2019-10-08 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               8 OCTOBER 2019


1. Background

The Noosa Heads Lions Park (the Lions Park) was set aside as a reserve for recreation on 7
August 1982 following a land reclamation scheme. It is an area of approximately 1 hectare and is
state owned land with Noosa Council in control of the site as the nominated trustee. The Lions
Park is one of the Shire’s premier recreation assets, is highly valued by residents, tourists and
families and provides an attractive entry statement into the Hastings Street precinct.

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. Over the years, the scale of the events held at the Lions Park has ranged from
small scale events organised by local not-for-profit organisations to large scale commercially
focussed events of state and national significance with thousands of participants.

Damage to the Lions Park as a result of an event is not common but can occur if an event is held
during or after wet weather. The likelihood of wet weather damage is increased depending on the
event’s timing, infrastructure requirements, vehicle movements, number of attendees and
number of event days. Unfortunately, wet weather event damage can occur despite the best
efforts of the event organiser and Council to mitigate damage risks.

Council requires a bond for events where it is determined community assets are at risk of
damage. The dollar value of the bond is set by the Property Branch commensurate with the
likelihood of damage. Current bond amounts applied by Council for events in the Lions Park
range from $3,000 to $7,500 and are generally only sufficient to cover minor damage and clean
up costs. In contrast, recent wet weather event damage sustained to the Lions Park has required
reinstatement works of approximately $50,000.

While permit conditions require event organisers to repair damage to assets, in practice due to
the infrequency of wet weather damage, event organisers do not factor in the financial cost of
major reinstatement works into pre-event planning and are unprepared should Council seek to
recover the cost of major reinstatement works once the event is completed.

2. Events Policy
At Council’s July Ordinary Meeting Council endorsed its Events Policy, (the Policy) which applies
to events held on community land. Principle b) of the Policy provides the following in relation to
responsibility for repairing damage to community assets:

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.

3. Proposed Temporary Event Bond Categories

Additional temporary event bond fees are proposed for inclusion in Council’s 2019-20 Schedule
of Fees and Charges relating to events held in the Lions Park. Lions Park events are proposed to
be categorised based on impact, which for assessment purposes will include the event’s
infrastructure requirements, expected vehicle movements, anticipated number of attendees and
number of event days including bump in and bump out (event preparation). The proposed
categories are:

   Temporary Event Bond Noosa Heads Lions Park - High Impact - $50,000
   Temporary Event Bond Noosa Heads Lions Park - Moderate Impact - $20,000
   Temporary Event Bond Noosa Heads Lions Park - Low Impact $5,000



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