Kandanga, Queensland

Kandanga is a town in south east Queensland, Australia. The town is located on the Mary Valley Highway, 160km north of the state capital, Brisbane and 28km south west of Gympie, on the banks of Kandanga Creek. Part of the Gympie Region local government area, Kandanga at the 2006 census had a population of 596. . The name "Kandanga" is derived from the local Kabi Aboriginal language, meaning a fork or sharp bend of the creek.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.