Kandanga, Queensland


Kandanga is a town and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, Kandanga had a population of 665 people.

Geography

The town is located on the Mary Valley Road north of the state capital, Brisbane and south west of Gympie, on the banks of Kandanga Creek, a tributary of the Mary River. This river forms the eastern and north-eastern boundaries of the locality.
Kandanga is one of a chain of towns in the Mary Valley also including Imbil, Amamoor and Dagun.
In 2006 the Beattie state government announced plans to construct a new dam at Traveston Crossing on the upper Mary River. The proposed dam, designed to provide water to the growing Sunshine Coast, was to have flooded fertile farmland, including Kandanga. However, the dam did not proceed on environmental grounds, but not before much of the land required was bought up and the original owners moved on.
Kandanga is well known for its prime farmland, although because of the proposed dam many farmers had to walk out on their farms. A reconstruction plan was implemented following the Traveston Crossing Dam debacle, with farm land subdivided and offered to new owners who have introduced new crops to the Mary Valley.
Kandanga suffered a further blow when its popular hotel burnt down. Just like the valley itself, it is being rebuilt with the determination of locals.

History

The name "Kandanga" may be derived from the local Kabi Aboriginal language, meaning a fork or sharp bend of the creek or it may refer to the cabbage tree.
Kandanga Post Office opened by June 1914.
The Kandanga War Memorial was unveiled on 11 November 1920 by the Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the Cooroora Harry Walker.
Kandanga State School opened in September 1915.
At the 2006 census Kandanga had a population of 596.

Heritage listings

Kadanga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: