By Margaret Maccoll
Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving club called a meeting of 20 people to discuss the creation of a sustainable surf club at Peregian Beach last Friday and more than 80 community-minded residents turned up.
The numbers speak volumes about the level of community interest in the project.
Noosa Surf Club CEO Byron Mills said it was time for Peregian Beach Surf Club to fund itself, to obtain members and provide resources to operate the service which Noosa had been carrying since poor management and debt led to its closure in 2013.
“Ten months ago the management committee discussed the longevity of Peregian,” he said.
“We decided to put together a working group to look at the long term objectives of Peregian.”
Mr Mills said Noosa club engaged a town planning consultancy and made contact with all levels of government to determine what could be done with the club’s existing site and surrounding parkland.
“We had to work out if it was viable before we went to the community,” he said.
Noosa club president Ross Fisher dispelled misconceptions Noosa club had “taken over Peregian”, saying they had instead “rescued it” and injected money and resources into it, including the payment of a Sunday life guard at a cost of $70,000 a year.
“We felt it deserved to have a club still active,” he said.
Mr Mills said from a safety perspective the current clubhouse was in the wrong place as craft needed to be taken through the middle of the park, it wasn’t the prettiest club and the bins attracted rats that had eaten through wires requiring replacement three times.
But said the placement of the club and its design was a matter for the community to discuss.
What the Noosa club can offer is the know-how of running a successful club and for Peregian club to be viable it needs about 300 active members and 300-400 Nippers and their parents, he said.
To house the necessary equipment and include toilets, the clubhouse would need to be about 1180sqm which is almost four times its current size of 307sqm.
He said to gain and maintain volunteers, they had to attract them and volunteers were more demanding than in the past.
“They want a state-of-the-art gym, a hot shower, a beer on the deck, a hat, a shirt and recognition,” he said. “With training and insurance the average lifesaver costs $1800 a year,” he added.
Town planner Jack Lewis said there were a number of initial hurdles to overcome including negotiating a trustee lease, determining native title issues and then putting together a planning application to put forward to Noosa Council which would be months to years away.
Establishing a community working group and a management plan for the park would be the next steps.
