Meeting papers

2.       Executive summary
Home to some of Australia’s most pristine beaches that stretch from Sunshine Beach to
Coolum, Noosa’s Eastern Beaches cover 122 hectares that boast a unique natural environment
that is loved by both residents and tourists alike.

As is the case with many other coastal reserves in Queensland, Noosa’s Eastern Beaches are
under threat due to mitigating coastal hazards and other climate change impacts which are
causing significant harm to both the environment and the community.

The draft Noosa Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management plan prepared by Noosa Shire
Council aims to both maintain and improve these important reserves to mitigate against rising
sea levels and more intense and frequent storms and coastal erosion.

This draft plan:
    • Provides a guide for sound decision-making
    • Respects the rights of property owners
    • Maintains public access to beaches.

Following the public release of the draft Eastern Beaches Management Plan, Noosa Shire
Council undertook community and stakeholder engagement to educate residents about the
critical issue of protecting the foreshore and gather feedback on the strategy.

Through a series of targeted engagement activities, council was able to speak to a broad
cross section of the Noosa Shire community and gain their feedback on the Eastern Beaches
Foreshore Plan.

This report summarises outcomes from:
    • 204 online survey responses
    • 3 community roundtable discussions
    • 13 pop-up events

This report provides a comprehensive summary of the feedback received during these
engagement activities and identifies key findings and recommendations for consideration in
finalising the Noosa Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan.
93 written submissions have also been received. Analysis of these submissions is not included in
this report and will be reported on separately.

Across the ten action areas, there were varying levels of interest and feedback provided.
Encroachments received the most feedback (44.1% of survey responses), ecology, public
access, social values and community education received similar levels of feedback (36-39% of
survey responses). Coastal creeks, partnerships, incidents/disaster management and foreshore
tenure received fewer responses (under 32% of survey responses).

There was strong community interest in the below topics, which were present across the
feedback for several action areas. These have been identified as reported priorities:
   • Dogs (mentioned in 7.2% of survey responses)
   • Weeds (mentioned in 6.7% of survey responses)
   • Funding (mentioned in 5.7% of survey responses)
   • Community partnership (mentioned in 11.4% of survey responses)




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