2018-05-08 S&O Committee - Attachment 1 to Item 3 - Draft Noosa Cultural Plan

 The Local                                                    Home to over 53,000
                                                              residents, Noosa Shire Council
 Noosa Context                                                encompasses urban coastal
                                                              communities, hinterland
                                                              villages and rural localities set
                                                              in and around the Noosa River
                                                              catchment
Noosa Shire is located 120km north of Brisbane in
South East Queensland and covers an area of 871
km. It is widely known for its stunning environment,
idyllic lifestyle and as an iconic tourism destination.   People in the arts, culture and heritage sector were
                                                          closely aligned with and active in the environmental
Our heritage                                              and social movements of the 1980’s and 1990’s. The
                                                          unspoiled, natural environment was a magnet for
Noosa’s cultural heritage has rich roots with the         artists, particularly visuals artists and craft artisans,
Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi people being the original           who could support themselves through the
custodians of the land and waters. Although there         increasing tourism sector such as at the emerging
was significant disruption and dislocation in the         Eumundi Markets.
19th and early 20th century, the resilience of the
Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi people has ensured that             The focus was both on protecting the natural
their important connection to the Noosa place is          environment and creating a special built
ongoing today.                                            environment for Noosa Shire. During the
                                                          1990s and 2000s, Noosa Shire also focused on
The early European settlement period saw a focus          building community capacity. This included the
on timber and fishing as well as being a gateway          development of major community infrastructure
to the Gympie goldfields. The natural beauty of the       such as libraries, gallery, an aquatic centre
area was recognised early and Noosa became a              and sporting facilities. During this period, key
regular tourist destination from the 1960’s.              community arts and heritage organisations formed
                                                          in the strong community environment, many of
It was from the 1960s that the current Noosa
                                                          which have survived until today.
Shire story began to emerge. Like many coastal
communities, Noosa was facing choices about               The 2008 amalgamation of Noosa Shire with the
how it would develop. The 1980s and 1990s saw             former Maroochy and Caloundra local governments
significant environmental battles where the Noosa         was a pivotal point in the shared community history
community fought to retain Noosa Shire as a unique        of Noosa. The Noosa community were strongly
place – unfettered by rampant development. These          opposed to the amalgamation and rallied to protect
environmental battles defined that period and             their Shire. Despite not winning the initial campaign
successive Strategic Plans provided a town planning       in 2008, the Noosa community did not give up and
framework to ensure that Noosa would differentiate        continued the fight for what they believed in. This
itself from other places. The concept of a population     culminated in the Noosa Shire being re-established
carrying capacity was introduced together with            on 1 January 2014.
height limits on buildings and Noosa Shire focused
on the “Noosa look and feel” design of public             The Noosa community is now re-defining itself,
spaces.                                                   aiming to respect past heritage and community
                                                          values while ensuring we are progressing towards a
                                                          bright future that is uniquely our own.

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