The Noosa Destination Management Plan (DMP) was passed by a 4:3 majority vote at Noosa Council’s general committee meeting on Monday after five hours of debate where 15 amendments were put forward, seven of which were carried, and is still to be ratified at the ordinary meeting on Thursday.
During the debate some councillors raised concerns about the plan’s lack of refinement, feasibility, and economic pathways.
Others said it had been delayed too long and the community were calling for a decision to be made on it.
Cr Jessica Phillips asked staff whether proposed actions in the plan such as visitor contribution models, paid parking or congestion charging had undergone feasibility and economic assessment.
She raised concerns that actions proposed in the plan will be acted on without further process and should be reframed as investigations for future consideration.
Council staff said the plan all needed more work, that an action plan was about addressing some of the challenges raised in the community and that a visitor contribution model was an advocacy piece that required state legislative change to advance.
Council previously endorsed the parking management plan which contained regulated and dynamic parking, staff said.
Cr Nicola Wilson said that so many amendments were put forward was an indication the plan was not yet ready for adoption.
She said it fell short of community expectations and felt rushed and incomplete.
Mayor Frank Wilkie said the actions in the plan needed to be costed and community engagement undertaken before implementation.
He said a lot of actions were pre-emptive and hadn’t yet been decided on.
Cr Wilkie said measures would be improved and refined but once endorsed the journey could commence.
“You want to be a council that does things. This DMP is a good step forward,” he said.
Cr Brian Stockwell said 3000 people had been involved in creating the plan and the vast majority of Noosa people supported what was in the plan.
Staff told the meeting the DMP was the culmination of many years of extensive community and stakeholder engagement, technical analysis and collaborative development.
“The DMP provides a long-term 10 year horizon, evidence-based framework to ensure that Noosa’s natural assets, lifestyle and experiences can be enjoyed for generations to come. It responds to the needs and aspirations of residents, businesses, Traditional Owners and visitors, and reflects the strong message heard throughout consultation: Noosa is a place we love and protecting that liveability is essential to our economy, our wellbeing and our shared future,” staff said.
“The DMP aims to identify actions to help address the challenges brought by Noosa’s growing popularity, such as population growth, increased visitation, changing travel behaviours, and the increasing impacts of climate change on our destination. It seeks to redefine the role of tourism in Noosa’s future, ensuring it supports and protects the environment, lifestyle, and values while contributing to a thriving economy.
“The plan has been shaped through extensive community engagement and is tailor-made for Noosa. With overwhelming support (75 per cent of all respondents to consultation of the Draft DMP) and across all age groups and geographical locations the message was clear – build on our strong environmental foundations, put our community at the heart and shift towards a regenerative tourism model – one that leaves Noosa better than it was found.”
The DMP has been structured with four guiding principles, strategies on how to approach them, actions and measures.
It’s principles include Respecting the community, Leading the Way, Living our Values and Tourism for Good.
Under these principles the goals are to “improve quality of life, connectivity, and housing supply through responsible tourism”, “position Noosa as a leader in responsible, regenerative tourism”, “ensure residents, businesses, and visitors actively contribute to keeping Noosa special” and “ensure tourism actively enhances and regenerates Noosa’s community, environment, and economy”.
Issues identified for focus are wide ranging and include short-stay accommodation, long-term rentals, public transport, parking and traffic, day visitation management, protecting natural assets, exploring alternative funding models including visitor contributions, joint custodian programs, hinterland regenerative and establishing a Destination Stewardship Council.
The plan includes a monitoring and evaluation framework and a draft initial 3-year Implementation Plan that outlines what it aims to achieve, how to get there, and how to measure success.
Staff said the Draft implementation plan would be reviewed regularly and updated annually.
The Destination Stewardship Council is to be established to bring together people and organisations with the capacity to help deliver on the DMP and a Delivery Risk Register will outline delivery risks, dependencies, resource constraints and mitigation strategies.
It is intended that once established the Destination Stewardship Council will refine and oversee the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to track progress, manage risks and ensure that resources are aligned with the Plan’s strategic goals.
Amendments introduced at Monday’s meeting included ensuring engagement is undertaken with businesses or residents likely to be affected by any action before a decision is made and setting a clear objective for the economic management of the visitor economy.
A final decision on the DMP will be made at council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday.
