Noosa Council will take more time to review two draft plans that generated significant community feedback.
Mayor Frank Wilkie said councillors and staff would take into account the views of locals on the Noosaville Foreshore Infrastructure Masterplan and Noosa River Plan.
“All ideas are draft proposals for comment. We are listening, and we will carefully consider what we’ve been told so far,” he said.
“We all love our Noosaville foreshore and river, and councillors and staff members are listening and carefully considering the feedback in good faith.”
The council received 2191 responses to the Your Say Noosa online survey and 222 written submissions during the second phase of engagement on the draft Noosaville Foreshore Infrastructure Masterplan.
“Our staff need time to analyse the data, review the feedback and ensure they accurately capture the community’s views,” Cr Wilkie said.
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He said the plan was a long-term blueprint for addressing issues during the next 20 years.
“The full content of this plan will not be delivered tomorrow or even next year, so it’s important to get it right and develop a plan that protects and improves this incredible community space,” he said.
Cr Wilkie said the council would take the time to understand what the community has said and work with key interest groups and revise the masterplan.
“What we heard from the community is that they want ongoing maintenance of equipment, furniture and parkland,” he said.
“Scheduled work will continue as planned on the foreshore, including replacing ageing fitness equipment, which will take place next month.
“In the first phase of consultation last year, the community identified improved access, upgraded all-abilities playgrounds, safer pathways and improved furniture as clear priorities along with how we better deal with the challenges such as floods, erosion and other significant weather events.”
The Noosa River Plan was due to come back before council in July, but due to community feedback during the foreshore masterplan consultation, and other recent developments with the river, Cr Wilkie said it made sense to revise the plan.
“A lot has happened since the river plan last came before council – some of the foreshore masterplan feedback has implications for the river, plus we’re now a formal member of the Resilient Rivers Initiative,” he said.
“This is a SEQ Council of Mayors program to plan for and invest in waterways and catchments in south-east Queensland. Maritime Safety Queensland has also committed to a raft of actions that may resolve some of the issues the draft river plan sought to tackle.
“The Resilient River Initiative provides opportunities for council to access support and funding to refresh, review and simplify our River Plan to align with a new Catchment Action plan guideline and is an approach that all councils in south-east Queensland will adopt.
“This will allow council officers to engage with all river stakeholders in a review of the river plan and refresh process.”
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