2018-03-06 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  6 MARCH 2018


   All events intending to use Noosa Main Beach East and Noosa Main Beach West must
     nominate, where practicable, a suitable back-up location away from the beach in case the
     beach has been affected by significant erosion or a severe weather event.
   Event organisers must accept the risk that ocean conditions are variable depending on
     weather, wind direction and uncontrollable marine phenomena such as algae, seaweed and
     jellyfish.
   Applicants who are refused permits to use Noosa Main Beach East may be invited to
     consider alternative locations such as Noosa Woods.

The proposed policy also proposes to manage the number of events approved on Noosa Main
Beach and includes the following provisions:
   There will be a maximum of one cultural festival/food festival (categorised as a Tourism
     Event) approved each year on Noosa Main Beach East.
   The number of approved Tourism and Community Events for Noosa Main Beach East will
     be capped annually at 7 Tourism Events and 8 Community Events respectively i.e. in-keeping
     with current levels.
   The number of approved Community Events for Noosa Main Beach West will be capped
     annually at 14 Community Events, in-keeping with current levels.
   Event applications for cultural festivals/food festivals at Noosa Main Beach West will be
     considered on a case-by-case basis in consultation with Tourism Noosa, the Hastings Street
     Association and other relevant stakeholders having regard to issues such as the likely impact
     on other beach users, impact on nearby commercial businesses, and the capacity of
     infrastructure to support the event.
   Corporate Events will only be approved at Noosa Main Beach West and will be capped at 10
     annually.
   Proposals to increase the number of Tourism, Community or Corporate Events as approved
     in this Policy will require formal Council approval.

Policy Feedback - Tourism Noosa

Tourism Noosa provided feedback on the Policy and is supportive of a more considered approach
to event approvals, focusing on quality versus quantity.

Specifically, Tourism Noosa says of the Policy:
   It should be positioned as a set of Guidelines as opposed to a Policy document. This is to
     reflect their Tourism Event Guidelines and provide opportunities for revisiting if required.
   Tourism Events will take precedence over the community’s day-to-day use of the land and
     water.
   The Policy requires further alignment with Tourism Noosa’s Event Guidelines.
Tourism Noosa’s feedback is included as Attachment 3.

Discussion

It is proposed that the Noosa Main Beach Events Policy is adopted as Council Policy (and not a
set of Guidelines), which reflects the importance of the issues addressed in relation to staging of
events on Noosa Main Beach. Positioning the document as a Policy places an obligation on
Council to formally consider any proposed policy changes and additional event requests.



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