In a council communique, Mayor Frank Wilkie states, “The DMP (Destination Management Plan) will help ultimately determine the form, function and funding for Tourism Noosa.” Council have been working on this plan for several years and the idea was to tie TN funding to KPIs based on the plan. There was even to be further community consultation following council’s summary of the feedback received at the well-attended community workshops. Council now appears set to make a decision on funding Tourism Noosa at the next General Meeting without even having a DMP in place.
Tourism is not the only game in town
Tourism is a relatively low-value industry in the scheme of things because it is subject to visitor fluctuations and seasonal employment. When Covid came to the shire five years ago, the economy here survived due to its diversity. Sectors such as healthcare, education, construction, retail and professional services continued relatively unscathed. We are facing an existential crisis here with housing supply and traffic congestion. As the population burgeons to the south of us, we will inevitably become a drive destination. with its ensuing low economic value. We are failing the economy here if we continue to give scant support to our other important industry groups. We need to ensure we don’t turn off the trend towards higher value industries which will most certainly go elsewhere due to the increased costs of doing business here.
The time to act is now
Noosa is at the crossroads in regard to tourism. It is time to reverse the downward spiral of a shire long admired for its efforts to create a sustainable society in tune with its natural assets. The council motto, “Different by Nature” applies to both residents and visitors alike. The decisions councillors make in the coming week will be especially important given the state expects South East Queensland will be home to an additional 2.2 million people over the next 20 years. Currently more than two million visitors arrive here each year (Tourism Noosa Annual Report 2023-24). Unless we get a plan in place now, the impact of day visitors on our stretched infrastructure will be almost unimaginable.
Council’s aim was to encourage the tourism industry here to stand on its own two feet when it comes to marketing, and use rates and surcharges on this rating group to pay for tourism infrastructure. Full accounting for the financial impacts of tourism here was obviously one of the reasons for getting the TN subsidy back into the general rating pool early in the Stewart administration.
Not the hinterland too
Where I live, in the Noosa hinterland, my group is trying to hold on to the fabric of a way of life based around an evolving community of residents going about a normal life without the disruption of high visitor numbers. We have a balanced economy and towns and villages which have normal social interactions, and very often residents look out for each other. Each Sunday a food pantry opens its doors for those in need. Like much of the shire, we have infrastructure issues and some traffic issues at major intersections in peak hours. We’re also in the queue for improvements to our roads, including the many kilometres of gravel roads, and lack even sufficient bus shelters on our school bus routes. We love our towns, but we often feel we are under pressure from Tourism Noosa to “take our share of the visitors” to the shire. This despite having very little tourist accommodation. TN promote a Noosa Country Drive which mixes visitor traffic on the Pomona-Kin Kin Road with over 200 daily heavy vehicle movements from the Kin Kin Quarry. Our worst fear, however, is the contagion of housing stock being turned into holiday accommodation.
Giving back to the residents
We need a smarter economic plan, one which includes giving back to our residents the wonderful amenity we once enjoyed. The value of a society which is diverse, vibrant, and economically stable is immeasurable. Sure, visitors will always be welcome here, but we need a balance. If we don’t arrest the drain in our younger population, our school numbers will fall further. If we don’t reverse the drift in our housing stock to holiday accommodation, we’ll further encourage a hollow suburbia without diversity and one that lowers amenity for residents.
Noosa has already reached an overload in visitor numbers, so continuing to subsidise Tourism Noosa is tantamount to using council funds to both diminish residential liveability here and to trash the Noosa brand.
Councillors really are at a crossroads as they meet to decide on real change in Noosa’s tourism policy. Let’s hope they vote with our better future in mind.
Rod Ritchie, president,
Cooroy Area Residents Association
