2015-08-18 Planning and Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                18 AUGUST 2015


Corporate Plan Priority 7 – Diversification of our economy
While recognising our world class tourism industry, the Council will also focus on diversifying
the economy with an emphasis on “smart economy” businesses and rural futures.

Key achievements include:
   Council commenced of the development of the Noosa Local Economic Plan. Public
     workshops have been held and a Project Focus Group established which has been
     meeting to provide input into the process. A report by AEC analysing the Noosa
     Economic Profile has been published.
   Council has entered into a two year funding agreement with Tourism Noosa to guide
     the management of the Tourism Levy and to outline roles and responsibilities. During
     the 2014/15, Council continued to have a very close working relationship with Tourism
     Noosa.
   Council purchased the former Peregian Beach Bowls Club site at Peregian Beach in
     November 2014. The site has subsequently been cleared and community consultation
     undertaken on its future use including the option of a digital hub. A design charrette
     has been completed.
   Council has worked through a process to establish an RV park at Cooroy. Planning is
     complete and the development approval in place. The management arrangements are
     currently being put in place.
   During 2014/15, support has been provided to encourage the ongoing development of
     the ICT sector in Noosa. Council was a partner in an innovation networking event and
     a sponsor of the GovHack event. We also provided data sets to the GovHack event.
   A significant amount of work was undertaken during 2014/15 to establish the Electric
     Bus Trial agreement. A MOU was entered into with Translink following a feasibility
     study and development of the trial program. The trial will be undertaken in 2015/16.
     The Council continued its free holiday bus program in 2014/15.
   During 2014/15, the Council approved 99% of development applications with the
     number of applications showing a steady increase in activity – in the 6 months to 30
     June 2015, there were 193 development applications. We met or exceeded statutory
     assessment timeframes for most types of applications except for MCUs and to a much
     lesser extent, Op Works applications. The complexity and issues involved in MCU
     applications meant that statutory timeframes were met between 60% and 80% of the
     time. Building and Plumbing approval timeframes remained significantly better than
     statutory requirements. While plumbing assessment times have historically been
     excellent, there was a significant improvement in building approval times in 2014/15.
   A considerable amount of time has been spent on building strong working relationships
     with key business groups. This includes:
     o     Councillors working closely with the Country Noosa Group;
     o     Support for the Noosa Junction Association (and ongoing funding via the levy);
           and
     o     Liaison with CCIQ Cooroy and CCIQ Noosa etc.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Of course, not everything that the Council has done in the last 12 months falls neatly into the
seven key priorities outlined above. In no particular order, some other key issues during
2014/15 included:




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