Margie Maccoll
Tourism has been such a success in Noosa the Noosa Council has already begun working on a Destination Management (DM) project to manage the impact of the success and is now establishing a control group to further advise it.
The Destination Management Project Control Group will be in addition to council’s internal advisory team convened at the initial stage of the DM project to “provide advice, oversight, and enable informed decision making“.
At its general committee meeting on Monday, councillors decided to increase the number of representatives on the control group to add three “qualified“ community members with “relevant community and industry experience“.
The additional three will be selected through an expression of interest process and will join other control group members which comprise three councillors including the Mayor, two council officers including the chief executive officer, one representative from Tourism Noosa and one from Earthwatch, a non profit environmental organisation that connects people with scientists to conduct environmental research.
“Council endorsed a destination management approach to help guide Noosa Shire and ensure a sustainable approach was achieved… in response to growing community sentiment for enhanced governance to better manage Noosa’s icons and those intrinsic qualities that brought visitors to the shire“ a report prepared by council officers states.
“Prior to 2020, significant growth in global travel meant that some destinations around the world including Noosa, were already under increasing pressure from tourism, resulting in overcrowding and negative effects on the quality of the visitor experience, the environment, and communities,“ it says.
The Destination Management project also aims to provide council with an opportunity to review its visitor economy in response to the ongoing impacts of Covid and the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
At Monday’s meeting Cr Brian Stockwell said when he asked people on social media their top three issues with Noosa, the response was traffic congestion, parking and congestion on the river.
These were all a result of overuse by visitors and locals, he said.
“We want people to come here and live here, to experience the nature and culture, not congestion and clutter,“ he said.
Cr Karen Finzel called for the need for more diversity on the control group.
“Greater diversity leads to better outcomes,“ she said.
“We want to make sure no voice is unheard.“
Cr Finzel said the issues had been raised by previous councils but what they needed were outcomes.
“We want to have outcomes that benefit the community,“ she said.
The goals of council’s Destination Management Plan are to enrich the lives of Noosa’s people, support a thriving and sustainable shire, enhance quality of life for Noosa’s residents, improve tourism sector productivity, retain, protect, and champion Noosa’s natural environment and biosphere credentials, champion and protect Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) Indigenous culture and heritage, deliver exceptional visitor experiences, maintain and build on Noosa’s brand equity and leverage and benefit from 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
An EOI process for three community members on the control group will run from 25 July – 8 August with a report recommending the appointments to be provided to the August general committee meeting.
Final decisions on the issue will be made at council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday.
