2017-07-17 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                    17 JULY 2017


 Council has accepted a contract for the restoration and upgrade of the Sunshine Beach
   Skatepark at a cost of $380,000. This is an important facility for the younger demographic in
   our Shire.
 Council has undertaken numerous Library and Gallery programs to support our community.
   Our Library Services have physically issued over 570,000 items to our community during the
   last 12 months.
 After considerable work with the local community including United Synergies and local Rotary
   Clubs, Tait Duke Cottage was restored and open for community use in June 2017. This
   milestone was significant after many years of work to identify an appropriate site and working
   in partnership with the local community to restore the building and make it available for
   ongoing community use.
 To encourage community interaction, Council has installed chalkboard walls as part of the
   International “Before I Die” wall movement. This has been successful (particularly at Cooroy)
   with one of the walls recently being transferred from Noosa Junction to Peregian Beach.
 Council continued to provide its community grant program supporting our community groups.
   During 2016/17, we provided over $810,000 in grants to local community groups to support
   projects, acquisition of equipment or events. Council staff also facilitated a number of
   evening information sessions for community organisations to help improve their governance
   and grant writing skills.



Corporate Plan Theme 3: The Noosa Economy
“Our economy is diverse and resilient”

Key achievements as we work towards our long term goal include:
 The design of the Peregian Beach Digital Hub was completed and town planning approval
   obtained. Council was successful in obtaining $1 million of funding from the State
   Government. Associated road works and parking in Rufous Street have substantially been
   completed and preparatory works have commenced on the Digital Hub building. Tenders
   have been called for the management of the Digital Hub component of the building and in
   addition, Council has submitted an application to the Commonwealth under the Building
   Better Regions Fund for additional work associated with the project.
 Council appointed an Economic Development Manager who has brought significant
   experience and focus to our economic development programs.
 Council undertook a detailed review of the proposal from CCIQ Noosa for a Noosa
   Convention and Cultural Centre. Council recognised that such a proposal could have
   potential economic benefit but identified that the cost of construction and operation should not
   be borne by Noosa ratepayers but rather, Council expressed a willingness to consider
   financial options driven by the market.
 Council undertook its first Economic Development Grants Program providing financial support
   for programs that will support the outcomes of the Local Economic Plan.
 Council entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Small Business Solutions
   section of TAFE Queensland to provide support for training and development of local small
   businesses.
 Council continued to work closely with Tourism Noosa to develop the Noosa Tourism market.
   In particular, Council provided significant input into the development of the Noosa Tourism
   Strategy 2017 - 2022 adopted by the Tourism Noosa Board. This strategy included a focus on
   “value over volume” in relation to tourism so that the focus is on yield per visitor rather than
   simply more visitor numbers.
 Council continued to work closely with Regional Development Australia (Sunshine Coast) on
   a range of projects including a successful entrepreneurship program.

                                                                                    Page 32 of 37