NOOSA BOTANIC GARDENS MASTERPLAN · Report

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING                                                             9 JUNE 2026


Street, Cooroy.

Formed in March 2024, initial one on one meetings with members were held to assist consultants
understanding of stakeholders' interests. Four formal meetings have been held in June, July and
November 2024 and April 2025. An additional meeting was held with representatives from the
Friends of the Gardens in June 2025 to discuss and resolve specific considerations.

Further meetings with the group were scheduled following Phase 2 community engagement to
broadly consider feedback and then review and comment on the updated plan on the 2 March 2026
and 27 April 2026.

Cultural Engagement
An onsite meeting was conducted with representatives of the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal
Corporation in September which has also lead enhancements to the Draft Masterplan.

Community engagement - Phase 1
Public engagement for Phase 1 predominantly took place in September 2024, with the aim of
understanding the collective vision, values, aspirations, and ideas of the local community to inform
the draft Masterplan.
Additional, early stakeholder engagement was also conducted, with key stakeholders including
members of the Stakeholder Reference Group. This included both one on one conversations and
workshops.

How we engaged
•   One on one interviews with 15 key community stakeholders
•   Noosa Heads Tourist Info Centre walk through
•   Your Say Noosa survey
•   Email submissions
•   Two community pop-ups in the Gardens on the 1 and 7 September 2024, leveraging off the
    Guided and Shade Garden walks, Music in the Gardens and Plant Sale
How we communicated
•   “Stakeholder Engagement Pack” consisting of postcards and poster distributed to SRG members
    for promotion to networks
•   Displays at Noosaville and Cooroy Library
•   Posters at Aquatic and Recreation Centres
•   Promotion of pop-ups, Friends events and opportunity to engage via Council’s social media
    channels, E-News, Your Say subscriber database and print media (Cooroy Rag, Noosa Today)
•   Media Release and the Council website
How we went
•   A total of 101 people completed the online survey of which 88 identified themselves as Noosa
    Shire Council ratepayers.
•   The main demographic of survey were Noosa Shire residents aged 55+, with community group
    members, business owners, workers and visitors also participating.
•   Hundreds of submissions were recorded at the pop ups and 1 on 1 interviews.
What we heard
The following graphic summarises key community feedback from this process: