Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart
It’s hard to believe that we are well and truly on the countdown to Christmas with trees being put up, decorations out and our kids on school holidays.
Christmas is a time of joy and celebration and being with loved ones.
It’s also a time where some of our community need an extra bit of support. The annual Mayor’s Christmas Appeal is this year urging our community to support six local charities who are helping those in need during the festive season. Council’s website lists the six local charities seeking support and details of how you can contribute.
The charities are St Vinnies Noosa, Salvation Army Noosa, Santa’s Classy Helpers, Youturn Youth Support, SunnyKids and WomenKind Australia.
Donations can be provided to each of the charities directly (details on Council’s website – noosa.qld.gov.au) or dropped off at the Tewantin-Noosa RSL Club, Memorial Avenue Tewantin, as well as our council offices at 9 Pelican Street, Tewantin, and Cooroy Library, 9 Maple Street Cooroy.
This year, our local charities are looking for donations of presents for children, food items and vouchers, including vouchers to help parents cover the cost of school supplies. Every donation, no matter how small, helps make a difference to those dealing with significant hardship this Christmas.
Noosa Parade upgrade
Although Christmas is fast approaching, our capital works programme continues to deliver with the new 1.2km Noosa Parade active transport corridor now open, catering for both pedestrians and bike riders.
The upgrade delivers new disability-compliant refuge islands and wider pathways, including a 1.5 metre southern pathway and 2.5 metre northern pathway. New LED lighting makes bike-riding and walking in the evening and early mornings safer.
The 1.5 metre on-road bike lane and permanent drop in the speed limit to 40km/h will help improve road safety for all users.
Bus stops in the corridor were also upgraded to meet disability compliance standards.
Council is delivering on its mission to encourage greater uptake of active transport and public transport and reduce dependence on private cars. By providing dedicated on-road bicycle lanes, as well as safer pathways and pedestrian crossings, we hope to see more residents and visitors choosing to leave their cars at home.
Construction of Noosa Parade is partially funded by the Department of Transport and Main Roads through the Cycle Network Local Government Grants program with the balance funded by Council.
River health
Two major flood events occurring earlier this year, and the heavy rain that we have had over the past months are the driver behind the slight decline in the health of Noosa River and its catchment.
The catchment received a B rating in the Healthy Land and Water Report Card.
Grades are down across the SEQ region following disaster-scale floods earlier this year, with many catchments receiving a much lower rating.
Here in Noosa, our rating declined slightly, largely due to the floods transporting more than three times the amount of pollutants into the river than in the year before.
The overall health of Noosa’s waterways is still strong and in good news the report card shows that Noosa residents are some of the most satisfied with their local waterways in all Southeast Qld with a 78 per cent rating.
In addition, 74 per cent of our residents derived very high levels of personal benefits from our waterways compared to 57 per cent for all southeast Queensland. Council continues to invest in the river, together with natural resource management partners, Noosa and District Landcare and the Noosa Integrated Catchment Association.
Gallery praise
Finally, Noosa Regional Gallery has been announced as a finalist for the 2022 Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards (GAMAA) for the 2021 project, FLOATING LAND: at the edge of ideas.
Winners will be announced at an award ceremony in mid-December 2022.
The project, At the edge of ideas, featured an abundance of site-responsive projects, tours, artist-led workshops, performances and unique opportunities for visitors and we wish Noosa Regional Gallery all the very best for the award.
Merry Christmas
This is my second-last column before Christmas, so if you are going away or heading out of the shire to visit family and friends or take a holiday, on behalf of all Councillors I wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. We thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to continuing to work for you and with you in 2023.
Merry Christmas, Clare
