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Section 2
2
Section 3
3
Contents
6.1 WEYBA CREEK PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE ………………………………………. 4
6.2 ALDERLY COTTAGE ……………………………………………………………… 7
6.3 ALKIRA APARTMENTS …………………………………………………………….. 10
6.4 GLOSTER HOUSE ………………………………………………………………….. 12
6.5 HALSE LODGE ………………………………………………………………………. 14
6.6 ‘THE HASTINGS’ …………………………………………………………………….. 16
6.7 NOOSA NATIONAL PARK ………………………………………………………….. 18
6.8 NOBLE HOUSE ……………………………………………………………………… 21
6.9 POWELL HOUSE ……………………………………………………………………. 23
6.10 SEA WALL, NOOSA BEACH ………………………………………………………. 25
6.11 ST VINCENT’S AGED CARE NURSING HOME ………………………………… 28
6.12 NOOSA WOODS ……………………………………………………………………. 30
Section 4
4
6.1 WEYBA CREEK PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE
LOCATION Crossing Weyba Creek, some 50 metres upstream from the existing concrete vehicular traffic
bridge.
TENURE Boundary watercourse
DATE 1993 which is a replica of the original bridge built in 1929.
DESCRIPTION Arched wooden pedestrian bridge
Weyba Creek Bridge as it appears today
6.1.1 BRIEF HISTORY
The first Weyba Creek bridge, situated slightly upstream from the existing footbridge was not very high above the
waterline. It was photographed in 18861 and was officially opened on 24 April of that year, known as the Alexandra
Bridge.2 The photograph shows it was a very low-level affair, which did not leave any clearance for fishing boats to pass
under it. Ian Pedley records that the bridge became dangerous to traffic due to heavy infestations of the marine worm
known as a `cobra' and had to be demolished in 1891.3
Local historian, Colin Monks claims, however, that the low profile of the bridge did not allow clearance for the boats of the
local fishermen and such was their frustration, that they remedied the situation by destroying the bridge by fire.4 In any
event goods and travellers had to be transferred across the creek until the construction of the new wooden bridge, a
period which lasted from 1891 until 1929.
With the building of this new bridge, the fishermen and other boatmen appeared to have had notice taken of their
problems, since, when the bridge was designed, it was of much higher clearance, particularly in its middle spans, and
boat movement was generally unimpeded. The new bridge was constructed immediately downstream from the old one
and it was officially opened to traffic on Saturday, 19 th October 1929. It was part of a project sponsored by real estate
developers, T.M. Burke Pty Ltd5 to help open up Golden Beach now known as Sunshine Beach, for development.6
1
Pomona Museum: photograph from its collection displayed at Noosa Council's library as part of the heritage exhibition forming part of the
Heritage Week opening ceremony on 19 March 2001.
2
Pedley, Ian, Winds of Change 100 years in Widgee Shire. Gympie, Widgee Shire Council, 1979, p.36.
3
ibid.
4
Monks, Colin, Noosa The Way It Was The Way It Is Now, Tewantin, Colin Monks, 2000, p.17.
5
The Dynamo No. 20, T.M. Burke Pty Ltd, (No other publication details are available. Copy forms part of Noosa Council's archival files).
Section 5
5
1886 photograph showing “Alexandra Bridge”
This bridge was of timber construction and, although it may have proved adequate for the needs of its time of
construction, it soon proved to be unequal to coping with the requirements of modern transport in such areas as the
greatly increased sizes of trucks and passenger coaches. The widths of these vehicles in particular made passing on the
bridge impossible and their weights were too much for the structure to carry. There was also the greatly increased
volume of traffic using the bridge with the growth of Noosa Heads and Sunshine Beach.
Construction of the third Weyba Creek bridge thus became imperative and a major concrete structure was built some 50
metres downstream from the existing one. The bridge was completed in 1973, but there was no official opening
ceremony in relation to it.7
The old bridge, despite its inadequacies as a traffic distributor, has a certain aesthetic charm and it spanned a part of
Weyba Creek that provided good recreational fishing opportunities for tourists and local residents. It was therefore
decided to retain the bridge, but to close it to vehicular traffic. This was done and the old bridge served as a walking and
cycling path, and as a fishing platform until 1991, when, on 7 November that year, two middle spans suddenly collapsed.
The cause of this minor disaster was due to vermin infestation 8 aided, in all probability, by continued subjection to traffic
movements while in its active life.
By 5 June 1992 the Shire Engineer had to report to Council that further severe deterioration had occurred in the
remaining structure of the bridge. Only two spans, both at the Noosaville end of the bridge were at all safe and it was
recommended that the bridge be demolished.9 The need for the work carried some urgency as certain foolhardy
members of the community were still using the bridge and were thus endangering their lives. The result was that the task
was commenced on 5 January 1993 with completion achieved shortly thereafter. 10 The building contractor for the project
was Alan Guymer of Black Mountain Road, Cooroy.11
6
Edwards, Denise, Coast to Country - A History of development in Noosa Shire, Edwards, Noosa Heads, 2001
7
`No Official Opening of Weyba Bridge', Noosa News, 4 Oct. 1973.
8
Noosa Council Archival Files.
9
ibid.
10
ibid.
11
Pers. comm., Aline Gillespie, 2001.
Section 6
6
In view of the uniqueness of the 1929 bridge and of the fond memories it generated for local residents, it was decided to
retain the presence of the structure, and suggestions were made to build a replica of it. Consequently a working group
under the leadership of then Councillor Joe Dodd coordinated community and council resources which resulted in the
formation of the `Friends of the Old Weyba Bridge'.12 The aims of this group were to either restore or replace the old
bridge in some way and a meeting was held on 27 August 1992 to resolve the issue. 13 Present were the Deputy Shire
Engineer and Publicity Officer, members of the public, in particular Mr John Ollier and his wife, Ivy, and Richard Burke, a
son of T.M. Burke.14
The existing bridge was the result of the work of the Friends of the Old Weyba Bridge. It was costed by Noosa Council at
$283 717, which figure included work to completely remove the old bridge. 15 Funding was assisted by the sale of timber
and other artefacts from the old bridge made into memorabilia such as coffee tables or even small plank sections into
which were embedded bridge nails. These items in themselves helped keep some memory of the old bridge alive, as well
as assisting with funding.16 No record can be found, however, of the amount of funds raised by this action.
6.1.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
Not applicable
6.1.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
As a 1993 bridge built in a different location to the original and used for a different purpose to the original (ie. Pedestrian
bridge only), the bridge has no cultural significance.
It forms an alternative crossing of Weyba Creek for pedestrians and cyclists and thus separates them from the high
volume traffic using the main road bridge. It thus contains some significance as a safety utility.
6.1.4 INTEGRITY
Although the new bridge is definitely reminiscent of the old one it is by no means a carbon copy of it and as such cannot
by any means be cast as a replica. It does, nevertheless, retain a certain ambience in relation to its surroundings and
gives a hint of the old bridge's character.
