A tiny death notice on page 47 of this newspaper two weeks ago belatedly made public the ending of a large life, one that was significant in Noosa’s recent history.
It read: “Smart, Val. Late of Cairns, sadly passed away on 7 October 2023. Dearly missed by Chez, Chanel, Valentino, Saverio, Luke and family. Rest in peace.”
Simple, dignified and no doubt reflecting Val’s wishes, and for many of his friends from the trench warfare of past years in Noosa business and politics, a fitting remembrance.
Michael Gloster, who served with Val on the fiery 1982-85 Noosa Council, remembered: “Val had a special gift of being able to lift those around him, be they family, friends, or civic leaders. During his time on council he set about lifting both councillors and council staff, to raise the quality of council debate and decision making … For over 30 years, Val drew out the best of those shaping public life in the coastal community of Noosa, in organisations as diverse as Noosa Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, the Anglican Church, and the National Party of Queensland.”
Educated at Sydney’s Fort Street Boys High, he became a chartered accountant before testing his innate dignity with a couple of terms as councillor on the rough and tumble Leichardt Council in Sydney’s inner west, “a cauldron of bolshies” as Michael Gloster described it in his eulogy. But Val (always Val, and no one seems to know what his full name was, although there are hints) not only retained his dignity but became a subtle master of victory by stealth.
After marrying Cheryl (always Chez), he moved to Noosa in 1974 where the couple bought a property on Hastings Street trading as Noosa Beach House and turned it into the Chantilly Restaurant and Resort. They both loved operating the business but Val was increasingly drawn back to the emerging realpolitik of the town, which was getting the balance of development and conservation right. In 1980 when Noosa Shire chairman Ian Macdonald died in office his deputy Bert Wansley took over, creating a casual vacancy for councillor.
The election was a two-horse race between a local farmer’s son, Noel Playford, and a relative newcomer with council experience in Val Smart. As Playford recalled to this writer: “It was close, but I got pipped by Val.”
But the appetite of the farmer’s boy was whetted and prior to the 1982 local elections, he was approached by Michael Gloster to run alongside him and others under the Residents Team banner, which was seriously about reining in uncontrolled development. The Residents got five of their six candidates up (including Playford, Gloster and Peter Bycroft) but to achieve substantial reforms they needed outside help. Gloster recalls: “In the ’82-85 council, the chairman and six of the 12 councillors favoured development over conservation, while our five favoured conservation over development. The remaining councillor was Val Smart who was elected deputy chairman of Noosa Council by his fellow councillors, and set about lifting those around him, both councillors and council staff, to raise the quality of council debate and decision making.”
Val Smart was no leftie or greenie by any stretch of the imagination. He was conservative by upbringing and by experience, but he could smell a rat, and for years Noosa councils had been allowing uncontrolled development without even turning it to the community’s financial advantage. He worked with the Residents and found an ally or two elsewhere, including the newly-elected Bob Abbot. And he brought some rough-house Leichardt tactics to the table. Says Gloster: “If anybody had tried to scuttle a good plan by the tactics used by some councillors in October, Val would have marched us all out of the room and denied them a quorum until they came to their senses. That’s the kind of tactical brilliance he was capable of back in the day.”
The Residents achieved a lot but they also moved too fast and were bundled out in 1985, when Val also departed. But they had created a precedent in putting conservation and community values ahead of a fast buck which would help define the later Playford era in council.
Susie Osmaston, who worked for various politicians of the day, was also a personal friend of the Smarts. She recalls: “My favourite memory was bumping into him in the Junction one morning a very long time ago and he was pushing a pram with such joy, with baby Chanel on board. He was totally overcome that he and Chez had produced such a marvellous little human being, and he said, not for the first or the last time, ‘Not bad for a boy from Leichhardt.’
“He loved his Scots heritage, and years later, when Chanel married an Italian from Calabria, and the groom’s family were hosting festivities in their village, the men in the bridal party wore kilts, marching down through the terror-struck village to the sound of very loud bagpipes, with the villagers all gaping out their windows.”
And here’s the name clue: When Chanel and her Calabrian husband had their first child he was named Valentino, perhaps a nod to both cultures.
Val Smart was a charming man remembered fondly by all who knew him, and who understood the important role he played in the creation of modern Noosa.
