2021-03-09 Services & Organisation Committee Meeting Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                9 MARCH 2021


3.    Policy Outline

The draft Plaques and Memorials Policy and Plaques and Memorials Policy Guideline are included
with this report as Attachments 1 and 2. These documents address the scope of the policy, criteria
for applications, the decision-making process, design and costs, and the maintenance, retention and
decommissioning of plaques and memorials. The key elements of the Policy and Guidelines are
summarised below.

Scope of Policy

The policy will be applicable to requests by community members for plaques and memorials in
Council owned or managed public spaces in the Noosa Shire. This policy will not cover plaques and
memorials on private land or in Council-owned cemeteries, roadside memorials, public art, signage,
place-naming or signage associated with Council-developed heritage walks or interpretive projects.

Application Criteria

Applications for plaques or memorials must be made on the following basis to be considered and
assessed:
a)    Commemoration of an individual or family with enduring links to Noosa Shire e.g. pioneering
      or multi-generational families;
b)    Commemoration of an individual who has made a substantial contribution to civic life, cultural
      and social aspects of the Shire’s development or collective community history. This must be
      an exceptional contribution over an extended period of time and beyond the scope of paid
      employment or voluntary work. Financial contribution alone is not grounds for recognition;
c)    Acknowledgement of contribution by a community group or association that has made a
      substantial and outstanding social or civic contribution to the Noosa community. Financial
      contribution alone is not grounds for recognition;
d)    Commemoration of a significant historical or cultural event which is unique to the region’s
      history and development and/or has had a profound resonance with the Noosa community.
Applications which do not meet these criteria will not be considered.
Additionally, applications for the following types of plaques and memorials will not be considered:

     Memorials acknowledging living persons;
     Memorials to pets;
     Memorials for persons, groups or events already commemorated elsewhere within the Shire;
     Memorials to persons who are already commemorated in another community or who would be
      more appropriately commemorated in another community unless they have also made a
      significant contribution to the Noosa community in line with the criteria above;
     Memorials that, in the opinion of Council, could be considered offensive or which have the
      potential to offend;
     Memorials with religious or political affiliation1;
     Planting of memorial trees;
     Establishment of memorial gardens;
     Donations of park furniture or infrastructure as memorials;
     Signage to interpret park or place-naming’s, unless part of a Council project.


1 Political affiliation in the context of this policy refers to memorials which reference party politics. Memorials

to community activism that results in positive outcomes for the broader community, but which could be
considered political in a broader sense of the word, could be considered under criteria (c) or (d) above.

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