Mayor Clare reflects on less than two years in

LESS than two years in, I am incredibly proud of what we, as a council, have achieved. There is still much to be done and all councillors strive to continue to work with and for the community.?

Considering the challenges we have faced - no one could have ever predicted a global pandemic and all the implications that it has had on our community, our businesses, our Council and our Shire - we have worked tirelessly to support local businesses, residents and community groups; protect our environment; maintain and enhance our beloved Noosa lifestyle through forward-thinking planning, infrastructure and capital works; partner with the tourism industry for a sustainable future; and provide transparency through community engagement and consultation to provide a viable future direction for Noosa.?

Small businesses are very much the lifeblood of this Shire, and we have over 7000 of them. The majority are run by?four or less people- our residents. Therefore, it is not helpful to have a business verse resident approach as they are one and the same.?

We have increased support to our business community through our business round table where we hear directly from businesses what they need and then can advocate.?

One of several positive outcomes includes being able to advocate with the Treasurer for COVID-19 cleaning rebates and partnering with Response Global, a pandemic specialist, to deliver our businesses and healthcare providers with RATs.?

?Through the formation of another round table, we also continue to support the community regarding the Kin?Kin?Quarry and advocacy and support of the community through legal challenges to the quarry. ?

?A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Council and the University of the Sunshine Coast will pave the way for new education, research and on-the-job training opportunities.?

?Similarly, our?rejoining?of the SEQ Council of Mayors has allowed us to be a stronger voice for our Shire. To have a voice we need to sit at the?table?and this presents an opportunity to be involved in among other things, SEQ Regional waste management reform, resilient rivers initiative and advocation for our Shire in opportunities that will present themselves in the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. ?

We have put a focus on delivering tangible outcomes for our community, providing “grassroots” style projects that will make a difference in the lives of our residents.?

We have a capital infrastructure programme to deliver?around?$54 million in grassroots spending to our community. This money is being spent where our community needs it most to provide a raft of new initiatives in support of the community and we are grateful to the federal and state for the significant grants we have received in this space.?

Our role, our job is to help where we can. So many of our community groups - and there are over 300 in this Shire - do much of the ‘heavy lifting’ in helping our vulnerable, our at-risk, our juniors, our seniors, our workers, our sportspeople, our elderly and so on. ?

A record $1 million was given to community groups, in the last budget. It is a privilege to stand with them and behind them and support them with the wonderful community works they do.?

A new initiative that we implemented this year, and one which I am particularly proud of, is that we have waived the three-year waiting period for new pensioner concession applications. This means if you are a pensioner and you turn up in this town, you do not need to wait three years to be eligible for a concession on your rates. This initiative helps our elderly, and we are all proud of it.?

I stood on an election platform of increased fire management, increased mitigation and increased preparedness and we have increased our fire management budget by 100%. A very important issue for our community, an additional $300k has been allocated for fire management and mitigation. ?

We have also doubled our cool fire burns to seven planned burns a year, widening almost two kilometres of existing fire trails around our Bushland Reserves and creating two kilometres of brand-new fire trails.

In addition to on the ground resources, our funding also taps into the $1.96m of bushfire recovery funding that Council received to establish a living lab that helps accelerate adoption of bushfire resilience technologies in regional communities. Once completed, those facilities will include a ‘living’ bushland laboratory for cutting-edge solutions that help predict, detect and manage bushfire emergencies, and a data lab at the Peregian Digital Hub. Noosa aims to become a centre of excellence for commercialising bushfire-fighting technologies, and this project will assist in cementing that reputation.?

To assist us and provide recommendations regarding the safety and environmental protection of our river, we have developed and implemented the Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Group.?

We have also ratified our Climate Change Adaptation Plan.?

Better roads, better footpaths, better cycleways, Council’s goal is to boldly increase infrastructure, facilities and resources for our community with substantial projects we were asked to do - and we have acted on.?

