2016-08-09 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  9 AUGUST 2016


RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the Services & Organisation
Committee Meeting dated 9 August 2016 and
A.   Thank CCIQ Noosa and their Convention and Cultural Centre team for all of their work in
     developing the pre-feasibility study for a proposed Noosa Convention and Cultural Centre;
B.   Note both the CCIQ Noosa Pre-feasibility Study dated April 2016 and the Council
     commissioned review by AEC Group Ltd dated July 2016 reviewing the CCIQ Noosa
     proposal;
C.   Advise CCIQ Noosa that based on the assessment by AEC Group Ltd, Council will not
     pursue the concept as a Council project due to the financial impact on ratepayers; and
D.   Make the CCIQ Noosa Pre-feasibility Study and the AEC Group Ltd review publically
     available on Council’s website in order that the current research can be accessed by the
     private sector who can pursue this project if they determine it to be commercially viable.


REPORT
The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an assessment of a pre-feasibility study by
CCIQ Noosa in relation to a Convention and Cultural Centre proposed to be developed with
Noosa Junction being identified as the preferred site. This report sets out details of the proposal,
details of our assessment of the CCIQ Noosa Pre-feasibility Study, and also suggests a way
forward in the event that the private sector wishes to pursue this opportunity.

1.   Introduction
In June 2015, CCIQ Noosa established four key priorities for its organisation, one of which
resulted in the formation of a Convention and Cultural Centre Team. That team of volunteers
developed a Pre-feasibility Study that was provided to Council on 20 April 2016 by Mr Rick
Cooper (as Team Chairperson) and Mr Peter Chenoweth (as President of CCIQ Noosa). At that
time, the CEO advised the submitters that the Council election had just been concluded and that
as the Council was in the middle of formulating a budget, it would not be possible to finalise an
assessment of their proposal until early in the new financial year.
This report proposes to Council a course of action following an assessment of the proposal. This
report also puts onto the public record, the following two reports:
 CCIQ Noosa Report – Noosa Convention & Cultural Centre Initiative: Pre-feasibility
   Study dated 20 April 2016 (note that CCIQ Noosa have agreed that this report which had not
   previously been released can be made public as part of this assessment and review process)
   – Attachment 1

 AEC Report on behalf of Noosa Shire Council – Noosa Convention and Performing Arts
   Centre: Pre-feasibility Review dated July 2016 – Attachment 2.

2.   CCIQ Noosa Report – Noosa Convention & Cultural Centre Initiative: Pre-feasibility
     Study
At the outset, it should be noted that CCIQ Noosa’s report is not intended as a “business case”
but rather as a pre-feasibility study. A full business case could cost in the order of up to
$200,000 to develop. The pre-feasibility study was designed to put forward the benefits of the
concept of a 300 to 650 delegate convention centre with a 1,000 seating capacity and a >700
seat co-located performing arts centre. The pre-feasibility study recommended two distinct but
co-located centres rather than a single dual purpose facility based on their research. Although
recognising that other sites may also be suitable, the preferred site identified by CCIQ Noosa
was The J at Noosa Junction.

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