2021-03-09 Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                     9 MARCH 2021


1.   Background

Council regularly receives requests from community members to erect plaques and memorials in
Council owned or managed public spaces. Currently, Council does not have a policy to guide the
decision-making process for these requests or the management of plaques and memorials in public
spaces. Council officers developed an Operational Procedure which has been used as a framework
for decision-making since 2019. Adopting a policy would ensure that Council has a fair and
consistent approach to plaques and memorials that is endorsed and implemented by the whole of
Council. A policy would also establish clear expectations for the community.

Plaques and memorials provide a means for remembering, acknowledging, memorialising or telling
the story of a community. The people, events and stories in our history contribute to our personal
and collective identity. There is therefore value from a cultural and heritage perspective in having
memorials in appropriate circumstances.

The public spaces in Noosa Shire are a much-valued aspect of the Shire’s social and cultural
heritage. The Noosa Design Principles and other Council studies, in response to community
consultation, identify the preservation of open space as a priority and state a preference for keeping
signage in public spaces to a minimum.

Accordingly, decisions regarding the installation of plaques and memorials need to balance the
desire to commemorate and tell stories with the ongoing enjoyment by the public of open and inviting
public spaces.

There are many ways of remembering and memorialising. Plaques and physical memorials are just
one form. Council’s preferred form of memorialising is through a place naming (e.g. road, bridge, or
park), however, there are circumstances where this may not be practicable or a plaque or memorial
is more appropriate.

The purpose of developing and adopting a policy is to provide a Council-endorsed framework for
Noosa Council to assess requests for new plaques and memorials, guide installation of approved
plaques and memorials and manage existing and new plaques and memorials in public spaces in
Noosa Shire.

2.   Policy Aims

The aim of the policy is to ensure that Council has a fair and consistent approach to plaques and
memorials that is endorsed and implemented by the whole of Council. A policy would also:
    establish clear expectations for the community;
    provide a framework for equitable decision-making that is in the best interests of the broader
     community;
    ensure the installation of memorials reflects the Noosa Design Principles and community
     preferences for open, inviting public spaces;
    safeguard Noosa’s public spaces from becoming cluttered, unsightly or appearing to be de
     facto cemeteries;
    provide clear guidelines for managing the ongoing maintenance and retention of plaques and
     memorials;
    provide clear guidance in complex and sensitive situations;
    ensure pressure on Council resources is minimized and limit costs to ratepayers.




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