Arana Hills, Queensland 4.08

Arana Hills is a suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located 12km north-west of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland and on the edge of the Bunyaville Forest Reserve. Informally it is part of the Hills District.HistoryThe first land purchaser in the Hills District was Edward Owens, Portion 12, in 1863 .The first land purchaser in the Arana Hills District was Henry St John Bridgeman in November 1863. This portion 9 parish of Bunya which covers a pocket of land bounded in part by Kedron Brook and Dawson Parade very soon became the property of William McCallum Park, who sold to the Patrick family at the turn of the century.The first subdivision was in 1937, named Patricks Estate with central road named Grove Avenue. The lots were 1-. Twenty-one years later, Camden Park Estate, being the of other adjoining land formerly occupied by the Patrick family, was subdivided by Willmore and Randell. Prior to selling, from 1958 there were many problems of both access and water supply for which that firm agreed to provide some of the finance to the Pine Shire Council through this, the first of the small block housing estates in the shire. Other land estates to the north-west of the suburb were developed in the 1960s and 1970s.The early residents started a Progress Association, whose effort brought to the attention of the relevant agencies, the needs of the growing community, e.g. postal services, specific road maintenance etc. On behalf of that association, Mrs Melva Welch commenced the special service of visiting each new family who moved to the area, giving them information on all local services, and, most importantly say "welcome". For twenty-eight years, the Adviser Newspaper, which was completely compiled and distributed by local volunteers under the umbrella of the Progress Association, brought to every home in the Hills district, news items from clubs, organizations and the Pine Rivers Shire Council . Local businesses were encouraged to advertise for a very moderate fee, and the people who had been visited were also welcomed in the Adviser. Information gathered from the welcoming service visits also provided an accurate census on demographics in the suburb relating to future provision of services.