New lights, art restore lustre to town’s CBD

A determined push to revitalise a town that was once the centre of the Sunshine Coast is gaining momentum as some long lost lustre is restored to its streets.

A determined push to revitalise a town that was once the centre of the Sunshine Coast is gaining momentum as some long lost lustre is restored to its streets.

Nambour residents sick of seeing the town fail to meet its potential joined forces in 2018 to form Reimagine Nambour.

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Having gained federal funding for their bid, the time has come to bring Nambour into the future with a CBD revitalisation project.

"$500,000 has been allocated to the revitalisation and it's mostly creative lighting and some artworks," Reimagine Nambour facilitator Kerry Brown said.

"Branding Nambour is all about marketing and communication through a separate grant we received which is worth $60,000.

"Nambour used to be called 'the friendly town and the sugar town' because we had the sugar mill and all of that sort of thing and that was great and fitted then but now we need to find our new identity and who we are."

Reimagine Nambour wants to rid the town of negative perceptions attached to it.

"The fact of the matter is there is a stigma attached to it," Ms Brown said.

"I really admire the people of Nambour because they're so resilient and they know that that stigma is there but they don't care.

"They're really, really proud people and they don't give up and any opportunities that come up they always jump at it.

"So this is really important that we get this project right and that we do this right."

 

Ms Brown said despite the CBD's current state she believed the town was thriving.

"What's happening in the CBD isn't reflective of what's happening in the community," she said.

"We've got the empty shops and the town looks like it's really struggling but in actual fact, the town of Nambour is prospering.

"We've got lots of really young people moving here, we've got professional people moving here and it's a vibrant community."

Fairfax MP Ted O'Brien said Reimagine Nambour had been a united effort of the entire town.

"I love Nambour and defy anyone who seeks to talk the town down because I know its best days lie ahead," he said.

"I'm excited about seeing the tangible first steps of the plan come to fruition.

"Over the months ahead, we'll start seeing the results of so much hard work by the local community.

"But there's still a long way to go to deliver the full Reimagine Nambour plan which will transform the town.

"It's a step by step journey, with the initial tangible steps to be seen in 2021 with a rebranding of the town, street scaping to spruce things up and the heritage tramway constructed."

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