2021-06-16 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                                     16 JUNE 2021


Submission Topic   Detail
                        properties and should be more. They are a business and should be paying
                        commercial rates. The rise should be commensurate with the costs Council will
                        incur when the new local law is adopted, as well as the increased demand on
                        Council services and infrastructure.

                   3.   Council’s intentions regarding tourism budget are unclear in the material provided
                        online, which raises more questions rather than providing information.

                        The current arrangements for the Tourism Levy certainly need review, and it is
                        hoped that the agreement with Tourism Noosa will be significantly changed when
                        it comes up for review. Transferring these levy funds to a self- interested, industry
                        organisation that has no transparency or responsibility to the community and no
                        Council input might have been appropriate in a time when tourism in Noosa was
                        struggling to gain its footing, but inappropriate in 2021/22 when little promotion is
                        necessary, when the tourism industry is placing a massive burden on liveability
                        and services and infrastructure in the shire, and where changes in direction in
                        promotion might have adverse impacts on Council and community.

                        Council’s ‘core business’ in relation to tourism is its role as destination manager,
                        and this uses a very significant portion of its resources in the form of infrastructure
                        and maintenance costs, which are primarily paid for by non-tourism ratepayers
                        who are increasingly affected adversely by the expansion of tourism. The tourism
                        levy and the tourism industry should contribute more to that purpose than ordinary
                        ratepayers. Applying the levy funds to more than just granting them to an opaque
                        organisation for tourism promotion would be a beginning.

                        The notion that tourism ‘promotion’ is core Council business is not supported. The
                        ‘levy’ or a differential rate for tourism businesses needs to remain as a recognition
                        of the burden tourism places on services and infrastructure for the Council as
                        destination manager, but promotion should be the realm of a non-Council tourism
                        organisation self-funded from membership fees.

                   Submission 2:
                   Thank you for the opportunity to provide final comment on the draft Noosa Council
                   Budget documents. These are as follows:

                   1. Funds to deliver emissions reductions as committed to by Council policy.

                   The 2019 Noosa Environment Strategy set as a target: “Noosa Council operations and
                   service activities, and the Noosa community as a whole, will reach zero net emissions
                   by 2026.” In addition, Council has recently concluded its consultation on the Climate
                   Change Response Plan (CCRP). We note that the draft Budget overview states that
                   $400 000 is to be committed for the continuation of the Zero Emissions Noosa Strategy.
                   However, there is no specific reference in the draft Budget to funding either the
                   Environment Strategy target, or the CCRP. If Council is genuine about committing to
                   the goals identified, there should be specific reference in the Budget documents to
                   funding these objectives, as has been done for the Cycling and Walking Strategy and
                   Noosa River management initiatives. Please see (2) and (3) below for proposals for
                   specific initiatives to deliver on these commitments.

                   2. Proposal for Business Energy Transition Officer

                   We note that Council has created positions of Community Development Officer and
                   Heritage Officer. We respectfully submit that an equally important priority should be the
                   creation of a Business Energy Transition Officer to work with local small business for
                   economic development and environmental benefits. In this regard, we note that Theme
                   3 in the CCRP states (p. 31):
                   3.1 Through targeted initiatives, create an environment that supports business
                   development, innovation and investment shift to clean, green low emission industries
                   and technology

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