Annual Report 2021-22

           Noosa Shire Council




     History and heritage
     Noosa Shire is the traditional home of the Kabi Kabi people. The region has a rich and unique history
     dating back at least 50,000 years to the traditional custodians through European settlement to the
     present day. The name Noosa Shire is believed to be derived from the indigenous word nuthuru
     meaning ghost or shadow.
     The earliest European settlers in the area were the Skyring brothers who took up several large
     pastoral runs. By the 1860s, the region had been identified as a promising area for timber getting
     and timber getters began moving into the area with mills established in the hinterland areas. The
     discovery of gold in Gympie in 1867 also increased the population of the area. The Noosa River was
     considered a better access point to the goldfields and a port was established at Tewantin to serve the
     timber industries and people travelling to the goldfields. Hinterland towns such as Cooran, Kin Kin,
     Pomona and Cooroy developed further following the opening of the railway line between Gympie and
     Brisbane in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The land cleared through timber getting was then used
     for crop growing and dairy farming. Tourism and a thriving fishing industry developed in Tewantin,
     along Gympie Terrace, and at Noosa Heads. The 1920s and 1930s were a period of notable
     growth in population. Significant development and expansion occurred from the late 1960s into the
     1990s. This prompted the development of The Noosa Plan, Council’s planning scheme, to balance
     preservation of Noosa’s unique environment with ongoing development.
     The first Noosa Shire Council was established in 1910 and the Shire headquarters was based in
     Pomona until 1980 when the Council relocated its offices to a new building in Tewantin. In 2008,
     Noosa Council was amalgamated with Maroochy Shire Council and the City of Caloundra to form
     Sunshine Coast Council. As a result of a strong campaign by the community, Noosa Council was re-
     established in 2014, following de-amalgamation from Sunshine Coast Council, starting a new chapter
     of history for the Council and the community.




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