By Margaret Maccoll
The future of Peregian Beach Surf Club looks set to remain in the hands of lifesavers after Noosa Council voted unanimously at Monday’s General Meeting to offer a three-year Trustee Permit to Surf Lifesaving Queensland for the whole building and surrounds for surf lifesaving purposes.
The agreement is subject to the permit holder progressing toward the establishment of a new Peregian Beach Surf Club entity and to sharing Level 1 of the building with other community groups at times when it does not compromise surf lifesaving activities.
Also included in the permit issue was the prohibition of gaming machines on the premises.
The decision follows Council’s calls for Expressions of Interest to occupy Level 1 of the two storey building which is gazetted by the State Government for surf lifesaving purposes.
Two submissions were received by Council from Surf Lifesaving Queensland Sunshine Coast Branch and Ocean Life Saving Association (OLSA), a recently formed incorporated group focused on environmental initiatives and made up of a number of partners including Peregian Beach Community Association (PBCA).Council’s report on the EOI noted the OLSA submission “could be considered to align with the site’s reserve purpose but did not involve any specific surf lifesaving activities. Tenure options for that proposal, therefore, would require consultation with the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy to determine if the State Government would agree to the use proposed by OLSA”.
The discussion on Monday was delayed while Councillors Tony Wellington and Frank Wilkie were questioned by fellow councillors on their declared “perceived conflict of interest” on the issue.
Both councillors admitted to having received $200 donations to their 2016 election campaigns from Barry Cotterell, the president of PBCA which has links to OLSA. Cr Wilkie was asked further questions about his previous support of PBCA and family ties to the organisation of which his mother is a member and his father who passed away in 2017 had been a previous president. Despite the perceived conflict of interest the majority of councillors voted to permit both councillors to remain in Council and take part in the discussion. Cr Wilkie said the offer to SLSQ and a shared access to community groups would provide the greatest opportunity to heal the rift in the community that resulted from the uncertainty of its future.
Cr Frank Pardon said he was happy the surf club would remain a surf club. “We need life savers for obvious reasons – to save lives,” he said. He said Council would need to spend a lot of money going forward to bring the building up to standard.
Council’s decision will be decided finally at its Ordinary Meeting on Thursday.
