By JOLENE OGLE
MORE than 50 people gathered at the Noosa Council chambers on Thursday night to select the new steering committee for the Noosa Biosphere Reserve (NBR) Association.
It took more than an hour for the gathered group to decide on the people who will be responsible for creating the association’s constitution, but in the end eight locals were accepted.
Some community members were concerned about a small group of people being responsible for the constitution, but Noosa mayor Noel Playford assured the group the steering committee would be driven by the community members who wanted to take part.
“The constitution will have to be OK’d by the community members who want to take part in the process,” he said.
Mayor Playford said the steering committee would work to create the draft constitution of the group before welcoming feedback from the community. Once agreed upon, the constitution would be sent to the Office of Fair Trading for approval.
The steering committee includes former Noosa Biosphere social sector board member Lorraine Bird, Noosa Chamber of Commerce mentor John Wood, local business owner Jeff Nuske, former banker John Horn, Noosa Biosphere secretary Jo Ball, Kin Kin State School principal Trent Shaw, sustainable farmer Dick Barnes and former Noosa councillor and local business owner Bob Jarvis.
The NBR Association steering committee is the first step in establishing the NBR Association that will form the working sector of the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation (NBRF).
NBRF board member Raul Weychardt said the association would represent the active arm of the new Biosphere management model.
“We need a group of doers,” he said.
“The current community groups who focus on specific areas will continue and they may or may not take part in the association, but the association is about the broader view.”
