Montville’s distinctive character was created in the 1980s and the 1990s. Of the 30 commercial development applications for building approval on Montville’s Main Street over the last 50 years, over 80% were lodged in these decades. Leading this wave of development were Ian Russell’s Camphor Cottage (1980) and the Green House (1984); John Hargreaves’ Montville Mountain Inn (1982); and Joe and Sue Delaney’s Connemara Cottage (1984).

Connemara Cottage, 1984

These early developments set a pattern for the boom of the 1990s – to preserve the village feel of Montville and, in the case of Connemara Cottage, to provide a residential component to attract people to live on Main Street. Later buildings, including Eastnor Terrace (1989), Montrose (1990), Montville Chalet (1991) Bala House (1995) and the Heritage House (1995) all incorporated residential components. In 1991, the village held a competition through the school to come up with a design for a Montville flag and to create a motto. Joe Adkins’ winning design for the flag featured several historic buildings while Rebecca Kennedy’s winning motto was This – Our Montville Village. The people of Montville had established some basic criteria for future developments based around history and a village environment where people lived.

Not all these early development proposals were accepted. Three of these were rejected after extensive community opposition; the proposal to build a tavern at 58 – 62 Main Street where Hoffman Close is now situated; the proposal to build a shopping centre/supermarket at 161 – 167 Main Street, now the site of the Chapel behind Poets Café ; and the proposal to build a Golf Course with residential hubs stretching from Main Street along the valley between Western Avenue and Kondalilla Falls Road. Others proved controversial, including the Montville Village Square (loss of community space), Altitude (design) and the Chapel, Café Gallery development at 161 – 167 (traffic access and parking).

Three business men drove this development: John Hargreaves; Ian Russell and Ron Geyl. With the decline of the guest houses of Montville, John Hargreaves responded to a need to provide accommodation for visitors and to cater for their evening meals by building the Montville Mountain Inn and Restaurant (now the Montville Café, Bar and Grill).

Montville Cafe Bar Grill 2017

Ian Russell responded to a need to offer buildings for commercial use while Ron Geyl tapped into the burgeoning tourist market. All three sought to maintain the historic, village atmosphere of Montville with Ian Russell and Ron Geyl becoming politically active within the Montville Village Association to influence the conservation of Montville’s character. In 1997, the Montville Village Association negotiated with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to develop and install a streetscape design to enhance the character of Main Street as an historic, village precinct.

For better or worse, Montville is now locked into limited development – restricted to Main Street under the South East Regional Plan. Even so, the people of Montville have made their wishes very clear. Three times they have successfully fought against large scale commercial development which would impact negatively on their village. They expect the legacy of the last 50 years of development to be respected and honoured, not only by future developers, but also by future council planning officers. Recent, bureaucratic “we know better than you what is appropriate for Montville” expressions are of concern after a number of recent planning decisions ignored community feedback.

MONTVILLE DEVELOPMENTS

1. 1970 – 2019

 Thanks to Jenny Tatton and Montville Realty for their invaluable assistance in compiling this table.

There are some gaps in this table and maybe some errors. If you can fill/correct them please email Cate Patterson – research@montvillehistory.org.au