Draft plans give vision for Woombye, Eudlo

WOOMBYE and Eudlo will set out to retain a country town atmosphere in a vision for the railway towns now being presented in the Draft Local Area Plans.

After community consultation, the vision for Woombye is for it to "retain its role as a small rural service centre within a picturesque rural landscape dominated by rolling hills, natural bushland, small farms and pockets of rural residential development."

Eudlo will "remain a small country town serving as the hub of a supportive and co-operative local community in a rural setting that retains its heritage places and is safe, secure and compact."

The draft Local Area Plans for Woombye and Eudlo will be on public display during March at the council offices in Nambour and Maroochydore as well as at the Eudlo Post Office and the Woombye Library at the School of Arts.

Public meetings will be held at the Woombye School of Arts Hall on Tuesday, March 10, from 7pm to 8.30pm and at the Eudlo Public Hall on Tuesday, March 17, from 7pm to 8.30pm.

At Woombye, future residential development in the vicinity of Paynters Creek will provide a physical and visual buffer from Nambour. Other boundaries will be defined by the railway to the west, Nambour Connection road to the east and Taintons Road to the south.

The distinctive strip commercial development along Blackall Street will continue to be be consolidated, with the commercial focus of the town on Wakefield Street and Park Street.

Retention of heritage buildings and places is considered particularly important to the maintenance of the character and historical values of the town centre.

Residential areas within the town will continue to be characterised by detached dwellings on large residential allotments, maintaining the open feel and privacy associated with country town living.

Objectives are to maintain Woombye’s own separate identity by limiting urban expansion, maintain natural and rural areas as a buffer, local traffic management, provide facilities for youth, town heritage and direct access from the town centre to the highway.

Issues identified by the community include:

• Adequate parking outside schools.
• Demise/economic viability of farms
• Retention of rural ambience and maintenance of wildlife corridors.
• Inadequacy of town and railway car parking and pedestrian safety in Blackall Street
• Farmers’ desires to rezone land for residential use and farm/residential conflict
• Need to generate local employment.
• Eradication of noxious flora
• Lack of bikeways and walking paths
• Need for facilities for teens and school children
• Safety of fuel depot in town
• Vandalism.

Eudlo has a vision to retain its role as a small country town providing only the lowest order of goods and services to its small resident population and immediate rural hinterland community.

Rosebed Street will remain the commercial and community focus of the town. The urban boundaries of Eudlo will largely remain the same, consistent with the maintenance of the town’s discrete character. Limited infill development will occur on isolated allotments with the town where new dwellings will compliment the traditional building form.

Objectives are to limit population growth and physical expansion of the town centre, concentrate new commercial and community services in the existing town; improve environmental quality and to improve recreational opportunities.

Issues identified by the community include:

• The size of rural subdivisions
• Lack of public facilities in town and the need for more open community space.
• Rural residential development destroying forests
• Improved standard of bike paths and footpaths.
• Burning off at the sawmill
• Lack of local employment
• Nuisance from backburning fires
• Integration of transient population
• Unsympathetic character of the new railway station

The public is invited to make submissions to the LAPs, to be with the Chief Executive Officer by Friday, March 27.