2020-09-14 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                               14 SEPTEMBER 2020


 Document                      Key Principles
                                  Address peak time traffic congestion by reducing traffic rather than
                                   increasing road capacity
                                  Design, encourage and facilitate transport options that reduce the
                                   emissions produced by our community.
 Events Policy                    The day-to-day recreational use of community land by residents and
                                   visitors will generally take precedence over events.
                                  Events must not adversely impact on the environment, public
                                   infrastructure or other community assets.
                                  Events in locations susceptible to bad weather must provide detailed
                                   contingency plans and meet the cost of any repair and reinstatement
                                   of community assets
                                  Given the limited available community event space in Noosa’s high
                                   use precincts, Council encourages the identification of alternative
                                   locations for staging events.

3.    DNRME Correspondence

Prior to the implementation of the 2019 ‘Go Noosa’ Easter Peak Period Traffic Management Plan,
DNRME (the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy) advised Council by email that
they were not supportive of Lions Park being used for car parking after the Easter holidays. In
August 2019, Council staff requested further consideration from DNRME to allow paid parking for
the 2019 Christmas holiday period to which DNRME formally responded in writing that the
Department maintained the position that they were not supportive of the Reserve being used for
parking, especially during peak holiday periods. This information was communicated to the
Transport Steering Group members and TransLink. On receipt of this advice, staff sought to
increase park and ride capacity through use of the Noosa AFL grounds as this location can
accommodate approximately 500 vehicles and is serviced by the free 065 Go Noosa Free Loop
bus.

During October 2019, the Hastings Street Association lobbied DNRME regarding the change and
sought to allow car parking to continue. Subsequent to this, DNRME formally advised Council in
writing that the Department now offered no objection to Council, as trustee, making appropriate
arrangements for the Reserve to be used for parking during Christmas 2019 and Easter 2020.The
Council decided on 21 November 2019 to agree to the Lions Park being used for commercial car
parking but only for the 2019/2020 Christmas holidays and the 2020 Easter holidays (in practice,
the Easter holiday period was not used for car parking due to the COVID shut down period).

There has been increased pressure from key groups including the Hastings Street Association and
Tourism Noosa to open the reserve to car parking on more school holidays and potentially long
weekends in response to pressures to increase car parking to facilitate the expected drive market
as a result of COVID.

In June 2020, Noosa Council’s Property Manager submitted a proposal to DNRME requesting use
of the reserve for car parking on long weekends.

DNRME have advised the following:

DNRME have previously provided support to the council, as trustee, for the use of the Lions Park
during peak holiday periods and for major tourism events to assist with the parking issues around
Hasting Street and Noosa Heads.

It is noted that there appears to be sufficient parking allocated for users of the recreation reserve
and the request for additional parking is not for users of the reserve.

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