It is constructed of timber as was the old structure and this helps to keep the overall aestheticism of the precinct it
creates.
12
Noosa Council Archival Files.
13
ibid.
14
ibid.
15
ibid.
16
ibid.
Section 7
7
6.2 ALDERLY COTTAGE
LOCATION 15 Mitti Street, Little Cove, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 6RP214449
DATES 1947
DESCRIPTION The building is a two-storey, ‘Tudor style’ cottage featuring the typical jettying of the upper
story over the entrance. The house has a bloodwood (Eucalyptus gummifera) shingle-roof
and sits on a low foundation wall of bricks and local stones.17
6.2.1 BRIEF HISTORY
Alderly cottage was constructed in 1947 by Harold Davis and Juan Carl (Jack) Grummette on land, which was owned by
Davis, but transferred to Grummette in the same year.
Harold (Harry) Davis came to Noosa from Brisbane in 1946 having purchased seven acres of land at Little Cove earlier in
1944. He was joined shortly after by Grummette (a wartime friend) who assisted in the design and construction of several
houses including Alderly cottage. Davis’s initial intention was to build a modern ‘Tudor Village’, and sell the houses and
land to interested buyers18. He constructed two buildings in the Tudor style before commencing Alderly. He built ‘Tudor
House’, a small two-bedroom cottage for his parents, Ernest Francis and Mary Davis, and later built ‘Tudor Cottage’ (a
large three bedroom cottage) for his own family.19 Both were on nearby subsections and were demolished by developers
in the 1980s.
After 1947 Grummette owned the land jointly with Beryl Watt, and lived alone in Alderly for two years after its completion
before selling the property to George Bernard Mason.
17
A series of photographs taken in the late 1940s shortly after the construction of the cottage is held in the Noosa Shire Museum,
Pomona.
18
Decima Davis, transcript of interview, Noosa Shire Museum, NSM2000; Item TS0001, p. 3.
19
Decima Davis pers.comm., 2000.
Section 8
8
‘Alderly’ was built as far as possible in accordance with the methods used in England between 1550 and 1640. Some
variation to this building style was necessary because of the local climate. For example, bloodwood shingles replaced
thatched roofs, and sisal craft (a thin layer of sisal and bitumen between two sheets of waterproof brown paper) replaced
the sixteenth-century wall construction method that included the use of a mixture of clay or mud and cut straw or cow
dung.20
The exterior/interior walls were constructed of sisal craft fixed between timber trusses and reinforced with galvanised
wire netting laid on low forty-five centimetre thick foundation walls. This wall surface was rendered with a mixture of
sand, cement and slaked lime. When dried and cured the surface was then finished with two coats of waterproof white
wash made up of slaked lime, salt and tallow. Four large beams were squared from trees growing locally21 to
approximately twenty-five by twenty centimetres with a squaring axe ‘...borrowed from the forestry department.’ 22
When the framework was completed and before the reinforced plaster was applied the whole was painted with two coats
of bituminous paint. The timber frame in the upper storey, which remained exposed after the building was completed,
was painted black. The inside surface of the stonewalls of the turret and the terrace were coated with plaster tinted with
black oxide, as was the grouting of the stonework and the pavement.
An interesting story surrounds the name of the cottage. Originally the name of the cottage was spelt ‘Alderley’ after the
Brisbane suburb where Davis and Grummette conceived the idea of the building project. It was changed by Grummette
before the construction was complete, and followed a chance meeting with ‘...a very interesting old man [James] of
eighty years or more who was born in a slab walled, bark roofed farmhouse on the banks of the Noosa River.’23
James told Grummette that Aborigines had told him that some time before the white settlers came to the area, strangers
came from the sea, built a camp, stayed for a while before building another boat and sailing away. He also told
Grummette that as a young man he had found the remains of a shipwreck in Little Cove that had since vanished, but
which was identified by Queensland Museum staff from remains he salvaged as being Spanish or Portuguese.
James became obsessed with the idea of the Portuguese/Spanish wreck in Little Cove and was invited by a Brisbane
antique dealer to examine an old trunk purchased from a Portuguese immigrant. The chest contained a ship’s log from
the Portuguese ship the Santa Juanita, and a diary. The diary was that of a Jane Alderly, who had been taken by Don
Carlos de Valdez, the captain of the ship after the ship in which she was sailing was sacked and burnt and before he was
wrecked on what he believed to be the East Coast of Terra Australis Incognito.
According to Grummette’s account, James believed that Jane Alderly died in the area of Little Cove, and has since
haunted the place. Grummette recalls several instances when a ghostly vision appeared before him during his
occupancy of the cottage, and James recalls a honeymoon couple returning from a night fishing expedition at Dolphin
Point who saw a ghost in the area of Little Cove.
In 1992 Grummette wrote to K Lindsell of the Eumundi & District Historical Association Inc. from Mount Lawley in West
Australia outlining a similar story24, and later the same year The Review newspaper published two accounts including
photographs of the same story.25
6.2.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001 -
4(e) (Establishing and developing towns – housing urban populations: residence (house)
6.2.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the domestic building industry in
Noosa. The building is a unique structure in the Shire, as is the method of construction.
Alderly was one of the first houses built on the area of land called Little Cove, and the only surviving example of the
Tudor Village constructed by Harry Davis.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria b, d and e based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
20
Jack Grummette ‘A Tudor Style House at Alderley’, unpublished, 1992, p. 3.
21
During the early years of the National Park the State Forestry Department permitted limited logging. The ‘headquarters’ for the
forestry camp was near the present park office and picnic ground. See Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Noosa National Park
Management Plan October 1999, Brisbane, Government Printer, pp 6-7.
22
Grummette, p. 2.
23
Grummette, p. 5.
24
Grummette to Secretary, Eumundi Historical Society, 11 February 1992.
25
Whitley, C ‘The Story of Alderly at Noosa’s First Point’, The Review, 29 September 1992; Grummette, J ‘’Alderly’ of Little Cove, Noosa
– a letter....’ The Review, 17 November 1992, p. 15.
Section 9
9 6.2.4 INTEGRITY The building has remained substantially intact as it was built in 1947. The roof of the western kitchen area has been removed, and replaced by an upper level tiled deck accessible via a doorway from the internal upper landing. The area previously a kitchen was converted to a dining area and a new kitchen constructed at the rear of the building by enclosing and extending a rear entrance. This addition supported the addition of a bathroom on the upper level. These alterations were completed in the 1970s.
Section 10
10
6.3 ALKIRA APARTMENTS
LOCATION 31 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 2RP96970
DATES 1997
DESCRIPTION A two-storey reinforced concrete building, consisting of two three-bedroom apartments
and a penthouse.26
The building is an example of unit architecture that blends sensitively into the sloping
block on which the complex is built, and which complies artistically with Noosa Shire
Council’s height limit of twelve metres for the area. The site overlooks Hastings Street,
the Noosa River and Laguna Bay.
