A late farmer’s iconic stand of fig trees has been moved from its prominent position next to the Sunshine Motorway onto the land of his former MP friend.
Peter Wise, who passed away last year, was well known for the figs he grew on a section of his 39-hectare farm at Buderim and sold to the public.
But with his family unable to continue the harvest, an old friend of Mr Wise has stepped in to try to keep the figs going.
Former state MP Steve Dickson has taken more than 100 of the fig trees to his small acreage at Mons, moving them all by hand.
But he said the operation had been challenging, with many of the trees not surviving the move.
“I put 84 of them in my back yard and I’ve got 35 in my front yard in 150-litre bags,” he said.
“Out of 84, I’ve got eight that have shot. That’s it. I’d love to say it’s a great success story but at the moment it’s not looking fantastic.
“I’ve also just found that I’ve got borers, so we’re up against challenges.”
Mr Dickson said he wanted to take the figs as a tribute to Mr Wise, who he’d known since the early 2000s.
“I’m happy that some have grown because Peter was a very good friend of mine and I had a lot of time for him,” he said.
“I went and saw (Mr Wise’s wife) Ivy and said, ‘Would you mind if I got one fig tree out of your yard, just for memory’s sake for Pete?’ She goes, ‘They’re all going to get bulldozed, so you might as well take as many as you like.’ So I filled up the back yard with them.
“I had a big open paddock and now it looks like a vineyard.”
Wises Farm is the last remaining open space in the Maroochydore/Buderim area.
It was reported in August that it had sold to development company QM Properties for $93.5 million, after being on the market since 2022.
The family initially planned to keep four hectares for producing figs, but last year decided to sell the whole property after the passing of Mr Wise.
A statement from the family last year said they could not continue the fig harvest.
“The figs were Peter’s hobby and passion and without his expertise, sadly the sale of Wises Farm figs will eventually have to come to an end,” it said.
A development approval for the property was granted in 2012, before another application was lodged in 2022. It proposes to establish the planning framework for a future residential master-planned community with a maximum of 570 dwellings, which could be houses, townhouses, units and retirement living, in low and medium-density residential areas.
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Mr Dickson, a former three-term member of State Parliament and One Nation Queensland leader, said he had a deep admiration for Mr Wise and wanted to continue his farming legacy.
“I want these things to survive real bad. I dug them out by hand, moved them by car pretty much one at a time, and it’s been an interesting journey,” he said.
“I’m excited that I’ve got eight (that survived), but geez I wish I had a whole lot more.
“We’ve got another 17 small ones that have shot in the front yard.
“I’ve been talking to people in the industry and they say I’m probably lucky – it’s normally a 10 per cent strike rate, so I’ve pretty well hit that.
“These trees are over 35 years old – when you move trees like that, it’s problematic. There’s no guarantee they’ll live. They’ve been where they were for a long time, and in different conditions they can get sunburn if they’re not positioned in exactly the same way.
“The funny thing is, I’ve never eaten a fig in my life. The first fig I eat will be grown on my property. They’re supposed to be the nicest thing you can get – kids think they’re lollies because they taste so nice.
“It’s ironic, I knew Peter for so long. I met him around 2001. He was a farmer, a good bloke who grew a good product, and I’m just happy I knew him.
“People used to say the Wise farm was the s—iest land on the Coast. Now it’s become some of the most expensive. Incredible.”
The farm has been owned and managed by generations of the Wise family for more than 120 years, while urban development sprawled around it.
It was originally serviced by an unnamed dirt track that has since become a main road and officially named Wises Road.
Mr Dickson said he didn’t know any details about the sale or potential development of the farm, apart from to say it was “inevitable”.
“I haven’t seen the latest plans. I don’t get involved too much with what’s going on on the Coast these days,” he said.
“I think they had an approval for a number of sites. I don’t know what the latest is or whatever the new people are planning to do.
“I don’t even know who bought it, but somebody with deep pockets did.”
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
