three years later to make way for the new Centenary Square development.
In 2000, Queensland police arrested a man for using a computer and a radio transmitter to take control of the Maroochy Shire wastewater system and release sewage into parks, rivers and property.
On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Maroochy merged with the Shire of Noosa and the City of Caloundra to form the Sunshine Coast Region.
Structure The Shire was subdivided into 12 numbered divisions, each of which returned one councillor, and an elected mayor.
Towns and localities The Shire of Maroochy included the following settlements:
Alexandra Headland Belli Park Bli Bli Bridges Buderim Burnside Chevallum Coes Creek Coolabine Cooloolabin Coolum Beach Cotton Tree Diddillibah Doonan1 Dulong Eerwah Vale1 Eudlo Eumundi Flaxton Forest Glen Gheerulla Highworth Hunchy
Ilkley Image Flat Kenilworth Kiamba Kidaman Creek2 Kiels Mountain Kulangoor Kuluin Kunda Park Kureelpa Landers Shoot Mapleton Marcoola Maroochy River Maroochydore Mons Montville Mooloolaba Mount Coolum Mountain Creek Mudjimba Nambour Ninderry
North Arm Obi Obi Pacific Paradise Palmwoods Parklands Peregian Beach1 Peregian Springs Perwillowen Point Arkwright Rosemount Sippy Downs Tanawha Towen Mountain Twin Waters Valdora Verrierdale West Woombye Weyba Downs Woombye Yandina Creek Yandina Yaroomba
1 - split with the Shire of Noosa 2 - split with the City of Caloundra
Population Year Population 1933 12,918 1947 15,014 1954 17,869 1961 19,071 1966 21,455 1971 25,522 1976 35,266 1981 53,428 1986 61,629 1991 84,442 1996 111,798 2001 129,429 2006 151,599
Chairmen and mayors 1927: J. T. Lowe 1952–1967: David Low 1967–1982: Eddie De Vere 1982–1985: Don Culley 1985–1994: Fred Murray 1994–1997: Bob King 1997–2000: Don Culley 2000–2004: Alison Grosse 2004–2008: Joe Natoli
Sister cities Tatebayashi, Japan Xiamen, China
See also List of tramways in Queensland
References
Further reading (196 pages) (79 pages) (120 pages)
External links University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Maroochy and Maroochy Shire Annual reports Maroochy Hospitals Board, State Library of Queensland