2018-07-10 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 8 - Draft Noosa River Plan

Message from the Mayor
The Noosa River begins as a small stream in the northernmost reaches of Cooloola. It then snakes
its way for 60 km through the Great Sandy National Park to end in a wondrous tangle of remarkable
lakes in Noosa Shire.
The Noosa River system is as integral to the Noosa Shire’s charm as are its national parks and
beaches. On any fine Sunday, hundreds of locals and visitors can be found enjoying the grassy
parklands alongside the river next to Gympie Terrace. While children frolic in the shallows, kites,
sea eagles and ospreys hover overhead, hunting for fish. Human fish hunters are also plentiful, with
hopeful anglers casting lines from shore, jetty or boat. Meanwhile, canoeists and stand-up-paddle
boarders slip past; the ferry toots its horn, and motorboats laden with sightseers head upstream to
the river’s Everglades.




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It would be difficult to put a figure on the economic value of the Noosa River, and arguably one
shouldn’t try. Its real worth is better measured in human wellbeing and in safeguarded biodiversity.




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The Noosa River regularly achieves the highest health rating in South-East Queensland. That is in
large part because so much of the river resides in the Cooloola section of the National Park. And for




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that we have environmental activists to thank, particularly those in the Noosa Parks Association and
also the Cooloola Committee. During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, many battles were fought by




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these groups to stop logging, mining and development in Cooloola.
The success of those lobbyists guarantees that our river has a healthy start in life. It also resonates
with many in today’s community, especially those individuals and organisations who continue to




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focus their efforts on river and catchment health.
But their efforts are no reason for complacency. There are still myriad human influences on the
waterways. Sediment from the Kin Kin catchment, urban run-off from Noosaville and Tewantin, and
the impacts of hundreds of powered boats, all take their toll.
Even back in 2001, a Healthy Waterways publication titled Discover the Waterways of South-East
Queensland asked a pertinent question about the Noosa River: “Will we love it to death?”
Of course we must ensure that we do not wreak further damage on this magnificent natural asset,
and this Plan is part of that undertaking by Noosa Council.
I congratulate the Council staff, community representatives,
residents, business owners and my fellow Councillors on
working together to create this important document.
If the Noosa River is to maintain its enviable health rating,
and even improve its biodiversity, then this Plan is an
essential blueprint for that effort.
Everyone can play a role in protecting and enhancing our
spectacular river system.


Tony Wellington
Noosa Mayor