Innovative features of the design include a system of electronically operated louvres on
frames for the inaccessible high windows in the master bedroom, metal sunshades along
the northern windows and louvred ventilation panels in the bedroom corners (that avoid
the use of air-conditioning).
The apartments are a heavyweight construction of reinforced concrete. However, they
feature some aspects of Poole’s renowned lightweight houses including a curved exterior
stairwell to the penthouse housed in a semi-circular corrugated cladding.
6.3.1 BRIEF HISTORY
Alkira Apartments were designed by Noosa architect Gabriel Poole, and built in 1997. Poole is an internationally
respected architect and a winner of the Queensland Robin Dods Award in 1991, the National Robin Boyd Award in 1991
and the National Gold Medal award ‘...for his lifetime contribution to Australian architecture’ in 1998. The design
incorporates two three-bedroom apartments and an owner’s penthouse.
6.3.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
Not applicable.
6.3.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is of architectural and aesthetic significance because of its association with renowned architect, Gabriel
Poole and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast School of Architecture’.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria d and e based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
6.3.4 INTEGRITY
The integrity of Alkira Apartments has been maintained.
26
For photographs of Alkira Apartments see Walker, B Gabriel Poole Space in which the soul can Play, Noosa, Visionary Press, 1998,
pp. 108-111.
Section 11
11
6.4 GLOSTER HOUSE
LOCATION 26 Kareela Avenue, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 13N21830
DATES 1984
DESCRIPTION A two-storey steel quadropod family residence.
The architect Gabriel Poole’s intention with the construction method was to minimise
disturbance to the ground and to incorporate the old Queenslander tradition of raising the
building high off the ground. His solution was the unique steel quadropod system, which
consisted of any number of towers each of four steel pods anchored into the ground and
braced together. Each pod branched out with four arms (like the branches of a tree),
which supported the floor frame and the super-structure.27
The steel framework was prefabricated and then erected on the site. The walls were
made in panels from western red cedar planking and were fastened to the framework as a
single skin.
The upper floor of the house contains the master bedroom and the remainder of this level
is living space. Access is by an external spiral staircase. Decks protrude from both sides
with one forming a porch for the entrance to the building. Ground level provides study
areas and a sub-level on the down slope of the hill contains another bedroom.
6.4.1 BRIEF HISTORY
The house was designed for a non-practising architect on a block of land abutting the National Park, by Noosa architect
Gabriel Poole, and was built in 1984. Poole is an internationally respected architect and a winner of the Queensland
Robin Dods Award in 1991, the National Robin Boyd Award in 1991 and the National Gold Medal Award ‘for his lifetime
contribution to Australian architecture’ in 1998. The idea for the design came from an earlier Poole designed house on a
block of land nearby. The house is supported on four steel towers of identical form and size.
6.4.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
4(f) Establishing and developing towns – developing a regional style of architecture: residence (house)
6.4.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the domestic building industry in
Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast’ School of Architecture. The building is a unique structure in
the Shire.
27
For a complete description of the system see Bruce Walker, Gabriel Poole Space in which the Soul can Play, Noosa, Visionary Press,
1998, pp. 19-20.
Section 12
12 It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria b, d and e under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to this place. 6.4.4 INTEGRITY The integrity of the Gloster House has been maintained.
Section 13
13
6.5 HALSE LODGE
LOCATION 2 Halse Lane, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 2RP865533
DATES 1880, 1932
DESCRIPTION Halse Lodge is a large, double-storey residential building made of timber with a
corrugated iron roof and wide verandahs at both levels facing the sea. It is roughly ‘U-
shaped’ in plan, with a central courtyard space created between the two wings.
1937 Halse Lodge situated under Noosa Lookout
6.5.1 BRIEF HISTORY
In June 1881 Walter Hay, grazier, bought Portion 171 at Noosa Village. It was a large rectangular block consisting of
eighty acres and had been granted to his cousin James Forsyth in December the previous year. 28 The block’s eastern
border abutted the 1300 acre Noosa Town Reserve. Both blocks had been part of the Aboriginal Mission Reserve, which
was opened for selection in 1879. ‘By 1880 the pair [Hay and his cousin James Forsyth] had built, and were living in, a
hardwood and pine dwelling house of 4 rooms, with a verandah front. Four acres of trees had been ring barked and they
had planted 8 acres of corn, potatoes and other crops.’29
By 1882 Hay had built Bay View House and advertised rooms to let in The Gympie Times.30 However, the great bank
collapse in the early 1890s forced the then lessee, R G Walker to relinquish his lease that was taken up by Heinrich
Wallman in 1894 for a term of seven years. Ten years later, ownership of the property passed to a Brisbane man who
had taken over Hay’s mortgage in 1888, and Charles Stafford Miles owned Bay View for six years. 31
, Registers of Selectors 1868-1885, Gympie Land Agent’s District, Land Department Records, LAN/P22, QSA.
28
29
Neil Priddy, comp. Walter and Mary Anne Hay (nee Eaton), unpublished c.1994 p. 23. It is thought that this house may have been
moved onto Hay’s Island in 1896.
30
Gympie Times, 4 March 1882.
31
Rosalind Butler, ’A History of Halse Lodge A Boarding House at Noosa Heads’, unpublished, p. 9.
Section 14
14
Following the death of Walter Hay on 3 October 1907, the lease passed to Hay’s half-brother Francis Henry Atkinson
in 1910. Two years later Atkinson advertised that Mrs [Susie] Hay had opened Bay View as a boarding house. When
Atkinson died in 1915, the terms of his will allowed Susie Hay and her stepdaughter Martha to continue to run Bay View
and share any profits.32
John Donovan, the owner of nearby Laguna House, subdivided portion 171 into three following the transfer of the
property by mortgage in 1918. Bay View remained on twelve acres and returned again to the Hay family when it was
acquired by Leslie Albert Hay (a grandson of Walter) and his wife Lillian. After Les Hay’s death Bay View passed to
Lillian’s brother, John Jones, who ran it for almost thirty years.
By 1934 Jones had changed the name of the boarding House to Hillcrest Guest House. He had erected the new
boarding house around Bay View so that visitors could still be accommodated. The old building was gradually dismantled
inside the new as it had been attacked by white ants.
Hillcrest was a two-storey building with front and side verandahs on both levels, built in a U-shape, and in traditional
Queensland style -
‘photographs show a similarity to Bay View House chamferboard outer walls and a light timber frame with exposed studs
on the inside verandah walls, and a corrugated iron roof. Single skin tongue and groove internal walls, tongue and
groove boards for the floor and walls, and openfret work above the internal doors of the bedrooms upstairs to provide
extra ventilation. Downstairs, smaller rooms separated the large dining area from the front verandah.’ 33
Additionally, Noosa architect, John Mainwaring, believes the eastern wall, which had ‘peculiar fretwork’ could have been
part of Bay View House, and that ‘...some of the French doors...are the original Baltic pine articles which probably began
their lives as lumber in the bilges of early vessels from Europe.’34
In 1958 Jones subdivided his land, and the Church of England Diocese of Brisbane purchased Hillcrest Guest House
(now only two acres, six and four-tenths perches) to use as a conference centre.35 It was renamed Halse Lodge after his
Grace The Archbishop and officially opened on 1 May 1959.36
6.5.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical theme in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
2 (g) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: tourist accommodation (boarding house).
