2019-11-12 S&O Agenda - Item 8 - Attachment 1 - Draft Cooroy Sports Complex Master Plan

Chamber of Commerce

The Cooroy Chamber of Commerce manages the RV stopover in an effort to increase tourism visitation to
Cooroy. The Chamber is seeking improvements to the area to improve the experience of campers 5, such as
drainage, upgrade amenities, additional shade, improved access and internal roadways.

The Chamber conducts local community festivals and has indicated need for storage for equipment and
materials. The addition of storage shared with another group and the addition of shade would also provide
seating and socialising space for campers. This would need to be located or designed to account for flood
events. A longer-term objective is to design this area to also include/ provide tourist information.

Implications for the Master Plan for Cooroy Sports Complex
Participation in the sports (that returned detailed information) indicate growth over three years of less than
10%, although with population growth, moves to year-round sport, alternative formats and increase in female
options in non-traditional sports mean that these growth trends are likely to continue/ be exceeded.

The built facilities and amenities at Cooroy Sports Complex are ageing with condition and standards that are
less than desirable and therefore unable to ably cope with growth and change in sport format or participation
levels. National and State sporting organisations have developed/ documented facility standards to guide
development/ requirements for local and regional competitions. Lighting, playing surfaces and amenities
should comply with these facility standards where appropriate to the participation level, facility
management plan and resourcing. Council and the clubs are similarly interested in increasing the
environmental sustainability of the facility with installation of appropriate technology to reduce/ optimise
energy and water use and decrease the overall impact of the facility and its operations on the environment.

The area of the Complex on the northern side of Mary Rover Road appears under-utilised, however the effect
of flooding on this area has meant that the resident clubs and user groups have adopted a low investment
strategy to reduce the overall impact on their operations from a flood event.

Evidence has not emerged from this study of high demand for additional access to facilities or space to
support the growth of current or the introduction of new sport and recreation activities. On this basis, re-
purposing of current facilities is not considered necessary over the life of this study (i.e. 10 years). However,
as an overall trend being experienced across Australia with many local clubs struggling either financially and/
or for essential volunteer support, a future option that could be explored by local Cooroy based clubs is to
consider consolidation with other Noosa Council based clubs. This has already occurred with the Noosa
District Rugby League Club. The benefits of amalgamation include the removal of unnecessary duplication of
facilities, administrative, competition management and maintenance costs.

As the Complex is located close to the town centre and
to residents, its recreation offer should also be
increased supplementing the existing and planned
surrounding recreation facilities, thus optimising the
overall community benefit derived from the Complex.




5
    Campers are required to have a fully self-contained vehicle in order to camp at the RV stop-over

Noosa Council  Cooroy Sports Complex Master Plan 2020-2030  Draft                                        Page 26