Balmoral Ridge is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires o ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , Balmoral Ridge had a population of 302 people.

Geography

Balmoral Ridge is north of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on the

Blackall Range The Blackall Range is a mountain range in South East Queensland, Australia. The first European explorer in the area was Ludwig Leichhardt. It was named after Samuel Blackall, the second Governor of Queensland. The Blackall Range dominates the ...

in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. In the north the locality lies adjacent to

Baroon Pocket Dam The Baroon Pocket Dam is a rock-fill dam, rock and earth-fill dam, earth-fill embankment dam, embankment dam with an Spillway#Types, un-gated spillway across the Obi Obi Creek, in North Maleny, Sunshine Coast Region, in South East Queensland, S ...

. Balmoral Lookout is located on a prominent ridge of the range along Maleny Montville Road. Obi Obi Creek marks a majority of the western boundary. Maleny–Montville Road passes through from south to north-east.

History

Traditionally the district was informally known as ''Balmoral''. However, in 1989 when the

Caloundra City Council The City of Caloundra was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of ; it existed as a local government entity from 1912 until 2008, when it a ...

asked to make it an official place name, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

was concerned about potential for confusion with Balmoral in the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

and decided that it be officially named ''Balmoral Ridge''.

Demographics

In the , Balmoral Ridge recorded a population of 281 people, 53.7% female and 46.3% male. The median age of the Balmoral Ridge population was 55 years, 18 years above the national median of 37. 68.2% of people living in Balmoral Ridge were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 5.7%, New Zealand 4.3%, Scotland 1.4%, Finland 1.4%, Canada 1.1%. 87.8% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 1.8% Afrikaans, 1.8% German. In the , Balmoral Ridge had a population of 278 people. In the , Balmoral Ridge had a population of 302 people.

Education

There are no schools in Balmoral Ridge. The nearest government primary schools are Montville State School in neighbouring Montville to the north and Maleny State School in neighbouring

Maleny Maleny (pronounced ''muh-LAY-knee'') is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. Maleny was a timber town until the early 1920s and then was a centre of dairy production ...

to the south. The nearest government secondary school is Maleny State High School, also in Maleny.

Attractions

There are two lookouts in Balmoral Ridge, both on the Maleny Montville Road: * Gerrard Lookout () * Balmoral Lookout ()

References