By Margaret Maccoll
Noosa Parks Association (NPA) has been given a five-year extension on its fee-free management lease of Noosa Heads National Park visitor information centre and day-use area and the State Government is in the process of investing $530,000 in upgrades and maintenance.
A Department of Environment and Science (DES) spokesperson said the NPA’s commercial activity agreement (CAA) was due to expire in January but had been extended for an additional five years (until January 2024) as per the provisions of the CAA and the Nature Conservation (Administration) Regulations 2017.
The CAA enables NPA to sell merchandise from the information centre and food from the cafe located at its enviable position at the gateway to the popular national park.
In exchange NPA is required to deliver visitor services and “maintain a range of visitor facilities in the park on behalf of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS)”.
“The NPA’s operation of the centre has provided a consistent service and benefits to QPWS, reducing operational costs for QPWS, enhancing visitor information services in the area,” the spokesperson said.
“While the NPA pays no ongoing fees on the lease, the NPA contributes revenue from the centre into a trust fund to be used for acquiring and protecting environmentally significant lands in the Noosa/Cooloola area.”
QPWS continues to maintain the centre and as part of a Noosa National Park redevelopment is conducting maintenance work on the information centre and upgrading the day-use area with new barbecues, picnic tables, landscaping, turf and walkways, due for completion in June.
