By Mayor Clare Stewart
Well, in what has been a huge lead up for our community and Council, myself and senior Council staff met with the operators of the Kin Kin quarry, Cordwell Resources and their representatives. We were able to advise the latest meeting of the Kin Kin Roundtable that the talks considered possible options to prevent the matter going to the Planning and Environment Court. This ‘without prejudice’ meeting is the first time Council and the quarry operator have been able to arrange a suitable time to hold such talks with legal representation, due to Covid restrictions and lockdowns. The discussions must remain confidential to allow Council and the operator to consider options prior to any proceedings being lodged.
We’ve begun a nation-wide search to fill the role of chief executive officer at Council. As many of you know, our current CEO Brett de Chastel has announced his retirement and will step down in November 2021. Brisbane recruitment firm Davidson Recruitment is overseeing the recruitment process. We are looking for an experienced, inspirational leader who can work collaboratively with councillors to deliver our strategic vision. We will be finalising a recruitment panel shortly, and the final appointment will be a decision of the full Council.
As Covid-19 continues to impact our community and our businesses, Council has announced financial relief measures to help residents and businesses impacted by the recent lockdown. We’ve extended the rates’ discount period to 17 September 2021 and rates payments can even be deferred to the end of the year, by arrangement. Council is also deferring the payment of outstanding Health License renewals and Footpath Dining permits until 31 December 2021. For the full list of relief measures, see our website.
It’s been an incredibly busy year for Council, made that much more challenging by Covid-19. The CEO’s Year in Review report makes for positive reading. Some highlights include: 71,227 customer service enquiries handled, 18,228 visits to our libraries, 1,608,228 bins emptied, and 11.88km or roads re-surfaced. Important achievements also include the Queensland Audit Office giving Council another clean bill of health, issuing an unmodified audit opinion, and the Noosa River catchment maintaining its A-rating in the 2020 Healthy Land and Water Report Card, with the river also scoring a five-star economic and social benefit rating. We adopted the Noosa Bushland Reserve Strategic Management Plan and the Noosa Bushland Reserve Strategic Fire Management Plan, both of which will outline how we will better manage our bushland reserves and, in particular, how we will manage fire risk in our council bushland reserves. We’ve also worked closely with local businesses through the Business Roundtable to provide targeted economic development support through the Covid-19 pandemic and we’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of the Sunshine Coast to see more collaboration on projects, joint research and to enable work experience opportunities for university students. Securing over $23 million in funding commitments from the State and Federal governments for our region and to support our community, our infrastructure budget at $51 million is the largest it’s ever been. The Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Committee has been established in line with Maritime Safety Queensland to advise on priorities for our Noosa River and we’ve introduced a new online portal called Open Council to make our Council more transparent.
Above are just some highlights, but it’s fair to say there’s lots going on with much more to do over the coming months to support our community and our residents, but all councillors and council staff are well and truly up to the challenge.
Finally, to end on a high note, the inaugural Mingle with the Mayor Ball was held Saturday evening at the Sofitel Noosa in support of the charity Sunny Kids to raise awareness and funds for their organisation to assist victims of domestic violence in our shire. With a final count still pending, we have raised close to $300,000 dollars for this remarkable organisation, making the night a huge success. Over $222,000 was taken in live auction items during the event with thousands more to come in via donations and silent auction items. They say it takes a village and, indeed, it does. This phenomenal result could not have been made possible without the ‘Ball Team of Action’ led by the legend that is Josanne Falla and so many wonderful women in our community. As I said, Noosa is at its best when it gets behind its own. Saturday night was testament to that. Our sponsors and our local businesses all dug deep and donated so generously, and our speakers were courageous and strong. As the famous lyrics of Johnny Farnham’s legendary song go: ‘This time, we know we all can stand together: with the power to be powerful, believing we can make it better. We’re not gonna sit in silence; we’re not gonna live in fear; make a noise and make it clear’.
Our community stood up and on Saturday night, we made that noise!! Never been prouder.
Until next month, stay safe, Clare
