Food bowl expanding its horizons

Agriculture is at its heart, but Mareeba’s retail and hospitality are also on the rise, attracting those wanting a change of pace and lifestyle

THE Far North’s food bowl is on the cusp of being recognised as a “distant suburb” of Cairns as its evolving commercial expansion draws new demographics to the western town.

Mareeba is attracting more than just farmers in search of top-quality soil as a rise in the service, retail and hospitality industries, paired with a residential construction boom amplified by HomeBuilder has many Far Northerners considering the town for careers or lifestyle.

While the dominant industry in the Mareeba Shire will remain as agriculture, the town sits almost central to some of the Far North’s best attractions, says Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president Joe Moro.

“You’re an hour away from the Cairns CBD, not far from Port Douglas and all the beaches,” Mr Moro said.

“We have Kuranda and the Atherton Tablelands right on our doorstep. So everything people love about Far North Queensland, they can live in Mareeba and still enjoy those things, but also enjoy our weather – 300 sunny days a year and no city congestion.”

He said people no longer “needed to be a farmer” to live and work at Mareeba.

“As well as moving here for the lifestyle, we’re seeing our economy diversify too. We have a great hospital, there’s expansion to the light aircraft airport, more jobs are being created in service industries and there’s also been a rise in finer restaurants. We haven’t been known to be a hospitality hotspot, but there’s hardly an empty shop and it shows there’s jobs here outside agriculture.

“We also have a lot of sporting codes for those interested.”

July’s realestate.com.au data showed the median house price in the Mareeba Shire was $357,000 after 188 sold in the past 12 months.

Local residential estate Amaroo Park agent Debbie Sweedman said she believed the affordability of Mareeba was a major drawcard.

“We get people interested in buying land and building homes here, while continuing to work back in Cairns. It’s not a long drive and the price difference is definitely worth it,” she said.

“Our new blocks are averaging between 8001200sq m and selling for about the $118,000 mark. So someone from Cairns might be looking at $200,000, that’s a lot more money to spend on the house.”