North Harbour Celebrates Caboolture Heritage

15 February 2010

The North Harbour site is set to unlock key aspects of Caboolture and Morayfield’s history with the discovery that artefacts on the site reveal untold insights into the region’s sugar industry.

The site’s landowner, Northeast Business Park (NEBP), has supported preliminary research by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) which has revealed the strong heritage value of the archaeological artefacts.

NEBP CEO Jeff Smith said that while the presence of the artefacts had been known for years, their significance to the broader history of the region had only recently been uncovered.

Records show the site as the former Morayfield Cane Plantation which was established on the southern bank of the Caboolture River in 1866, with cane grown at the site until 1889.

The plantation was owned by George Raff, a former Queensland Parliamentarian and promi-nent businessman who employed many South Sea Islander labourers in the cane fields during this period.

Archaeological artefacts, dating from the mid 1800s, include remnants from early sugarcane farming, such as worker accommodation and remnants of the sugar mill, distillery and tram-way infrastructure.

“We are committed to understanding and preserving the heritage value of the site and have been working in cooperation with DERM during their research into the site’s history,” Mr Smith said.

“We understand the archaeological evidence may reveal important information about early sugar producing methods that are undocumented and no longer practiced in Queensland.

“They give an insight into the lives of the people who lived and worked on the plantation from the earliest phase in southern Queensland’s history.

“We strongly support the potential heritage listing of these artefacts and will stand behind any effort to protect and manage these landmarks into the future.

“Our plans for the site feature a heritage park that will celebrate this history and create pub-licly accessible open space and recreational areas for the community to enjoy.