2020-09-14 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 14 SEPTEMBER 2020



Soon after the Lions Park was established it became the venue for the Noosa Triathlon and today
hosts events such as the Noosa Food and Wine Festival, Runaway Noosa Marathon and Noosa
Car Show. For over twenty years, the reserve has also been used for overflow paid car parking
over the Christmas and Easter school holidays.

Paid parking has been managed by the Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club through its volunteer members
on behalf of Council with the revenue shared equally between the Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club for
their charitable works and the remaining revenue to Council to fund park refurbishment and traffic
management costs.

The reserve previously accommodated approximately 250 vehicles however in recent years, the
car parking capacity was reduced to 150 vehicles based on an arborist report citing a significant
impact to the melaleuca trees due to vehicles parking under the trees. The park area also incurs
damage to the subsurface drainage as a result of vehicles parking on the grass area.

Prior to COVID it was envisaged that through increased use of alternative modes of travel into
Hastings Street precinct as a result of the Go Noosa program, the use of the park reserve for paid
parking would be phased out and the reserve would remain in use at Christmas and Easter for its
primary purpose i.e. a public park for use by the community. However, COVID is likely to reduce
the expected number of people accessing the Noosa Heads area through public transport as part
of Council’s free bus program at Christmas and Easter. It is probable that in the short term that
the private vehicle may be the preferred mode of choice in lieu of free buses that normally attract
significant patronage. This is expected to delay the recommendation to completely phase out the
use of Lions Park for Christmas and Easter.

When the pandemic situation stabilises, the longer term use of Lions Park for car parking can be
reassessed.

Whilst the use of Lions Park as a car park has been a regular occurrence over the last 20 years
there have been requests to increase its use as a carpark during COVID from trader associations
such as the Hastings Street Association and Tourism Noosa.

2.   Council Policies and Strategies

There are a number of overarching policies and strategies that identify the conflict of using Lions
Park as a car park, refer summary of key items below.

 Document                     Key Principles
 Noosa Design Principles         Open space will remain a priority even though the demand for car
                                  parking seems limitless (Principle 9, Sensitive Growth and
                                  Development)
                                 Improve access for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport before
                                  using public space for car parking (Principle 8, Our Local Character)
                                 Design a transport network that does not attempt to cater for all peak
                                  traffic and parking loads but provides for a high level of service during
                                  non-peak periods. (Principle 2, Walking, Riding and Driving).
                                 Avoid sacrificing public open space for car parking (Principle 7,
                                  Walking, Riding and Driving).
 Noosa Transport Strategy        Focus on moving people and goods rather than on moving cars
 2017-2027                       Provide infrastructure and services that are designed to give priority
                                  to pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and public transport over private
                                  cars



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