Annual Report 2017-18

Corporate Plan Theme 2: The Noosa Community
“Our community is connected, safe and happy and able to meet their potential”


•   Council finalised the settlement of the purchase     •   Council finalised the design of the Park Road
    of Johns Landing at Cooroibah. This was one             Boardwalk following an extensive community
    of the most significant projects undertaken              engagement process. Expressions of interest
    by Council in 2017/18. More than 90 people              were called and following a subsequent tender
    were re-housed through the work of the Noosa            process, a contract for $6.5M was awarded
    Community Roundtable – a coalition of State             to Hutchinson Builders. The Boardwalk is
    agencies, a significant number of community              expected to be finalised in late 2018.
    groups and Council. Rehabilitation of the
    land (partly purchased with the Environment         •   Noosa participated in the University of
    Levy) has commenced with the removal of a               Canberra’s Rural and Regional Wellbeing
    significant amount of rubbish and contaminated           survey. The survey found that as a community,
    material.                                               our sense of well-being exceeded other
                                                            regional areas in Queensland and Australia in 9
•   Council adopted a 3-year implementation                 out of the 10 areas measured.
    plan for the Noosa Social Strategy. One of the
    Social Strategy initiatives is the establishment    •   Following extensive engagement with the
    of the Noosa Community Roundtable, which                Cooroy community regarding the future of the
    successfully assisted with the transition process       Cooroy Community Hall, Council agreed to
    at Johns Landing and is now focusing on                 accept trusteeship of the Deed of Grant in Trust
    affordable housing.                                      and supported the establishment of the Cooroy
                                                            Community Hall Association Inc. An agreement
•   Council adopted a Sport and Active Recreation           to lease was signed with the Association so
    Plan following extensive community                      they could renovate and ultimately manage the
    engagement. The Plan will help guide Council            Hall. As part of that agreement Council agreed
    in managing community facilities and programs           to fund 50% of the restoration costs (capped
    associated with both active and passive sports.         at $192,000) with the community funding the
    An implementation plan was adopted by                   remaining 50%. This has been an excellent
    Council in February 2018.                               outcome for the Cooroy community with the
                                                            official re-opening of the hall occurring in April
•   The Queen’s Baton Relay event was held in               2018.
    Noosa on 26 March 2018. With over 35 baton
    bearers and thousands of residents lining the       •   Council has undertaken numerous Library and
    route, the Baton Relay was a successful event           Gallery programs to support our community.
    with positive feedback from the Commonwealth            Our Library Services have physically issued
    Games organisers.                                       over 744,000 items during the last 12 months.
                                                            The Council also let a tender for the major
•   Council held two community Council meetings             refurbishment of the Noosaville Library, which
    during 2017/18. In November 2017, we held               will be completed in late 2018.
    a Council meeting at Sunshine Beach and
    in June 2018, we held a Council meeting at          •   Council opened a Makerspace at the Cooroy
    Kin Kin. This continues Council’s ongoing               Library with funding assistance from the State
    commitment to open decision making and                  Library of Queensland. The Makerspace
    provides an opportunity for more members                includes 3D printers, robotics and virtual reality
    of the public to attend Council meetings. In            activities.
    keeping with our ongoing commitment to
    transparency, during the year we only closed        •   Council completed a detailed review of the
    Council/Committee meetings on 5 occasions to            options for the future use of the Noosaville
    deal with confidential matters.                          foreshore. This included an extensive
                                                            community engagement process that
•   Council worked closely with the Pomona                  culminated in the adoption of the Noosaville
    community to provide support and advocacy               Foreshore Land Use Master Plan in May 2018.
    in relation to the Mid-Town Rail crossing.              The importance of this area to our community
    Following a significant lobbying campaign                was highlighted by the large number of
    and working very closely with the community,            submissions made through the community
    success was achieved when Queensland Rail               engagement process.
    announced that it would retain the crossing and
    look at safety upgrades rather than closing the
    crossing.

Page 10 | 2017-2018 Annual Report