2021-06-08 Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                            8 JUNE 2021


E.       That an amount equivalent to 50% of Council’s share of the ‘profit’ from car parking in the
         Noosa Heads Lions Park Reserve be held ‘in reserve’ and allocated to recreational
         improvements in Lions park for residents and visitors alike, noting that the term ‘profit’ refers
         to Council’s share of the revenue less costs associated with rectifying any damage/impact from
         parking on the reserve, the hire of temporary fencing to protect children at the playground &
         BBQ area, parking signage at Lions Park, the printing of tickets and the use of traffic control to
         assist in the movement of pedestrians from Lions Park.
Finance
The table below compares the cost estimates of undertaking Christmas & Easter Go Noosa with
actual costs.

Table 2: Go Noosa Costs
                       Item                        Estimate            Actuals             Difference

    Christmas 2020/21 Go Noosa                         $315,675            $295,941              -$19,734

    Easter 2021 Go Noosa                               $201,352            $167,151              -$34,201

    Sub Total Costs                                                 $517,027            $463,092              -$53,935
    Christmas Lions Park paid parking total           ($97,420)            ($93,400)               -$4,020
    revenue.                                    Council: $48,710    Council: $46,700      Council: -$2,010

    Easter Lions Park paid parking total              ($68,000)           ($27,260)              -$40,740
    revenue                                    Council: $34,000     Council :$13,630    Council: -$20,370

    Sub Total Council Revenue                           $82,710             $60,330              -$22,380
    Net Costs                                          $434,317            $402,762              -$31,555

The net costs of the initiatives were less than estimated due to not needing to use contingency and
the paid parking income was 27% lower than estimated due to wet weather during Easter.

Risks & Opportunities
Operating the Go Noosa program over 2020 and 2021 has identified the following key risks:
        Covid-19 impacts and restrictions on overall visitor numbers.
        Revenue from paid parking at Noosa Heads Lions Park is highly variable.
        Ferry patronage data is commercial in confidence
Opportunities
Requests for free buses during all school holidays/weekends was a recurring request in the Go
Noosa customer survey.
Opportunity to further explore car parking management controls e.g. timed and paid parking as per
the 2017-2027 Noosa Transport Strategy was also a recurring sentiment in the Go Noosa customer
survey.
50% of survey respondents were from outside Noosa and the Sunshine Coast, which is significantly
up from 25% last year. The large growth in patronage from visitors outside of the region is seen as
an opportunity to partner with Tourism Noosa to make further progress in attracting visitors by means
other than the private car.
The collection of vehicle and pedestrian counts on a single day (3 Jan) only provides insights and is
not fully representative of the entire period identifying an opportunity for investigation into a cost
effective permanent counting systems.
A future report to Council on the 2021/22 Christmas & Easter peak period traffic management will
explore future risks and opportunities.

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