6.5.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because as an early boarding house from the 1920s, the place
provides evidence of tourist development at Noosa. It is also the only remaining modest boarding house of the many that
were once prominent along the beach at Noosa, and is probably only one of a few remaining such buildings in
Queensland from the period still used for its original function. As an example of a modest boarding house, a style of
accommodation which has been superseded by newer development and changing tastes, the building is able to provide
evidence of the development of tourist operations in Queensland since the early twentieth century. It is also significant for
its social value to visitors both local and international, as a place to go for a holiday at the Sunshine Coast, as well as for
residents as a local landmark.
On 24 June 1997 the building was entered in the Register of the National Estate under the Australian Heritage
Commission Act 1975. The building is listed as a permanent entry on the State Register under the Queensland Heritage
Act 1992. The National Trust of Queensland also listed it in 1994.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria a, b, g, h and e under the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
6.5.4 INTEGRITY
The original building of the 1920s seems largely intact, although the kitchen and front entrance were added with the
1980s refurbishment, in a style imitative of the original building.
The Noosa architects Hurst and Harris refurbished the building in 1987. This work saw minor internal alterations to some
areas, but also the remodelling of the front entrance with some new construction, notably the addition of a modern
kitchen at the side. A new building for meeting rooms was also constructed behind the main building, and the showers
and toilets were modernised. This work won a National Trust John Herbert Award for recycling in 1990.
32
Butler, p. 10.
33
Butler, p. 16.
34
John Mainwaring, ‘Noosa nostalgia’, Noosa Blue, no. 5, 1992, pp. 38-40.
35
The Church Chronicle of the Diocese of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, vol. LXCIII, no 817, 1 September, 1958.
36
Church of England Year Book (Diocese of Brisbane), p. 99.
Section 15
15
6.6 ‘THE HASTINGS’
LOCATION 30 Hastings Street, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 1RP93961
DATES 1984
DESCRIPTION A complex of twenty-five pre-fabricated, two-storey, detached units with shop fronts
adjacent to Hastings Street.37
Gabriel Poole used the principles of prefabricated system of lightweight building to
accomplish the building of this complex. Each unit consists of two bedrooms and
bathroom on the top level with kitchen and living areas below.
Raised above the ground on a steel substructure, each unit provided carparking
underneath. Because the only other steel used in the building was in the floor framing, the
walls were made more substantial than a single-skin. Instead they were positioned on the
floor and locked together. The second floor steel frame was then lifted by crane and
attached to the walls already in position. This process was repeated for the second storey
walls. The roof was assembled on the ground and included all fittings such as down pipes
and vents. When completed the structure was lifted by crane into position.
Overlooking ‘The Hastings’ from the lookout, Noosa National Park
6.6.1 BRIEF HISTORY
‘The Hastings’ were designed by Noosa architect Gabriel Poole, and built in 1984. Poole is an internationally respected
architect and a winner of the Queensland Robin Dods Award in 1991, the National Robin Boyd Award in 1991 and the
National Gold Medal Award ‘for his lifetime contribution to Australian architecture’ in 1998. ‘The initial concept for the
design...generated from a request by a real estate agent for Poole to design ‘something on a group title cheaply’ for
Hastings Street.’38 Acting as both architect and builder, Poole constructed the first unit as a prototype. From there a team
consisting of Poole and John Mainwaring as architects, Gordon Craig as builder and David Barnes as
contractual/financial consultant completed the complex in eight months.39
6.6.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001 -
2(g) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: tourist accommodation (apartments);
4(f) Establishing and developing towns – developing a regional style of architecture; and
37
For photographs of ‘The Hastings’ see Bruce Walker, Gabriel Poole Space in which the soul can Play, Noosa, Visionary Press, 1998
pp. 48-49.
38
Walker, p. 48.
39
Gabriele Poole, pers. comm., 2000.
Section 16
16 4(e) Establishing and developing towns - housing urban populations. 6.6.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE The building site is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the domestic building industry in Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast’ School of Architecture. The building is a unique structure in the Shire. It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria b, d and e based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to this place. 6.6.4 INTEGRITY The integrity of The Hastings has been maintained.
Section 17
17
6.7 NOOSA NATIONAL PARK
LOCATION Park Road, Noosa Heads (Can also be accessed from Sunshine Beach)
TENURE National Park. 340NPW511
DATES 1930
DESCRIPTION Noosa National Park is a near-continuous belt of natural coastal communities along the
Sunshine Coast from Coolum in the south to Noosa Heads in the north. The 2 200
hectares of the Park is an amalgamation of five separate national and environmental
parks and a few linking areas.
6.7.1 BRIEF HISTORY
In 1879 the Queensland Government gazetted a large proportion of the previous Aboriginal Reserve as Noosa Town
Reserve. It included the area covered by the northern section of the present Noosa National Park, and extended
westwards to what is now Noosaville, and southwards to include Lake Weyba and the land between the Lake and the
ocean.
It was out of this Town Reserve land that the first two sections of the National Park at Noosa Heads were created in
1930. They consisted of Portion R832 and Portion R833 and covered the two main patches of rainforest in the headland
area. The Governor of Queensland, Sir John Lavarack officially opened the Noosa National Park, on 14 October 1949. It
was recognised at the time that the area set aside for the Park contained two widely contrasting vegetations. At the
southern portion and south of the reserve is coastal wildflower country. In the northern section on the higher areas and in
the gullies is a pocket of rainforest containing hoop pine, piccabeen palm and Moreton Bay fig. 'Open Eucalypt forest
with bloodwoods, scrub box, forest oak, and sand cypress is also found in the reserve. Orchids, staghorns and elkhorns
are plentiful in this ‘living museum’ containing Qld flora in its primitive condition.’ 40
The next addition to the Park occurred in 1952 when the Noosa Council surrendered sixteen acres of land at Hell’s Gate
to the State Government for inclusion in the newly formed National Park; however, an earlier decision by Council proved
more controversial. In 1927 T M Burke Pty Ltd was given land at Sunshine Beach at the southern end of Alexandria Bay
by the Noosa Shire Council in return for building a road and constructing two bridges to link Tewantin and Noosa (one
over Lake Doonella and the other over Weyba Creek).
