Noosa Botanic Gardens Master Plan · Report

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING                                     9 SEPTEMBER 2025


understanding of stakeholder’s interests. Four formal meetings have been held in June, July,
November in 2024 and April 2025. An additional meeting has held with representatives from the
Friends of the Gardens in June 2025 to discuss and resolve specific considerations.

A further meeting with the group will be scheduled following forthcoming community engagement to
broadly consider feedback and next steps prior to further consideration by Council.

Internal Stakeholders
An internal stakeholder reference group was formed of Council staff with meetings scheduled in
March 2024, November 2024 and May 2025.

Cultural Engagement
Onsite meeting and visit was conducted with representatives of the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal
Corporation in September which has also lead enhancements to the Draft Master Plan.

Community engagement
Public engagement for Phase 1 predominantly took place in September 2024, with the aim of
understanding the collective vision, values, aspirations, and ideas of the local community to inform
the draft Master Plan.
Additional, early stakeholder engagement was also conducted, with key stakeholder including
members of the Stakeholder Reference Group. This included both 1:1 conversations and
workshops.

How we engaged
   •   Key community stakeholders 1 on 1 interviews -15
   •   Noosa Heads Tourist Info Centre walk through.
   •   Your Say Noosa survey.
   •   Email submissions to [email protected].
   •   Two community pop-ups in the Gardens on the 1 and 7 September 2024, leveraging off the
       Guided and Shade Garden walks, Music in the Gardens and Plant Sale.
How we communicated
   •   “Stakeholder Engagement Pack” consisting of postcards and poster distributed to SRG
       members for promotion to networks.
   •   Displays at Noosaville and Cooroy Library.
   •   Posters at Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
   •   Promotion of pop-ups, Friends events and opportunity to engage via Council’s social media
       channels, E-News, Your Say subscriber database and print media (Cooroy Rag, Noosa
       Today),
   •   Media Release and the Council website
How we went
   •   A total of 101 people completed the online survey of which 88 identified themselves as Noosa
       Shire Council ratepayers.
   •   The main demographic of survey were Noosa Shire residents aged 55+, with community
       group members, business owners, workers and visitors also participating.
   •   Hundreds of submissions were recorded at the pop ups and 1 on 1 interviews.