Gardening on the Range

Come and help the Sunshine Coast be stronger together

Community members of all ages and backgrounds are invited to attend the Stronger Together Forum on 16 May to share their experiences, insights and ideas to help create a renewed Community Strategy Action Plan for 2024-2029. Places are limited. Register today on Council’s website.

Dynamic visual arts award now open

The winner of the 2023 Sunshine Coast Art Prize will take home $25,000 and join the ‘greats’ in the Sunshine Coast Art Collection. Plus all finalists will be exhibited in the Sunshine Coast Art Prize exhibition at Caloundra Regional Gallery. Submissions close midnight 14 May. Visit gallery.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au for more details.

First Nations Family Fun Day

Don't miss the unique celebration at Bankfoot House in Glass House Mountains on 15 April. The free event is on between 10am - 2pm. Join Kabi Kabi and Jinibara First Nations People for a unique, fun-filled day of cultural learning, games, dancing and craft activities for all ages. Visit heritage.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au for information.

CUSTOMER CONTACT sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Contact-Council

Exciting work experience opportunity

A unique work experience program is open to students in Years 10, 11 and 12 looking to obtain on-the job skills and experience with Council's Parks and Gardens Branch. Students will experience first-hand basic technical skills within their chosen field while gaining insight into the various parks and gardens-related professions. To register or for more information, visit the careers page on Council’s website.

Does your community group need funding to help make something great happen?

Make it a reality with support from Council’s Community Grants Program. Minor Grants of up to $2000 are available for community groups to deliver projects, events and activities that provide community benefit. Visit Council’s website to apply Youth Week events and activities

Celebrate the skaters, scooters, movers and groovers, as well as the movie lovers, foodies and market wanderers during Youth Week 11-17 April. Enjoy free events, including the Beerwah Youth Week Jam Skate Comp, the Kings Beach Youth Fest and the Beerwah Movie Night. Visit Council’s website for more details.

Innovative student awards now open

Sunshine Coast students who have a great invention, business idea or new technology have the chance to bring their idea to life and share in more than $10,000 worth of prizes. Entries for the Mayor’s Telstra Innovation Awards close 27 April. Find out more at studysunshinecoast.com.au.

Get the latest Council news delivered directly to your inbox each week. Sign up for the OurSC enewsletter here research, Nita found the gardeners were right – there is no text that provides assistance for those new to the region. to compile texts of not only native species, but also exotics that will grow successfully,” continued Nita. types, from the red volcanic to clays to grey sandstones, influence the gardening outcomes. The humidity, altitude and prevailing winds must also be considered when selecting plant species.” gave permission for their use in the developing book. Specialist writers were sought to cover the areas that Nita knows little about: camellias, magnolias, orchids, roses.

What is so special about gardening in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland? A new book called Range and Hinterland Gardening, by Dr Nita C Lester and Joan Dillon, provides ideas of how you can succeed in your planting and at the same time attract the birds, bees and butterflies.

Nita has been approached by a number of gardeners over the last few years, “They would say ‘there is no book that helps me’, ‘my plants die’, ‘why is gardening so different here?’ and so forth,” said Nita. These questions were often asked by new hinterland residents.

At this stage, Nita advertised for other locals who might like to join her to write this book, and Hunchy local, Joan Dillon, accepted the challenge.

“For over 18 months we have worked together selecting successful species, writing notes, sourcing images and deciding upon the final book layout,” shared Joan.

Both Joan and Nita are Australian native enthusiasts, but combined with exotics, they do increase the biodiversity in any garden and hence homes and food for the native fauna.

Their gardens are quite different, one being on the base of the eastern escarpment of the Range in Hunchy and the other on top of the Range at Mapleton, but both authors know the importance of selecting a wide variety of species that flower, fruit and seed throughout the year along with minimal grassed

“This new book has 220 pages with over 450 species detailed and well over 700 colour images,” said

Joan and Nita are gifting this text to the community. Hence when the printing costs are covered, all money will be donated: 50% to the Montville Village Association and 50% to the Mapleton Library and

There are three book launches to which you are invited to attend: Mapleton Library and Community Centre Wednesday 6pm on April 26; Rosetta Books Maleny on Friday April 28 at 5pm, and Montville Village Hall on May 3 at 6pm.

Booking are essential as numbers are limited: lester.publishing@gmail.com and state your preferred date.

The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) is calling on the Queensland Government to immediately withdraw comments which put rent control on the table again

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said the uncertainty around how much the Government would meddle with the market would act as a blazing red flag to Queensland property investors, shattering what little confidence is left and ultimately driving them away.

“In the middle of a housing crisis caused by lack of housing supply, it’s beyond belief that the Government is now proposing a measure which innately discourages further supply,” Ms Mercorella said.

“No one denies that there is an immense amount of pressure for the most vulnerable in our community, but rent control or freezes are not the answer.

Ms Mercorella continued that the Chair of the Community Support and Services Committee, Ms Corrine McMillian MP, said that “rent controls are not effective in improving housing affordability for renters and can lead to distortions in the rental market, which result in poor outcomes for tenants including reducing the stock of rental properties.’”

Source: reiq.com