2023-03-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                13 MARCH 2023


C.   Approve allocation of 50% of the car parking revenue after GST to the Tewantin Noosa Lions
     Club and the remaining revenue towards Go Noosa initiatives and park remediation;
D.   That an amount equivalent to 50% of Council’s share of the ‘profit’ from car parking in the
     Noosa Heads Lions Park Reserve be held ‘in reserve’ and allocated to recreational
     improvements in Noosa Heads Lions Park for residents and visitors alike, noting that the
     term ‘profit’ refers to Council’s share of the revenue less costs associated with parking on
     the reserve; and
E.   Seek community feedback on the use of Noosa Heads Lions Park for car parking as part of
     the proposed Destination Management Plan.

REPORT
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to operate paid parking on the Noosa Heads
Lions Park reserve over the Queensland school holidays and long weekends from 24 June 2023
to 6 May 2024.
The report also seeks to confirm dates for the Tewantin Noosa Lions Club who operate the paid
parking.
1.   Background
The Noosa Heads Lions Park (Lions Park) was set aside as a reserve for recreation in 1982
following a land reclamation scheme. The 1-hectare (approximately) reserve is owned by the State
Government’s Department of Resources with Noosa Council as public trustee in control of the site.
Noosa Heads Lions Park is one of the Shire’s premier recreation assets, is highly valued by
residents, tourists and families and provides an attractive and vegetated entry statement into the
Hastings Street precinct, symbolic of Noosa’s environmental stewardship.
For over twenty years the Noosa Heads Lions Park greenspace has been used as an overflow car
park during the Christmas and Easter School holidays. In September 2020 the use of the park for
car parking was expanded in duration to include all Queensland school holidays and long
weekends during the public health declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Federal Government COVID-19 Declaration is still in place as at 1 March 2023, however, the
Queensland Government lifted its Public Health Directions as at 31 October 2022.
The Tewantin Noosa Lions Club, who have continuously managed and operated the paid parking,
have requested to continue to operate paid car parking at Noosa Heads Lions Park over all
Queensland school holidays and long weekends until 1 May 2024.
This report seeks Council consideration of an extension to the paid parking period, along with the
other factors such as the use of the area as a park for recreation.
2.   Car park operations
Paid parking on Noosa Heads Lions Park is managed by the Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club through
its volunteer members on behalf of Council, with the revenue shared equally between the
Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club for their charitable works and the remaining revenue returned to
Council to fund park refurbishment and traffic management costs.
The Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club operate the temporary car park from 8:30am to 5.30pm on the
designated days subject to weather. Vehicles are charged a flat rate of $20 (incl. GST) per day or
part thereof.
Council’s agreement with Tewantin Noosa Lions Club currently covers the Easter school holidays
and long weekends until the 2 May 2023.
Table 1 shows the usage of the car park from 2018/19 to present. As identified in the table, the
patronage and revenue has increased significantly, which aligns with the additional days the park
has been used as a carpark.


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