Binna Burra Cultural Landscape

Engineer Romeo Lahey, who played a significant role in establishing Lamington National Park in 1915, met journalist Arthur Groom at the formation of the National Parks Association of Australia in 1930. Lahey became president and Groom, secretary. In 1933 Lahey and Groom acquired land on the Lamington Plateau to establish a guesthouse. A Canungra boarding house was dismantled and re-erected at Binna Burra; initially the dining room and recreation room; now the reception room. By 1934 first timber slab hut accommodation was built. Graded walking tracks designed by Lahey were constructed under the State Government’s unemployment relief works program. A track between Binna Burra and O’Reilly’s was opened in 1938 and the road access completed in 1947. Binna Burra retains these early structures and new ones have been designed in timber and stone to blend with the landscape. Similarly some 1970s prefabricated accommodation has been reclad in timber, better reflecting the early slab buildings and blending into the forest. The site includes Arthur Groom’s cottage, the playground, environmental education centre, Bellbird clearing and lookout, commemorative trees and memorials. Recent additions including the Sky Lodge Apartments and on-site safari tents, ensures Binna Burra remains one of Queensland’s premiere nature-based tourism resorts.