
At the bottom of Springbrook Mountain there is access to the settlement/suburb of Austinville. It is located in a valley through which flows the Mudgeeraba Creek, while the rugged Nimmel Range looms in the distance.
The Austinville settlement was established as a banana plantation in 1934, making it one of the Gold Coast’s oldest suburbs. It was started in an attempt to resettle unemployed people on the land following the Great Depression, and therefore lift the economy. It was named after Under-Secretary for Labour and Industry at the time, William Henry Austin, who encouraged the building of many of these plantations throughout the state.
Land was cleared and divided into blocks and approximately 50 small homes were built. Mudgeeraba Creek flowed behind the homes along the valley floor, and the rugged Nimmel Range bordered on the settlement’s western side. The settlement was very short lived. By 1939, within just 5 years, most families had left the area.
The Rainforest has crept back into much of the once banana farming valley, and the area remains dwarfed by the surrounding conservation area which is home to wildlife including koalas, rare birds and Pademelons (small rainforest wallabies).
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