Projects underway such as Stage 1 of Tewantin Bypass, upgrading the busy intersection of?Doonella?Street and Memorial Avenue at Tewantin to boost capacity for the future, replacing seven bridges across the Shire, finishing the Hinterland Playground, upgrading the Pomona section of the Noosa Trail Network, complete the new Peregian Beach Community House, road resurfacing and gravel road re-sheeting of several roads and fill the missing links in our footpath network across the Shire.?

This council also adopted the Noosa Council Cycling and Walking Strategy and?in our last budget we committed to spending $1m to fill the missing links in our footpath network across the Shire- including Tewantin, Sunshine Beach, Castaways Beach, Noosaville, Pomona and Cooroy.?

Noosa is regarded by many as a tourist town. In fact, we’re officially the best in Queensland. It is still seen nationally as the relaxed place of choice for an environment type resort-style travel.?

Many residents’ livelihoods depend on tourism, the ability to run a business, to pay kids’ school fees. No tourism means no businesses, no workers and no community.?

We have committed $2.52 million in funding to Tourism?Noosa?but we are also aware that houses, which are solely or predominantly for the purpose of hosting short term visitors impact our community. ?

Therefore, this Council has now ratified our Short Stay Letting Local Law, a law that has been in development for a number of years. ?

With visitors comes traffic and the current infrastructure is hard to work with. Council’s free buses initiative provides an alternative for residents and visitors moving around the Shire during peak holiday periods and we?trialling?free weekend buses, which is a first for Queensland.?

Although our capital infrastructure is at an all-time?high?we are still having to deal with a Shire that is challenged by a lack of historical planning because no one could have anticipated Noosa would become the destination it is.?

No paid parking has been introduced. Before any such measures were introduced, our Council would seek community consultation just like any other major project undertaken.?

To ensure more transparency and openness regarding our information, we formed Open Council, an addition to our website that collates key information sources on Council’s finances, purchasing, governance and decision-making as well as information on Councillor’s conduct and personal interests.??

We have increased community engagement and access to councillors through our councillor coffee chats.??

Our?Livability?Survey provided residents with an opportunity to share their thoughts on how to make the Noosa Shire an even better place to live. ??

Results from that survey will be used to support strategic decision making and improve service delivery.?

From a financial perspective, we have moved from surviving and reviving to thriving through the last 2 years of COVID-19 interruptions. Our year-to-date position is showing a strong surplus above budget, and also well ahead of our covid?financial recovery plan we put in place 2 years ago. This sets us up for a great position coming into the 2022/2023 budget.??

Noosa Shire continues to face a housing emergency that is having an impact on the economy, on our businesses and affecting the liveability of our communities. ?

This is a global pandemic?issue,?it is unheralded and it needs a committed tri-partisan approach.?

In response to Mayoral Minute I tabled in December 2020, highlighting the crisis, subsequently, a housing needs assessment has been undertaken to form part of our housing strategy. This is the most aggressive step Noosa Council has taken in this space.?

We can’t fix it on our own, it needs a lot more money from state and federal governments. ?

We need to advocate for more investment into social housing and we need to look at what planning opportunities are available to enhance the level of housing availability in the shire.?

Noosa has no high rises and still doesn’t. Any new density will be to address affordable housing issues, which again, would be subject to community consultation.?

More than 70% of respondents rated Council’s overall performance as good and very good. ?

During the past two years, we have proven to be a council that is determined, positive and forward-thinking.?

On a personal note, I’m incredibly proud of the Inaugural Mingle with the Mayor Ball, which raised over $280k. The funds enabled Sunny Kids to open a second outreach centre for the most at-risk families in our Shire. This is what coming together can do. This is what community can achieve. This is what I believe leadership is all about.??

Although this Council has had to deal with ongoing historical issues, some very controversial, much work has been done but there is still so much more to do. All councillors remain committed to the challenges ahead.?

NOOSA MAYOR CLARE STEWART?

Noosa Today - Page 28.