When the final vote of a drawn-out Noosa Council meeting was taken last week, it put the seal on a much longer project to bring a new surf lifesaving club to the Peregian community.
Eight years after the club ran out of cash and was wound up with the lease on its building passing to Noosa Council, a new entity had emerged to keep Peregian Beach safe.
The Council’s decision to authorise its chief executive officer to enter into negotiations for a 10-year lease to Peregian Beach SLSC was the outcome of a long and fraught community effort led by Peregian resident Leigh McCready, who always believed the surf club could be re-established. But such a revival was something never previously achieved in Queensland. Once gone, surf clubs stayed gone.
“It’s been a journey,” McCready said.
“It consumed me for over four years after I organised a petition to gather support to re-start the club. That advocacy showed just how great the community support was – more than 1500 people wanted to get their surf club back.”
McCready – also a lifesaver and previously a director of Noosa Heads SLSC and Peregian Nippers coordinator – was under no illusion about the scope of the task ahead. Her first step was to talk with former Peregian club committee members, the board of Noosa Heads surf club, lifesavers and Peregian business people, after which she could plan the way forward.
“It was clear to me that Peregian families must have a voice in this project. So I decided to start a local residents’ association, Peregian Family & Friends, to provide a focal point for the project. After all, a new club would be patrolled by our own community, local children would learn surf skills and it would eventually develop into a social hub for the community.
“As we began the long journey to re-establish the club, I’m very proud that our first tangible act was to get Nippers back on the beach after a three year absence.”
McCready allowed herself a deep breath as she reflected on what, at the time, seemed an impossibly complex task.
It was the backing of the community that made the difference, she said.
“We quickly gained a huge amount of support. A passionate group of young parents joined the committee and hundreds of new members signed up to support our goals.
“When that happened, I knew we would succeed. But we still had to define the kind of organisation we wanted to create – and we had to generate funds.”
Initially money was raised to research community attitudes. It showed nearly 90 per cent of respondents wanted a traditional surf club at Peregian and 70 per cent believed a Nippers’ program was essential.
It was at this time McCready found that Peregian had a very good friend – the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club.
“It paid our bills and ensured patrols would continue at Peregian. With Noosa surf club’s support, we were able to mobilise the project.”
McCready said she’s most proud of the successful Nippers rehabilitation, and so she should be.
It provided a fine community service and was a tangible achievement that brought the community together.
“To see all the kids running on the beach and learning new skills was so rewarding,” McCready says.
“The Nippers program has grown every year and is always highly rated by participants.”
The strong backing of volunteers and the clear success of Peregian Nippers demonstrated to Surf Life Saving Queensland that Peregian was ready to be registered as a surf club again.
Ross Fisher, Noosa Heads surf club’s well respected and long-standing president, acknowledged this achievement when he told members that McCready’s “drive, enthusiasm and passion was undoubtedly the difference that ensured the boost required was forthcoming”.
“Her efforts were amazing,” he said.
“The Peregian community should be forever grateful as the result will be the re-establishment of the Peregian Beach SLSC in the community for the community and all beachgoers.”
I asked McCready what aspect had most challenged her, and she laughed.
“The logistics were relatively straightforward but appalling and often defamatory attacks on me and our volunteers – mostly delivered anonymously on social media – were unsettling.
“Some people decided what we were doing threatened their power in the community. Thankfully that stopped after the 2020 Noosa Council elections. We’ve now had two clear years to get on with the job – building community involvement, finding volunteers, raising money, developing management systems…. the club is now ready to move forward operationally.”
So why, after huge personal effort and stress, was McCready now choosing to move on? “It’s the right time. The community no longer has to fight to regain its club and we’ve got our kids back on the beach. The naysayers are sidelined and I’m able to fully engage in other community activities.
“Peregian Family & Friends is still involved and a new Surf Club Supporter’s Club is readying itself to contribute to the club’s $230-250,000 a year revenue requirement.”
McCready said facilities remained a major issue.
“The surf club building is rated the third worst clubhouse in Queensland. The Council budgeted $90,000 for painting but funds are needed to provide acceptable facilities for volunteers and Nippers.”
So far Peregian Family & Friends has banked over $50,000 on behalf of the community for rebuilding the clubhouse.
The surf club has income from Peregian Beach Markets and is working to establish a kiosk. The Supporter’s Club is seeking to earn future income from hiring out the first floor of the clubhouse and opening up community membership.
A real game-changer has been a more positive attitude from Noosa Council which, under Mayor Clare Stewart, now recognises the role it needs to play in the club’s revival. Straight-talking Councillor Amelia Lorentson understands and has applauded “the tireless efforts of Leigh McCready in reviving the Peregian surf club [as] an integral part in [its] formation”.
And former councillor Ingrid Jackson, who observed the Peregian surf club’s conflicts first-hand, observed, “That one person could push through the obstacles she has and remain a study in cool elegance takes courage, determination and ability. McCready is a life force.”
Now Leigh McCready has put those struggles behind her. As President of the Noosa LNP branch and a senior member of a number of other important local organisations, she has quite enough on her plate.