In the early 1960s this company devised a plan that was supported by Noosa Council to construct a road around the
coastline linking Noosa Heads to Sunshine Beach, following the route of the present day walking track. This would have
assisted T M Burke’s development in Alexandria Bay and also would have allowed development of the State
Government’s vacant crown land at the northern end of the Bay. However, after lobbying by the newly formed Noosa
National Parks Development Association (now known as the Noosa Parks Association) the government finally agreed to
add the coastal esplanade and the government-owned vacant crown land at the northern end of Alexandria Bay to the
Park. By December 1964 the Noosa Parks Association Newsletter reported ‘The announcement by the Minister for
Public Lands on 12th November that the Esplanade was to be closed as a roadway and added to the Noosa National
Park, represents the achievement of one of the major objectives for which our Association was formed.’ 41
Denied access from Noosa Heads, T M Burke attempted to obtain road access to its land development in Alexandria Bay
from Sunshine Beach. This was frustrated in 1967 when ‘...the Conservator of Forests has been invited to arrange for the
Noosa Park boundaries to be altered to include the 50 acres of vacant Crown Land in Alexandra [sic] Bay.’42 Additionally,
a state government owned water reserve (R334) on the headlands above Paradise Caves was added to the National
Park in 1972 after lobbying by the then President of the Noosa Parks Association.
From the early 1970s Noosa Parks Association had been working to have government owned land between Lake Weyba
and the ocean added to the National Park ‘Application has also been made...for the gazettal of a national park of about
2,000 acres of land constituting the Timber Reserve (R977) and adjacent lands near Peregian.’ 43 In 1979 T M Burke
agreed to surrender its freehold land at Alexandria Bay in return for more extensive land holdings elsewhere and there
was fear that ‘...the area...is now endangered by the expansion of sub-division of the T.M. Burke estate...’44. By the mid
1980s the area survived threats from sand mining companies, but it was not until 1991 and after a battle to prevent the
location of a coastal highway through the proposed Lake Weyba extension to the Park that the Noosa Shire Council and
the Queensland Government agreed and the Park was extended south to the shire boundary at Peregian.
In 1992 the heathlands and swamps running west of David Low Way at Peregian Beach, now known as Emu Swamp
was added to the Park extending its range along the coast from Hells Gate to Coolum.
40
‘Noosa Heads’ unpublished notes, Noosa Shire Museum, Noosa POI.I.
41
Noosa Parks Association, News Bulletin No 6, December 1964, np.
42
Noosa Parks Association, News Bulletin No 13, July 1967, np.
43
Noosa Parks Association, News Bulletin No 21, May 1971, np.
44
Noosa Parks Association, President’s Report 1980, np.
Section 18
18
6.7.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical theme in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
2(f) Developing rural economies – managing and conserving land, water, flora and fauna: national park (national park);
2 (g) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: tourist attraction (natural feature); and
6 (b) Maintaining order and defending the country - military installation.
6.7.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Noosa National Park has cultural heritage significance because of its association with the attempts to protect the
natural environment, which is ‘...managed as a belt of largely undeveloped natural coastline communities in the
otherwise mainly developed setting of the Sunshine coast’.’45. The Noosa National Park conserves twenty distinct
vegetation communities (containing more that 760 native plant species). Additionally, the Park supports a great diversity
of native animals including species of conservation significance 46, and includes twenty migratory bird covered under
agreements between Australia and Japan and Australia and China. Because of its proximity to surrounding population
centres it provides an opportunity to display the intrinsic values of these coastal areas to the broader community and to
encourage a respect for the environment.
An important aspect of the Park’s history warrants further research. There is oral evidence of Australian Army activity in
the Park during the Second World War (1939-1945).47 According to this evidence trenches were dug on Noosa Hill, and
there are present day remains of this activity. These were not located by this author. Additionally, the Lake Weyba
section of the Park was used as a practice artillery firing range by the Army until 1949.48
The significance of the Park is further enhanced by the presence of sites of Aboriginal significance. The Noosa Heads
area of the Park contains middens, scarred trees, bora rings, artifact scatters, and campsites of the original Aboriginal
inhabitants of the area. Midden sites have been found on the shores of Lake Weyba and the whole area of the Park is
subject of a Native Title claim. Additional collaborative research needs to be conducted to identify and describe the sites
considered significant by Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the area.
Additionally the Park is significant because its development is associated with several important personalities in the area
and the Noosa Parks Association. These include Dr Arthur Harrold, Dr Nancy Cato, Cr Heather Melrose, Dr Michael
Gloster, Jim and Cecily Fearnley and Cr Noel Playford.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria a, b, g and h based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
45
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Noosa National Park Management Plan, Brisbane, Government Printer, October 1999, p. 1.
46
See Appendix 2, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Noosa National Park Management Plan, Brisbane, Government Printer,
October 1999, pp. 41-2.
47
Colin Monks, pers. comm., 2001; Irene Christie, pers. comm., 2001.
48
‘In the Park...Lake Weyba National Park’, Noosa Citizen, 2 January 1992
Section 19
19
6.7.4 INTEGRITY
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service manage the Noosa National Park from an office located at Noosa Heads.
Support staff are located at Maroochydore and Moggill. Park staff are responsible for the day to day management aspect
of the Park’s resources including ‘...wildfire suppression, fire management, feral animal and weed control, administration,
volunteer management, infrastructure development and maintenance, public contact and liaison, interpretation,
education and research and rescue.’49
49
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Noosa National Park Management Plan, Brisbane, Government Printer, October 1999, p. 34.
Section 20
20
6.8 NOBLE HOUSE
LOCATION 19 Bayview Road, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 6RP91188
DATES 1985-6
DESCRIPTION A two-storey steel family residence built using the unique quadropod system invented by
Gabriel Poole. Poole’s intention with the construction method was to minimise
disturbance to the ground and Poole comments ’...this house was built without recourse
to mechanical digging equipment or formal scaffolding.’ 50 His solution was the unique
steel quadropod system, which consisted of any number of towers each of four steel
pods anchored into the ground and braced together. Each pod branched out with four
arms (like the branches of a tree), which supported the floor frame and the super-
structure.51 In the Noble residence the towers were separated into two freestanding
towers leaving free space in between that allowed for the installation of internal
staircases.
Unlike the Gloster House where one level was built into the quadropod, this residence
had two levels built above the quadropod. The steel framework was prefabricated and
then erected on the site. The main level consisted of living, kitchen, dining, bathroom
deck and two bedrooms. Above was built the master bedroom and ensuite. Timber stud
walls were externally lined with Colorbond corrugated sheeting and internal walls
consisted of plasterboard and with the exception of minimal walls for privacy, the building
is basically glass.
6.8.1 BRIEF HISTORY
The house was designed for a local businessman on an extremely steep and difficult site perched high on top of Noosa
Hill. It was designed by Noosa architect Gabriel Poole, and was built in 1985-6. Poole is an internationally respected
architect and a winner of the Queensland Robin Dods Award in 1991, the National Robin Boyd Award in 1991 and the
National Gold Medal Award ‘for his lifetime contribution to Australian architecture’ in 1998.
6.8.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001 -
4 (f) Establishing and developing towns - developing a regional style of architecture; residence (house); and
4 (e) Establishing and developing towns - housing urban populations
50
Quoted in Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes Architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Craftsman House Sydney, 2000 p. 70.
