The much anticipated draft Destination Management Plan (DMP) was unanimously endorsed by councillors and released by Noosa Council for six weeks of community engagement and feedback from 6 August to 14 September following a special meeting on Monday.
Strengthening STA controls, introducing parking systems with residents prioritised, developing a new events strategy with limits on size and scale, managing access to popular sites, and exploring tourism contributions such as paid parking and congestion charges are included in actions listed in the draft DMP.
Of more than 100 actions listed are initiating a Joint Custodian Program that invites visitors, businesses and locals to actively support Noosa’s regenerative tourism values and actions, and a partnership between council and Tourism Noosa (and other stakeholders) to ensure funding, marketing and programs reflect community values and align with the direction of this DMP.
“Noosa is loved for its natural beauty, strong sense of community and relaxed lifestyle, but many residents feel the balance has tipped. Like other iconic destinations around the world, we’re feeling the strain of increased visitation, changing travel behaviours and rapid growth, but our response can be tailored specifically for Noosa,” Mayor Frank Wilkie said.
“Noosa’s draft DMP is not about attracting more visitors. It focuses on a regenerative approach, and ways tourism can contribute and help leave Noosa better than we found it.
“It aims to ensure tourism is a force for good, preserving the lifestyle residents cherish and making sure it delivers local benefits– by improving public spaces, supporting local businesses and easing pressure on, and helping to fund, infrastructure.”
The Draft DMP was developed from community engagement, and conversations with a Project Control Group and External Reference Group in response to a DMP discussion paper in October and November 2023 that yielded more than 1000 submissions, as well as feedback from previous community engagements like, the Liveability survey, Corporate Plan and various plans and strategies, staff told the meeting.
The staff report states since the initial 2023 engagement, further rigorous analysis has occurred, including a process to align the findings against Council’s plans and strategies which helped determine which issues and actions were already being addressed or identified and those that were new.
The analysis revealed 70 per cent of actions to already be under way with 30 per cent being new ideas or not yet commenced.
Four ‘Things that Matter Most’ to the community were identified in the feedback, as:
– Ensuring tourism alignment with Noosa’s values,
– Tackling congestion especially traffic congestion in high demand areas at peak times,
– Reviewing the local tourism model (Tourism Noosa) structure and funding (including events),
– Protecting Noosa’s neighbourhoods from STA, and
– Ensuring tourism contributes in ways that positively impact the community.
The meeting heard these community values were refined in the draft DMP into a four principle approach complete with actions and tasks.
These principles are: Respecting Community, Living our Values, Leading the Way, and Tourism for Good.
“A deep and abiding love for Noosa is something we all share. At its heart the DMP is how we as a community can collectively care for Noosa now and for generations to come,” Cr Wilkie said.
“This is the role we all can play as joint custodians respecting and protecting this exceptional place that we all love.
“This is a plan that recognises everyone is part of the solution, it’s being done purely for the love of Noosa.
“Informed by over 1000 submissions, this community-led plan outlines how we can ensure Noosa is insulated from the impacts of its popularity as a destination, the increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters and how we can channel visitation in a way that benefits Noosa for all and forever.”
The community engagement on the draft DMP is aimed at raising awareness and interest in the DMP process through a range of approaches including video, social media, radio, newspaper, information sessions, coffee chats, newsletters, fact sheets, website updates, posters and postcards to every letter box in the Shire.
Residents will be invited to complete a Your Say survey or make a submission on the Draft DMP. In addition, an interactive digital platform will be available for the community to explore the principles, actions, measures of success and potential opportunities and implications of some of the actions.
Noosa is loved for its natural beauty, strong sense of community and relaxed lifestyle, but many residents feel the balance has tipped. Like other iconic destinations around the world, we’re feeling the strain of increased visitation, changing travel behaviours and rapid growth, but our response can be tailored specifically for Noosa.
To view the draft DMP and have your say, visit yoursay.noosa.qld.gov.au
