‘My biggest community challenge yet’

Recently-appointed chairman of Reimagine Nambour Peter Boyce is determined to stimulate investment and pride in a town that has seen more than its fair share of adversity.

The chairman of the Sunshine Coast Turf Club and Wishlist and  foundation board member of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation expects Reimagine Nambour to be his biggest community challenge to date, particularly since it now faces the crushing blow of COVID-19.

Peter Boyce ... “There is a lot of genuine good will to make sure that we support this town. Everyone wants to see the town grow.”

“Of all the committees I think I’ve been involved in this is certainly one of the most major tasks and takes a lot of hard work and a lot of resilience and persistence. But there is a lot of genuine goodwill to make sure that we support this town. Everyone wants to see the town grow.”

Mr Boyce leads a board of volunteers whose priorities include improving safety and bringing business and visitors back to the CBD. 

The Moreton Mill’s closure in 2003, the relocation of hospital staff from Nambour to the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital and Council’s shifting emphasis from Nambour operations to the proposed  $60-$80 million Sunshine Coast City Hall at Maroochydore city centre have raised serious questions about the town’s future.

“There are not many towns around that you could say have suffered what Nambour has suffered,” Mr Boyce said. “If you take a walk around this town and you see what used to be vibrant areas that are now just closed you realise we have a long way to go. But there’s no doubt those areas can be filled. The question is what do we fill them with. If we make them attractive people will come here.

“Sugar cane farming used to be a huge industry. When it was booming the town was going great guns because people had lots of money and the economy was strong. Farmers and the mill employed a lot of people. It’s interesting when you go to where Coles is now — that was the site of the mill. To see how big that site is tells you how big it was.”

Mr Boyce said the second major blow happened when thousands of Nambour hospital staff moved to the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital in Kawana in 2017. 

“It’s serious if you take thousands of workers out of this town per day, that’s a lot of people.

“The next blow was Council saying ‘we’re off see you later’ and planning a move to the new Maroochydore CBD. They are three major events in the life of a small-ish country town. So it’s no wonder that we have to rebuild.”

Still, an optimistic Mr Boyce said the setbacks presented an “interesting challenge”.

“Provided we don’t have a closed mind as to what fits here, the door is open to make sure we properly promote the area. Nambour and the Hinterland have got some amazing things, completely different to all the other coastal towns and that’s good. We don’t want to be the same.”

Mr Boyce sees Nambour’s recent designation as a Special Entertainment Precinct as a huge impetus for initiative that can be utilised by local bars, restaurants and live entertainment areas.

“Council have recognised that we’re a bit alternative, in a sense, and they’ve designated Nambour as an entertainment precinct.  That’s a major coup for the town, provided it’s managed properly. This will help make the town more vibrant.”

The director of Butler McDermott Lawyers is an inspiring figure in Nambour, seen widely as the small-town lawyer who helped put sex offender and murderer Peter Cowan behind bars when he represented Bruce and Denise Morcombe in their son Daniel’s inquest.

Like Nambour, Mr Boyce says his firm has survived the ups-and-downs of the economy through “hard work” and adapting to the setbacks.  

Reimagine Nambour’s long-term goal — within two to five years — was to attract another major industry, which Mr Boyce said required planners to recognise the potential in under-utilised land.

Drug use and anti-social behaviour, especially around C-Square, was an area of safety concern, which was unavoidable given the mental health and employment services based in the CBD precinct.

Mr Boyce said moving the methadone clinic from the town centre to the hospital, seemed a common-sense solution. The hospital had appropriate facilities which people could use without going through town, where robberies have occurred and locals complain of regular drug use and anti-social and threatening behaviour.

“People come here from as far as Caboolture and Gympie (for methadone) and it’s a problem we’ve had to confront and the last thing we want people to feel is any insecurity or safety issues.”

Mr Boyce said the recent trial of two new police officers, dedicated to watching over its streets, had inspired a sense of security in town. “The reaction from business owners has been very positive. We’re still working with police making sure that anyone who’s here should never have any safety issues.”

Mr Boyce acknowledged the work of Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien for laying the foundations for Reimagine Nambour. Similarly he praised Sunshine Coast Council for being fully supportive of the project. 

Board goals included incorporating the Nambour Heritage Tramway project, making the most of the Showgrounds as a resource and streetscaping and beautifying the town.  

“There’s heaps of potential already in Nambour. You only have to look at how many people have come here and are building new homes in Burnside and off Coes Creek Road — that’s a lot of people and a lot of those people have kids.

“If we could get a major uplift in the Uni with some of its programs that would be good. Still, I’m sure that the shopkeepers are getting tired of people saying ‘we’re going to do this’ and nothing ever happens. We need to be doers, not pretenders. The board certainly wants  us to have a reasonable plan to make sure that this town gets a positive uplift.

“We would like people to understand that we’re not about anything other than trying to make sure that this is a really good place to live. 

“It’s good that our local authority has a clear understanding of what we’ve lost over the years and they’re behind us. The real challenge for us is that we need to get those shops in the CBD that are empty, we need to get them full again.” — Cameron Outridge