51
For a complete description of the system see Walker, B Gabriel Pool Space in which the Soul can Play Noosa Visionary Press, 1998,
pp. 19-20.
Section 21
21 6.8.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the contemporary domestic building industry in Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast School of architecture’. The building is a unique structure in the Shire. It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria b, d and e based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to this place. 6.8.4 INTEGRITY The integrity of the Noble House has been maintained.
Section 22
22
6.9 POWELL HOUSE
LOCATION 16 Noosa Parade, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 7N21841
DATES 1991
DESCRIPTION The building is a south-east Queensland detached town house built to take advantage of
the light and cross ventilation. The ‘H-shaped’ plan configuration consists of two long
‘thin’ wings that contain living areas on one side and bedrooms on two levels on the
other. An atrium or breezeway in the middle provides a private garden courtyard. ‘I first
came across the idea when I saw an old plantation homestead in Buderim [the house of
Buderim pioneer Harry Board]... it had developed the idea of thin wings and a central
atrium...’52
The design uses elements of the historic Queensland verandah ‘...an idiom used by a
number of innovative architects in the region,’53 as well as using a central breezeway
feature which besides accessing breezes for air movement, also acts as a well for natural
light giving filtered illumination to the centre of the house.
External ply wall cladding is lightly stained (twenty-five per cent pigment) maroon and
turquoise, and other materials include a lime wash render and a corrugated steel roof.
This construction allows reduction of bracing allowing more window spaces along the
walls of the central courtyard. It also reduces movement and shrinkage allowing for
continued unencumbered simple space.
Interior features include extensive use of jarrah and silky oak joinery and windows, timber
venetians and shutters ‘...reflecting water, beach environment and river.54
6.9.1 BRIEF HISTORY
The Powell House was designed by internationally known local architect John Mainwaring as a family home, and was
built in 1993 on a narrow 600m² block of land bounded on one side by a busy arterial road and on the other by the Noosa
River.
Mainwaring has been recognised for his work by being awarded the Queensland Robin Dods award on several
occasions, the National Robin Boyd Award, the National Sir Zelman Cowan Award and the National Commercial Award
for various buildings within the Shire.
The house won the Queensland Robin Dods award in 1993.
6.9.2 HISTORIC THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
4 (f) Establishing and developing towns - developing a regional style of architecture: residence (house)
4(e) Establishing and developing towns – housing urban populations
6.9.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the domestic building industry in
Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast School of architecture’ 55. The building is a unique structure
in the Shire.
The house represents a blend of regional and international styles, which indicates the influence of architecture from
similar climatic regions in the world and by earlier styles of architecture from the region. It is also an example of the
architect’s willingness to be directed by other than local trends.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria e, f and h based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
52
John Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
53
Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000 p. 124.
54
John Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
55
For a detailed discussion of this School of architecture, see Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast,
Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000.
Section 23
23 6.9.4 INTEGRITY The integrity of the Powell house has been maintained. 23 6.9.4 INTEGRITY The integrity of the Powell house has been maintained.
Section 24
24
6.10 SEA WALL, NOOSA BEACH
LOCATION Main Beach
TENURE Reserve. 3CP862568
DATES 1940
DESCRIPTION A quartzite and granite boulder rock wall running the entire length of Noosa Beach for a
distance in excess of one kilometre
6.10.1 BRIEF HISTORY
For at least one hundred years prior to the late 1960s, the Noosa Beach estuary system was in dynamic equilibrium. The
earliest surveys of the area were hydrographic charts dated 1870 when George Heath, the Queensland Port Master
produced a plan for ‘Nusa Harbour’. These were carried out to support navigation into the Noosa River for the purposes
of transport of primary goods out of the region and transport of prospectors heading for the Gympie goldfields.
The details of the Noosa River entrance and spit shown in 1876 on Commander Edward Parker Bedwell and Lt. E. R.
Connor’s charts are very similar to the features evident in later plans and photographs of the area. The entrance was
located at the site of the present day Noosa Woods. The main channel meandered through a complex flood tidal delta
from Munna Point, taking a northerly route before turning east and discharging to the north of Laguna Bay. Noosa spit
had a dunal system with dense casuarinas on the back dune. The fore dune was bare and the beach wider in
comparison with today. Hay’s Island was well developed with large timber and well-established vegetation.
Section 25
25
Beach property development in the first half of the twentieth century was of a temporary nature and coastal
construction acknowledged the variability in beach widths. Cyclones reported in 1893, 1910, 1928, 1931, 1936, 1947 and
1954 all created considerable erosion of the beachfront, with the loss of dunal casuarinas on many occasions. The
cyclone seasons of 1947/194856 and 1954/1955 were particularly severe when three cyclones struck in succession each
time57. In both the 1928 and 1947 cyclones, property was either damaged or, in the case of the 1928 event, relocated
away from the erosion scarp58. Photographic evidence shows that these storms cut back within the property boundaries
along Hastings Street59. Additionally the associated flooding in the estuary usually resulted in the breakthrough of the
entrance channel in a more easterly position with the main channel flowing directly into the sea. This caused erosion of
the Noosa Woods spit and flooding of the back lagoon.
By the mid-1960s, substantial property development was commencing at Noosa Heads, with plans to carry out major
reclamation within the estuary for residential development. The major storm events of 1967-1968 caused significant
damage that prompted property owners to dump rocks for protection along Noosa Main Beach and their urging of Noosa
Council to take measures to protect the Hastings Street properties.60
This was consolidated in March 1969 when a rock wall running 820 m along the full length of Main Beach was
constructed by the Noosa Shire Council.61 Following this work, and the consequent extension of the wall ‘...to protect
Noosa Woods Camp Area in July 1969’62, the recovery of the beach was initially slow. In fact, it had not fully recovered
by the time of the storms of 1972-1974 associated with Cyclones Daisy (1972), Emily (1972) and Wanda (1974). In this
period, there was no useable beach at high tide for much of this time 63. These storms caused significant erosion of the
spit at Noosa Heads with major damage being caused there during the floods associated with Cyclone David in January
1976.
Beach nourishment was planned after the 1972-1974 events, but a relatively small amount of sand was pumped onto the
beach, as the Council was unable to afford a complete nourishment exercise.
Following the cyclones and flooding of the mid-1970s, a Beach Protection Authority report in 1977 recommended a river
entrance re-training exercise whereby a rock entrance groyne was established to create a northern entrance to the river.
The results in the report provided evidence that historically the entrance had been dynamically stable until the sequence
of floods, seawalls and Hayes Island development started in 1967. Rocks for the construction of the groyne at the river
mouth were quarried locally at Cooroy. This action caused concern to local residents at the time. ‘Residents in the area
say some of the larger explosions have shaken houses and rattled windows.’ 64 At the same time parents of children
belonging to the Cooroy Pony Club complained to the local newspaper, the Noosa News, that the same explosions
frightened horses and in Cooroy itself, six kilometres away, goods were shaken from shelves in a newsagency. Cooroy
residents also complained that local roads were being damaged by the frequency of heavy vehicle traffic in the area. ‘At
least one bridge in the haul path will need extensive repairs due to heavy traffic.’ 65
The recommendation of the 1981 Beach Protection Authority report was the construction of a 160m long rock groyne at
Noosa Woods with the intention of re-aligning the beach to create a useable beach to the east.
