By JONATHON HOWARD
NOOSA residents and business owners have expressed early support for Noosa Council’s proposed “citizen’s jury” announcement last week, while sceptics are putting their opinions on hold until the finer details are revealed.
The idea would put the power of community decision making in the hands of a jury-style panel, which would include residents of mixed ages and genders.
The panel or jury would then make the big decisions on issues such as the future use of house boats on the Noosa River and electric bus services.
The idea has received praise from both Noosa residents and visitors, with several visitors eager to raise the idea with their own local councils.
However, early sceptics have emerged and have questioned the move as a waste of ratepayer’s time and money and concerns about the overall transparency of the panel.
A final vote to enlist the services of newDemocracy Foundation to develop the panel was expected to be made by Noosa councillors this week.
Meanwhile, Cooroy resident Noel Bird said the jury proposal was floated at the Cooroy Residents Association meeting by mayor Noel Playford and “has much to commend in principle”.
“However, it all depends on the yet-to-be-announced details,” Mr Bird wrote to Noosa Today.
“In the early discussions which led to the formation of Noosa Independence Alliance, the issue of how to implement ongoing and effective community input to council policy and decision making was a key area of debate.
“One suggestion was that a non-compulsory election should be held to select panel members, another was that they be nominated by major community groups and associations.”
Mr Bird said before any such proposal came before the full council, he believed there needed to be wider consultation on the options available, which were not necessarily restricted to those methods mentioned.
“I feel in any event that the word ‘jury’ is inappropriate – the panel’s degree of authority needs to be adequately defined in the constitution of the council,” he said.
“There is a lot of middle ground between a toothless public forum, authorised simply to discuss ideas and make suggestions, and a ‘jury’ empowered to make decisions at the same level as elected councillors.
“My own preferred model would be a single panel, democratically selected without council influence, which would have the same level of authority to make proposals to council as the council staff do now.
“Such a panel would operate at quite a different level to that of the former Biosphere Sector Boards, though interaction and joint consultation would seem to be essential.
“I’m sure there are others who have different and possibly better ideas. Now is the time for them to be brought forward and evaluated.”
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you support the idea of a people’s panel or citizen’s jury to determine the big issues facing Noosa?
