2016-17 A Year in Review

   The Waste Reduction and Recycling Plan has been
    rolled out in 2016/17. This included significant
    media coverage and school education sessions.
   Council has entered into a contract for the purchase
    of Johns Landing (approximately 50 ha) in order to
    undertake the long-term protection of important
    environmental land on the Noosa River. Council is
    also working with the current owner of the property
    to assist with the transition to alternative housing for
    those residents living on the current site.
   Council has facilitated the approval processes for a
    project being funded by the Noosa Biosphere
    Reserve Foundation to re-establish oyster reefs in
    the Noosa River. This has entailed obtaining both
    town planning approval from Council and
    environmental approvals from the State
    government. In addition, Council also provided
    $250,000 to the Noosa Biosphere Reserve
    Foundation for projects that advance the purpose of
    the Noosa Biosphere Reserve.
   Council has addressed a range of significant
    planning and environment applications during the
    last 12 months. As can be seen from the table of
    statistics at the end of this report, Council approved
    98.7% of planning applications. Some of the more
    interesting applications considered by Council
    during 2016/17 included:
    o Village Bicycle
    o Proposal to extend a deck at the Noosa Marina
    o Tewantin RSL
    o Service Station at Taylor Court, Cooroy
    o Proposed Elanda Point jetty
    o 90 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore
    o A number of microbreweries and of course, a
         chocolate factory!
   Council had considerable success in the Planning
    and Environment Court with a significant victory for
    our Planning Scheme in the Noosa Civic case. The
    court supported Council’s position that it was
    inappropriate under the Planning Scheme to
    expand retail operations on that site. During
    2016/17, the appellant in the poultry farm case also
    withdrew their appeal as did the appellant in the
    Service Station Centre appeal at the Good
    Shepherd Lutheran School site on Eumundi Road.
   In an environmental first, Council has trialled a
    range of new environmentally friendly asphalt
    processes in conjunction with our contractor. This
    has included the introduction of recycled printer
    cartridges into the asphalt mix and the use of
    different temperatures to undertake the planning
    process. We have also trialled different
    combinations of recyclable material including
    shredded car tyres and recycled glass. Further
    details on this interesting initiative together with the
    environmental benefits are listed below.