Brian O'Connor

At its meeting on 16 February 2023, Noosa Council endorsed Pomona to be the location of a pilot Placemaking Plan; the strategy to be rolled out eventually across the Shire. Six months on, can Noosa Council provide an update on progress being made around placemaking at Pomona?

Council is pleased to advise that the Placemaking Pilot has been progressing well since the endorsement of Pomona as the pilot location with community engagement commencing as of Wednesday 16 August through to 24 September 2023. The engagement program includes a diverse range of activities for the entire community to participate including a survey (online and hard copy), pop-ups outside the IGA and then at the Pomona Markets, a family friendly community event, walkshops, ideas competition as well as other creative activities such as a sketching workshops and letter writing. There are also options for more tailored stakeholder engagement throughout the process if required. Further information can be located on the Your Say Noosa page. While the community engagement is being undertaken the project team will be developing options for future governance structures to help guide the preparation of the draft plan which will be further informed by engagement with the community. The draft plan will be developed in conjunction with the community to help prioritise actions, implementation and resourcing throughout the remainder of the year with further community consultation on the draft plan to occur early in 2024.

Noosa Council recently nominated Pomona as a ‘Great Place’ under the South-East Queensland Regional Plan. The Noosa Plan 2020 acknowledges Pomona as Noosa Shire’s ‘Living Heritage Town’ and the Noosa Biosphere Trails Masterplan identifies Pomona as the ‘hub town’ for the trail network. These designations seek various practical and tangible outcomes that, ideally, should complement each other. How will this occur beneath the umbrella of a Pomona Placemaking Plan?

The placemaking process will consider the many and diverse roles and functions of Pomona as a village in a way that delivers these outcomes in alignment with community values, priorities as well as enhancing its unique character and identity. The Placemaking process will likely identify recommendations and actions that will require these broader strategies and plans to be reviewed and coordinated to ensure a more integrated approach and delivery of these outcomes on the ground.