2017-07-11 Services and Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                     11 JULY 2017


Key Issues and Trends
The sport and active recreation sector is changing significantly in line with the changing physical
activity participation patterns of the population. While sports clubs are the main avenue for
children to engage with physical activity, structured, organised and competitive sports are less
important for adults, who prefer flexible, individualised experiences.
A Noosa Physical Activity Participation survey developed for the purpose of this Plan confirms
high rates of adult participation in informal activities such as swimming in natural
waterways/beaches, walking, cycling, mountain bike riding and bushwalking.
A review of formal organised sporting activities was conducted and identified the top 20
structured activities of Noosa residents, which identified gyms as having a higher membership
than any other activity or sport in Noosa (4584 members).
This change in participation has led to the evolution of a greater number of commercial operators
providing sport and recreation services and facilities to accommodate the needs of residents. An
assessment of the type of organisations providing these activities in the Shire shows that out of
144 organisations identified, 47.9% are not-for-profit clubs with commercial operators making up
44.4%.
In terms of facility ownership, 45.3% are commercially or privately owned with Council controlling
or managing only 33.7% of the 86 venues identified. This highlights a strong need for council to
work collaboratively with both not-for-profit and commercial providers of sport and recreation if
the best outcomes are to be achieved for the community.
A strong sentiment from the community consultations indicated a desire to prioritise broad
participation in physical activity across the Shire rather than resourcing elite athlete development,
high level facilities and events.
The Draft Plan reviews the existing sport and active recreation facilities and services available to
residents broken into:
    Outdoor Sports
    Indoor Sports
    Aquatic Facilities
    Schools
    Skate Parks
    National Parks
    Beaches and Waterways
    Cycle ways, Pathways and Trails Networks
    Events.

Principles
The Draft Plan enunciates a set of principles which are intended to guide future sport and active
recreation planning for government, not for profit and commercial providers.
Principle 1 – Participation: Noosa’s priority is to provide for grass roots participation in a
              wide variety of sport and active recreation activities.
Principle 2 – Quality outcomes: Our aim is for Not for Profit clubs and commercial operators to
              have good governance practices and provide quality facilities. Our coaches,
              instructors, administrators and trainers are suitably qualified for best practice
              delivery of their sport or activity.
Principle 3 – Choice: Residents have choice over the activities they participate in and who
              provides those activities to them. Our facilities and public spaces will encourage
              formal and informal physical activity catering for a wide range of ages, abilities and
              interests.



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