noosa-heads

                                                                                                                                     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.