2017-07-11 S&O Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 3 - Draft Sport & Active Recreation Plan

Consideration must also be given to reviewing the current tenure and management of shared-
use playing fields under Council control to better maintain valuable community assets and
support volunteer based clubs in focussing on their core business of providing physical activity
to the community.

       Indoor Sports Facilities
37 indoor sports facilities have been identified and provide for badminton, basketball, netball,
table tennis, indoor bowls, boxing, cheerleading, volleyball, gyms, gymnastics, martial arts, rock
climbing and tenpin bowling. These facilities are predominately single use, fit for purpose, with
the exception of Noosa Leisure Centre which provides for a range of indoor competitive and
social sports. The majority of these facilities are commercially operated exposing a risk to the
provision of these activities if commercial operators no longer see viability in their operation. It
is for this reason Council has a role to play to support commercial provision of sport and active
recreation in line with resident demand for those activities. According to Qld Badminton, Noosa
has some of the best access to facilities for badminton in the state despite having no Qld
Badminton affiliated or competitive players. Qld Volleyball have stated that they are deliberately
not promoting volleyball in the Noosa LGA as there is no access to an appropriate indoor facility.
Single use indoor sports facilities should be investigated for inclusion of other purposes as
demand for indoor sports space increases.

Indoor facilities are constrained for expansion by environmental protection and residential
growth. Commercial operators requiring large indoor facilities commonly use industrial zoned
land requiring a Material Change of Use (MCU) for legal occupancy as it is cost prohibitive to
operate in legally zoned land or adequate sized spaces with sport and recreation zoning are
non-existent. Council could consider allowing commercial operators to co-locate with NFP
organisations on ‘community’ or ‘sport and recreation’ zoned land where there is significant
community benefit may partially address this matter.

Multi-use, indoor sports facilities experience peak usage times where users compete for limited
space at the same times, however outside of these times there is an under-utilisation of these
same spaces eg school halls – outside of school times, Noosa Leisure Centre between 11am
and 3pm weekdays. Consideration should be given to diversifying activities through targeted
programs within off-peak times in these facilities to maximise space usage. Consideration
should be given to an expansion of these facilities to accommodate peak demand in conjunction
with an increase in specific programming during off-peak times. The draft Wallace Park Precinct
Master Plan Review 2013 recommended an increase in the court space at Noosa Leisure Centre
which was also identified as a need in the 1998 master plan.

       Aquatic Facilities
Seven aquatic facilities throughout the Shire are provided by Council, local schools and private
operators. Council subsidises the use of Education Qld school pools to enable community use
outside of school hours.

The trend in aquatic facility provision nationally is moving away from competitive pools (25m
and 50m lap lanes) to greater recreational use facilities. This is reflected by a steady decline in
competitive swim club memberships at the same time as an increase in self-reported
participation in ‘swimming’. Noosa has predominately ‘lap lane’ facilities and one stand-alone
public splash park in Tewantin.

Demand for a hydrotherapy or ‘warm water’ pool in the Shire has been identified, particularly
given the aging demographic of the Shire. Currently the only access to a hydrotherapy pool is
via the Noosa Hospital. A dedicated warm water pool would allow far more locals to experience
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