Mapleton and District Community Association

10/06/2026

Update: Poor service by QML. People were waiting outside the QML Mapleton rooms today from 6:45am, in the not warm weather, to secure a place in the queue. Some had starved overnight, all had somewhere else to be.
The website said it was open.
There were no contact details on the door.
The QML Mapleton number was rung, the messagebank was full.
The main office was rung.
The staff member informed those waiting that it was open. They were informed that it was not.
The staff member then checked and informed those waiting that the Mapleton staff member was away due to illness. They suggested people go to Nambour. That was clearly not an option for some or all of those who remained waiting.

Several of those waiting had been caught out before by the inaccurate information on the QML site.
A better system of communication is called for. When QML staff phone in an absence it should be reflected immediately on the website. An electronic sign on the door or simply a call to a friendly neighbour to put a sign on the door. Thank you La Botiga for your help today to ensure a sign did go up.

A rough search from the WWW: QML does not disclose its revenue. QML is part of Healius with an estimated annual revenue of between $300-450 million.

“The QML collection point in Mapleton is closed today. The closure was not advertised, our member alerted us ringing QML and posting a note on the door. ”

10/06/2026

https://rangecommunitynews.au The Sunshine Coast hinterland has been officially designated as an International Dark Sky Reserve by DarkSky International, securing global recognition for the region's night skies and making it Queensland's first such reserve and the first on Australia's east coast.
The announcement, made on 8 June 2026, places the Sunshine Coast alongside a select group of internationally recognised locations including Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand.
Ongoing public lighting upgrades, night sky quality monitoring, community-led education initiatives and emerging astrotourism activities are expected to continue raising awareness and reducing light pollution across the region.
Guidance to preserve our DarkSky is straightforward: outdoor lighting should serve a clear purpose rather than operate by default and should be directed downward rather than allowed to spill outward or reflect upward. Timers and motion detectors are recommended to ensure lights are active only when genuinely needed, while warmer-coloured globes are preferred over cool blue-white lighting, which scatters more readily into the atmosphere and contributes disproportionately to skyglow. Brightness should be kept to the minimum level required for the task.
The principle is a simple one: if a light is on and nobody needs it, the stars are paying the price.

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

https://www.madca.com.au for details.
Does your group need a little financial help with a project? Funds MADCA raises at the Mapleton Country Market are given back to the community through our grants program. Past recipients include the Mapleton Choir, The Range Community Kindergarten and the Soccer Club.
Come to the next MADCA meeting (August) and join other volunteers making our community a better place to be.
Apply to our , closes Aug 31.

02/06/2026

https://rangecommunitynews.au
JUNE GENERAL MEETING OF MADCA INC.
Venue: Green Room at MAPLETON PUBLIC HOUSE WEDNESDAY 3rd JUNE at 5:30 for a 6:00pm start.
We have a special presentation about a community battery on the Blackall Range. All are welcome, come to the meeting and HAVE YOUR SAY about
* Cemetery maintenance/upgrade
* Pathway Mapleton to Kondalilla
* TOSH maintenance
Learn about volunteering to make a difference for good in our community.

Venue: Mapleton Public House

02/06/2026

https://rangecommunitynews.au
JUNE GENERAL MEETING OF MADCA INC.
Venue: Green Room at MAPLETON PUBLIC HOUSE WEDNESDAY 3rd JUNE at 5:30 for a 6:00pm start.
We have a special presentation about a community battery on the Blackall Range. All are welcome, come to the meeting and HAVE YOUR SAY about
* Cemetery maintenance/upgrade
* Pathway Mapleton to Kondalilla
* TOSH maintenance
Learn about volunteering to make a difference for good in our community.

Venue: Mapleton Public House

02/06/2026

Yesterday at a Special Meeting of Council the 2026-2027 budget was approved. It was very difficult and there was fierce debate.

What this means is an increase of 9.7% on the minimum general rate, about $4.26 a week and most properties are in this category even after the land valuations.
I am pleased that for pensioners the discount has been maintained and increased by 5%.
But this budget will deliver on essential services such as Libraries, Parks Gardens and Playgrounds, Sport and Recreation facilities, Waste Services, Public Amenities, Cemetery Services, and Community Grants program all continue.

While this is difficult and not what I want it is in the face of escalating costs in everything we do as well as average Land Valuation increases of 24%. We are focussed on becoming leaner with $13 million in savings through productivity improvements, recruitment pauses and managing vacancies. Together with almost $14 million reduction in budget requests.
I will provide more information this week and please follow the link to budget website that has just about everything you want to know about the 2026-2027 budget.

https://brighterfuture.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/

30/05/2026

https://rangecommunitynews.au
What This Means for the Blackall Range:

For communities on the Blackall Range, the significance of what has occurred at Coochin Creek is both structural and practical. The rural zone designations, environmental management and conservation overlays, scenic amenity provisions, and green belt buffers that underpin planning protections on the Range draw from the same state framework that has been overridden twice at Coochin Creek, with conditions subsequently weakened at the developer's request and further changes emerging without comprehensive reassessment.
OSCAR president Melva Hobson PSM put the central question during the submission period:
"Why would any Minister consider putting people's lives in potential danger for a development where there is no 'overriding need in the public interest?" The deletion of bushfire consultation and firefighting training requirements from the tourist park approval gives that question renewed force.

Closer to Home: A Different Standard

The contrast with local council decision-making is instructive. At its ordinary meeting on 21 May 2026, Sunshine Coast Council voted unanimously to approve a scaled-back tourist park at 29 Roberts Street, Glass House Mountains, attaching what councillors described as some of the strictest conditions ever imposed on a rural development application in the region. The decision followed more than 114 public submissions opposing the original plan and a petition of approximately 550 signatures, and was reached through the standard council assessment process with no ministerial intervention.
The two situations illustrate the practical difference between decisions made within a transparent, locally accountable planning process and those made under ministerial call-in powers that carry no right of appeal and, as the Coochin Creek experience now confirms, no guarantee that conditions will hold once the developer returns to the minister's office.
Readers wishing to support the coalition's push for federal intervention can sign the petition here.

https://www.change.org/p/protect-pumicestone-passage-and-the-greenbelt-assessment-under-environment-laws-critical?source_location=search

Previous range Community News Article: State
Planning Override Threatens Regional
Integrity: Coochin Creek Development Sets
Dangerous Precedent - RCN 27/11/2025