6.10.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place is a seawall erected to protect the beach and adjoining property, it illustrates the following historical themes in
the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s, Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural
Heritage Management, dated 2001
4(c) Establishing and developing towns – providing public services: seawall (seawall);
2(g) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: the beach and beachside property
3(b) Developing transport and communication networks and infrastructure - establishing ports, training wall
56
An interesting series of photographs showing the destruction of the beachfront during this cyclone season is held by the Noosa Shire
Museum, Pomona.
57
In 1948 Noosa Shire Council received a deputation from the Noosa Heads Anti-Erosion Committee which recommended ‘...that six or
seven groynes, 100 ft. long of turpentine piles, 8 ft. high at the bank, and 2 ft. above the water line at the lower end, would be most
satisfactory method of preventing erosion.’ Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 14 April 1948, p. 4.
58
Noosa Advocate, 11 January 1929.
59
Nancy Cato, The Noosa Story, Wiley, 1989, pp. 97-100.
60
Cato, p. 71-2.
61
Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 22 January 1969, p. 8; 19 March 1969 p. 1; 16 July 1969, p. 1.
62
Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 16 July 1969, p. 6.
63
Cato, p. 75.
64
‘Angered by explosions’ Noosa News, 7 December 1978, p. 5.
65
ibid.
Section 26
26 6.10.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE The sea wall has cultural heritage significance because of its association with the attempts to protect the beach, which is a major tourist attraction for the area, as well as an important feature of the social life of the Shire. Additionally, it is an example of how the Shire Council has altered the natural environment to support the economic development of the area represented by the several commercial properties along Hastings Street. The sea wall is an important detail of the built environment at Noosa Heads. It has continued to protect the properties located in Hastings Street, which constitute one of the best-known tourist destinations in the Shire. It has come at a cost to the Shire in terms of the aesthetic appeal of the beach area – another well-known tourist destination; and to date the Shire is struggling with a solution to the continual denuding of the sea wall during times of heavy seas which happens to coincide with the peak in the tourist season. It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria a and g under the Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to this place.
Section 27
27
6.11 ST VINCENT’S AGED CARE NURSING HOME
LOCATION 0 Cooyar Street, Noosa Heads
TENURE Freehold. 9RP225312
DATES 1997
DESCRIPTION Stage 1 of the Aged Care facility for St Vincent’s Community Services was constructed in
1997. It consists of an Administration building linking a Nursing Wing, which
accommodates thirty beds, and a Special Care (or Dementia) Wing, which
accommodates twenty beds.
John Mainwaring, the architect for the project, was aware of the need to blend the large
complex into the existing urban background rather than have it exist as a monument or a
building icon. In fact he believed that his ‘...major challenge was to reconcile the client’s
requirements for a large scale facility with the need to provide a legible, human scale
environment for the residents, especially in the dementia ward which, because the
patients have to be contained, can be very claustrophobic.’66
The architect believes that the whole facility has the feel of ‘...a beach side convalescent
home with open space clerestories and verandahs.’67 The variation in form, structure and
materials gives the building its overall character and a type of village atmosphere rather
than the more usual somber tone of similar complexes. An unusual feature throughout
the whole complex is the use of natural light and a variety of different views to the
existing Park landscape, which give a range of visual interests and stimuli.
The design of the whole building complex allows cross ventilation or what the architect
terms ‘passive air conditioning’ by the use of verandahs and courtyard spaces. The fully
screened verandah spaces allow sleeping and relaxing in ‘...true Australian style within a
National Park setting.’68
6.11.1 BRIEF HISTORY
Stage 1 of St Vincent’s Aged Care Nursing Home was designed by internationally known local architect John Mainwaring
as a large-scale local facility, and was built in 1997 on a large block of land on the edge of the Noosa National Park.
Mainwaring has been recognised for his work by being awarded the Queensland Robin Dods award on several
occasions, the National Robin Boyd Award, the National Sir Zelman Cowan Award and the National Commercial Award
for various buildings within the Shire.
The building won the Queensland State Awards Commercial Award, and an Environmental Citation (National) and
Commercial Commendation both in 1997.
6.11.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical theme in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
8(b) Providing health and welfare services – caring for those in need: community care accommodation (aged housing
and nursing home; and
4 (f) Establishing and developing towns - developing a regional style of architecture.
6.11.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The complex is a place of cultural heritage significance because of its association with the commercial building industry
in Noosa and the development of the regional ‘Sunshine Coast School of architecture’ 69. The building is a unique
structure and one of a few such facilities offered to the Aged population of the Shire
The facility represents ‘...a positive approach...[using] a palette of light, shade, space, tactile materials and colours
evocative of “coastal architecture” developing in the Noosa region.’ 70 It is the only large-scale non-domestic commission
of this well-known architect in the Noosa Shire.71
66
John Mainwaring in Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes Architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000, p. 156.
67
Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
68
Mainwaring, pers. comm., 2000.
69
See Peter Hyatt, Local Heroes architects of Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Craftsman House, Sydney, 2000.
Section 28
28
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria e, f and h based on the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to
this place.
70
Hyatt, p. 156.
71
The University of the Sunshine Coast Library, in the Maroochy Shire built the same year, is another award-winning example on the
Sunshine Coast of non-domestic architecture by Mainwaring.
Section 29
29
6.12 NOOSA WOODS
LOCATION Hastings Street, Noosa Heads
TENURE Reserve. 114MCH839107
DATES 1880
DESCRIPTION A large wooded picnic & recreation area at the mouth of the Noosa River at the western
end of Hastings Street.
This photo of Hastings Street (believed to be the late 1960's) shows the area before the extension of Noosa Spit and the construction of
Noosa Sound in the early 1970's.
6.12.1 BRIEF HISTORY
When the sand spit that became Hastings Street was surveyed in 187972 nine acres (just under four hectares) of heavily
wooded land at the western end, near the Noosa river mouth, were left unsurveyed for future public reserve. The Widgee
Divisional Board who had responsibility for the sand spit declared that no land would be alienated from the Crown on the
Reserve.73
The nine acres (3.64 hectares) evolved as an unproclaimed reserve for public purposes, and was a popular landing
place, a picnic ground, and fishing spot.74 In the mid-1880s Walter Hay was appointed lighthouse keeper and pilot for the
Port of Noosa. The Noosa Bar had a reputation as a treacherous entrance, and Hay’s duties included placing beacons
and lights on the sandbank at the river mouth and on Hay’s Island, and to piloting larger steamships into and up the
Noosa River. ‘He was succeeded in this job by his son Percy, from his second marriage, and a great nephew, George.’ 75
72
Department of Natural Resources, Survey Map, Cat. No. N218.1.
