2017-02-07 Services & Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               7 FEBRUARY 2017


6.   Bus Routes outside of the Shire

The following bus routes travel outside of the Noosa Council boundaries
 Route 620 Noosa Heads to Maroochydore via Peregian Beach
 Route 630 Noosa to Nambour via Eumundi
 Route 631 Noosa to Nambour via Cooroy and Eumundi

As of January 2014 the Sunshine Coast Council no longer provides Free Holiday Buses. There is
confusion amongst the community as to why the Noosa only journeys on Route 620, 630 & 631
are not free.

In obtaining approval from TransLink to deliver the free holiday buses, the Director for Planning
and Infrastructure previously requested the inclusion of the Noosa only journeys on Routes 620
and 631.

TransLink’s response has been that their ticketing system technology is unable to be programmed
to only charge a fare for a portion of a journey and that if Council would like to include these
services, the expected loss of revenue would need to include the entire journey.

In 2014 the inclusion of Route 620 & 631 would have raised the total cost of the Christmas Free
Holiday Buses service from $49,142 to $126,499 (incl GST).

In 2015 a request to TransLink for the inclusion of Noosa only journeys of Route 620 & 631 was
made again, the response was that the loss of revenue would need to include the entire journey.

In 2016 TransLink advised that in order to include Route 620 as part of the Free Holiday Buses
service Council would need to pay for the loss of revenue for the entire journey which was
estimated to be $32,849 (incl GST). The cost of the Peregian – Noosa Heads shuttle is $15,112.

All Free Holiday Buses posters and media list the specific bus routes which are free but the VMS
board’s only say “Local Buses Free” due to limited space. Despite promoting the specific bus routes
which are free there continues to be frustration and confusion amongst the community as to which
buses are and are not free.

It is difficult to estimate the cost of the Noosa only journey for Route 620 however based on the
cost of the existing 5 TransLink services, the estimated cost per bus is $6,599. It is expected that
Route 620 would be higher than $6,599 because it is one of the most popular bus routes on the
Sunshine Coast.

7.   Noosa Heads Lions Park Car Park

The Noosa Heads Lions Park was to be used as a car park from 26 December 2016 – 8 January
2017 but was closed for two and a half days during this period due to wet weather. The park was
used for 11.5 of the possible 14 days. Vehicles are charged a flat rate of $10. The car park was
managed by the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club with assistance from the Cooroy Camphor Laurel
group and Council’s Civil Works Supervisor. There were a total of 5,141 cars with a daily average
of 450 vehicles (the daily average during Xmas 2015/16 was 406 vehicles). The total income
generated from the car park was $51,410 with 60% of the parking revenue going to the Tewantin
Noosa Heads Lions Club. The remaining revenue is used towards park refurbishment.




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