Cooroy Lower Mill Site

The Cooroy Lower Mill Board was formed by the community and Noosa Council
in late 2004 to oversee the development of land adjoining the Cooroy township,
formally used as a Boral Mill Site. The Board has been given the responsibility of
developing a strategic vision and master plan to guide the development of the Site.
The Site is to be developed for the benefit of the Noosa Shire generally and the
Cooroy community specifically.

The Cooroy Lower Mill Board's Achievements to date
(August 2006)

•      Vision for the future development of the Site has been completed
•       Criteria for development of the site have been established
•       Methodology for evaluation of proposals has been completed
•       Business Plan Strategy has been completed
•       Existing proposals have undergone preliminary evaluation
•       Strategic Marketing Plan has been completed
•       Policies for lot disposal agreed
•       Web Page running
•       Submission to locate proposed branch of Noosa Library on the Site
        has been presented to Noosa Council. Council has decided to locate the Library Branch on the   Mill Site.
•       An extensive community consultation programme was conducted as a vital component of the Master Plan preparation process.
•       Master Plan has been completed and lodged with Council.

Further information

• Latest NEWS! on the Site
• What is here NOW!
• Where is the Site
• History of the Site
• Vision for the Site
• The Board's   Role
• Current Board Members
• The Development Concept 
  • "What the Board is trying to create!"

Earlier this year the Board commissioned consultants to prepare a Master Plan to guide the development of the Lower Mill Site and the Butter Factory Precinct in accord with the Design for Living concept developed by the Board.

LatestNEWS! on the Cooroy Lower Mill Site

The Cooroy Lower Mill Site Board has recently endorsed a Master Plan for the site following an extensive consultation process with the Cooroy community. Click here to view the Master Plan. This Master Plan has been presented to Noosa Council for their review and endorsement. The Board wishes to thank those people who made submissions and will be advising each submitter individually about their deliberations in the near future. 

• Future long term role of the Board has been determined
• Sub division of Stage 1 completed 
• Building Solution"s Ritek development established on the Site 
• Camphor Laurel Project building completed 
• Retention of Boiler House and Kiln being examined
• Lots 1 and 2 sold to Studio Steel

The Site - The Cooroy Lower Mill Site is owned by Noosa Council.  It is located near the town centre of Cooroy on Marara Street.  The development and operational works on the site for Stage 1, have now been completed.  The new survey plan number 137331 for the Lower Mill Site has been registered with the titles office.  There are 1 to 7 lots on the survey plan which you can view by clicking on   Plan.  This lots have areas as follows:

• Lot 1 - 1488m2
• Lot 2 - 1501m2
• Lot 3 - 9788m2
• Lot 4 - 1114m2
• Lot 5 - 7236m2
• Lot 6 - 1275m2
• Lot 7 - 1.4293ha (balance)

Building Solutions Pty Ltd - Ritek has purchased the above Lot 3

Studio Steel has purchased Lots 1 and 2

Camphor Laurel Project -The new building is complete

Material change of use for Lot 6  -  This project is awaiting the new Planning Scheme to come into force. 

Whereis the Cooroy Lower Mill Site

The Cooroy Lower Mill Site is located on Marara Street near the town centre of Cooroy on the Sunshine Coast.  Cooroy is a rural township located 15 minutes drive from Noosa Heads.  Click here for a site location map.  Site Location

Historyof the Cooroy Lower Mill Site

Cooroy was a logging centre before it was a township, with the firm 'Dath Henderson' having large tracts of land east of Cooroy until it was resumed from the government in 1907 for closer settlement.  Several sawmills were established to mill the timber as the new selections were cleared.

It was thought that Frank Straker bought the Lower Mill Site from the 'Blanfords' in the early forties and traded as the 'Cooroy Sawmilling Company'. The timber was obtained from around Cooroy, Yurol State Forestry and private property.

To counter shortages of log timber and safeguard their future, Wilkinsons of Yandina, Strakers of Cooroy and Coora and Luttons of the Mary Valley joined together to form Northcoast Sawmills Pty Ltd at Cooroy in 1970.

Local identities will be contacted in early 2006 to provide a more detailed history of the site.

THE EXTRACT BELOW IS FROM THE WEB SITE "Heritage Network Org"

"Post-Federation

At the same time, permanent settlers had taken up land selections between Cooroy and Cooran, and a railway siding developed called Pinbarren Siding. The name was changed to Pomona in 1900 when the township developed. All three railway sidings, Cooroy, Pinbarren and Cooran, provided large areas utilised by timber getters as yards.

Termination of the timber selection around Cooroy in 1907 enabled the government to re-open the land to selection and town allotments were surveyed, and smaller selectors continued to clear their farms of timber before planting grass and crops. Sawmills sprang up to provide sawn timber for local housing and for the Brisbane and Gympie markets. Case timber, cut from lower quality logs supplied the banana, fruit and small crop industries.

Settlement spread rapidly from the central points on the railway (Cooroy, Pomona and Cooran) as did the small sawmills, and eventually there were in excess of thirty small mills established during the first sixty years of the twentieth century. The most active period was the twenty years between 1910 and 1930. In most instances the life of these small mills was not a long one, perhaps ten to twenty years, or until the nearby timber had been cleared. At this point the mill machinery was shifted to another area where its life was begun again, sometimes with a new owner. Only a few sawmills continued into the 1990s, and only one still operates in the Shire, the Kin Kin sawmill, established as a case mill by Arthur and Lionel Hempsall in 1948. Strakers sawmills at Cooran and Cooroy dominated in the Shire in the period after the Second World War. The Cooroy mill expanded to become the largest hardwood mill in Queensland and was closed in October 2000 by the Queensland Government in accordance with the Regional Forest Agreement.

......"
(Information provided by Anne-Maree Fewtrell, Project Coordinator, Nature of Noosa, Noosa Library, Wallace Park, Noosaville, Ph 07.5442.4411.)

Visionfor the Cooroy Lower Mill Site

The Board"s Vision for the Cooroy Lower Mill Site is to:  

"To develop and sustain facilities on the Cooroy Lower Mill Site for present and future generations of the community with balanced consideration to history, culture, education, arts and economics."

The Cooroy Lower Mill Board's Role

The Cooroy Lower Mill Board has been established to advise Council on the management, planning and development of the Cooroy Lower Mill Site.   Specifically Council has vested in the Board the following responsibilities and functions 

Current Cooroy Lower Mill Board Members

The Cooroy Lower Mill Board Members as at August 2006 are: 

The Board is supported by Noosa Councils' Business Directorate -
David Thomas, Director of Business; and
Fiona Wilson, Manager Economic Strategies & Innovations 

The Development Concept - "What the Board is trying to create!"

The Board"s Vision for the Cooroy Lower Mill Site will be realised by the attraction of organisations that are focussed on  "Design for Living" activities and apply excellence, innovation and training as intrinsic components of their approach and processes.

Click the word "diagram" below to see how it illustrates the above approach.

 Diagram

Contact Us:

For further information about the Cooroy Lower Mill Site  please contact Noosa Council's Business Directorate on telephone 5449 5138.

Or for further information about the Cooroy Lower Mill Board  please email seb@bigpond.net.au