73
Minutes, Widgee Divisional Board, 3 September 1881.
74
Rosalind Butler, ‘Hastings Street, village of Noosa The Development of the sand spit’, thesis Postgraduate Diploma in Arts (History),
University of Queensland, 1998, p. 42.
75
Rosalind Butler, ‘In the wake of Walter Hay, Father of Noosa a History Trail’, unpublished, p. 7.
Section 30
30
In 1892 two separate reserves were gazetted — a Reserve for Public Purposes and a Reserve for Ports and
Harbours.76 Two other local landowners requested land on the spit. John Donovan of Laguna House asked for three
acres (1.21 hectares) adjacent to Hay’s allotments in Hastings Street; and James Marsden sought a special lease for half
an acre (2 000 square metres) in order to supply refreshments. Neither was successful. 77 In the 1920s J. McAully,
another landowner, suggested that the six-acre reserve facing the beach be proclaimed a park and be cleared of dense
undergrowth and lantana. The area was re-gazetted as a Park Reserve in 1926, but James Marsden was paid to clear
the area.78
Leases were granted on the Reserve for Ports and Harbours. Harry Johns applied for a permit to rebuild in February
1929. Huge seas had washed away the sandbank on Portion 27 where his house/cafe was situated, and many people
assisted in dismantling the building and removing the timber to safety. 79 Johns’ father-in-law, James Marsden, had built
on the reserve (date unknown), and day-trippers usually called in to Marsden’s cafe that was right on the point.80
Walter Hay’s son Percy successfully applied to build a house on land near Harry Johns’ house in 1934. No other suitable
land was available, and as the lighthouse keeper he was responsible for the beacons on the bar, as well as being able to
see boats crossing in case of trouble.81
A third lease on the Reserve for Ports and Harbours, Portion 47, was held by Howard Barnes. A fourteen-year lease was
granted after five month’s deliberation. He had lived in a tent on the site for at least three years before his application
was lodged.82 Known to the locals as the ‘camping area’ or ‘the Point’, at some time people started calling the area ‘the
Woods’ or ‘Noosa Woods’.83
In 1936, the Noosa Shire Council gained control of camping during the holidays on Reserve 336. Camping fees were five
shillings a week, or one shilling a night. In 1940 control was extended to Reserve 335 so that the undergrowth could be
cleared. Adequate sanitary facilities were to be introduced and the area improved once Council received an informal
lease of Portion 62.84
In the 1950s and 1960s services at the camping area were upgraded, but by the late 1960s the facilities were insufficient
for the estimated 100 campsites, or the large number of picnickers. But when Noosa Shire Council proposed cutting
down trees to extend the camping area, over 2 300 signatures were collected from campers.85
By then Noosa Shire Council was trustee of the whole area, and by 1980 it was grossing $174 000 a year from 70 000
visitors. However, facilities needed further upgrading, and dying trees were a danger. Cyclonic seas during the 1960s
and 1970s had eroded the shoreline, and its reduced tree cover provided no protection.
The decision to extend the beach and spit past Noosa Woods and move the mouth of the river to a more northerly
position also impacted on the park’s future. Government and private enterprise schemes meant that the Council
struggled to maintain control over the area. Protests, court action and a march in Hastings Street followed the decision to
close the Caravan Park in September 1990, but a month later bulldozers levelled the amenities block.86
6.12.2 HISTORICAL THEMES
This place illustrates the following historical themes in the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s,
Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001
3(b) Developing transport and communication networks and infrastructure - establishing ports: beacon and pilot (reserve
for ports and harbours);
4(c) Establishing and developing towns – providing public services: public garden; and
4(f) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: camping and caravan park
6.12.3 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANCE
The area is a place of cultural heritage significance because its history is tied to the development of settlement in the
Noosa Heads area. The Aboriginal history of the Woods has yet to be described, but non-Aboriginal people as a place of
recreation have used the area of wooded land at the end of Hastings Street since the early 1880s.
76
Queensland Government Gazette, 8 October 1892, volume XXXIII, p. 337.
77
QSA, TR 1726/1, Box 171, File 91/94.
78
Minutes, Noosa Shire Council, 14 April 1926, p. 9; 9 June 1926, p. 4; 11 August 1926, p. 9; 8 June 1927, p. 7.
79
Noosa Advocate, 11 January 1929.
80
Minutes, Noosa Shire Council, 11 November 1911.
81
Minutes, Noosa Shire Council, 18 December 1929, p. 13. QSA, Various letters, Informal Lease Files TR 1817/1, Box 42, IL 1637.
82
QSA, Various letters, Cancelled Reserves files, TR 1726/1, Box 177, File 92/123.
83
Rosalind Butler, pers. comm., 2000.
84
Department of Natural Resources, Nambour, Various letters, Res 11485.
85
Noosa News, 29 November 1972, p. 2.
86
Noosa News 19 October 1990, p. 1.
Section 31
31
‘The advent of the motor car and construction of roads and bridges saw tourist numbers increase dramatically...sand
garden competitions were held on Boxing Day, joy rides in small planes were popular, The Queensland Band of Hope
and Young People’s Union organised ‘Happy Times for Young People’, and from 1935 surf-o-planes could be hired.’87 As
one local resident wrote in 1990 ‘Locals [in the 1920s] from all over the Shire knew it as the perfect spot for a days
outing, to swim, to picnic, to relax...the rainforest was majestic, the beach unspoilt, the fishing wonderful.’88
It is an outstanding example of a beachside caravan park/camping area on the southern coast of Queensland. While the
area has adapted to changing needs, the original use as an area of public recreation has been maintained. It is a
relatively intact example of such a beachside recreation reserve.
Additionally, the area is associated with many of the pioneer names of the Shire who either lived in Hastings Street or
spent holidays camping and fishing in the Woods.
It is recommended that Noosa Shire Council consider assessment criteria a, b, g and h under the Guidelines for
Historical and Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management, dated 2001, as relevant to this place.
6.12.4 INTEGRITY
The former caravan park was professionally landscaped by local Glen Gloster and opened up as a picnic area. The road
to the river mouth was properly constructed, with parking bays and access to the beach at intervals. Additionally, bike
and walkways were introduced along the inlet and other facilities in tune with the environment and the needs of the
general community were constructed. Extensive replanting was undertaken by the broad community in what was, at the
time, a remarkable display of wide community spiritedness.
An agreement between the Noosa Parks Association and Council in 1996 established a twenty-year plan to establish the
Noosa Park’s Association Park on Noosa Spit. ‘The Association is committed to extending the littoral rainforest character
of Noosa Woods well out onto the Spit.’89
87
Rosaland Butler, Hastings Street, p. 47.
88
Jay Fredericks, ‘Woods attracts comment’ (To the Editor), Noosa News, 24 August 1990, p. 6.
89
Gloster, M, The Shaping of Noosa, Noosa Blue Publishing Group, Noosa Heads, 1997, p. 107.