By Phil Jarratt
Noosa Council this week gave its final rubber stamp to what many regard as the most significant environmental project ever undertaken in Noosa – the acquisition and transition to National Park of 2400 hectares of former forestry land, linking Cooloola to Coolum in an almost uninterrupted arc of green space.
Councillors voted unanimously to accept the final report of the transition committee of the Yurol-Ringtail Conservation project, chaired by former Council CEO Brett de Chastel, bringing to a close the formal side of a remarkable project, dreamed about for half a century and delivered over the past decade. All the key players from the past four councils were present in the chamber for the historic vote. The other side of the picture, out there in the former logging camps, will be completed with the final handover of forestry in late August.
“A lot of people don’t realise the scope of what is now National Park,” Mr de Chastel told Noosa Today on the eve of delivering his report. “This is a vast tract of land on which replanting is well underway [some 131,000 trees already planted] and will be a magnificent addition to Noosa’s natural environment for generations to come.”
As Noosa Today reported two years ago when the project entered its final phase: Yurol-Ringtail is perhaps best understood by taking a hinterland drive. From Tewantin, head out along McKinnon Drive towards Boreen Point. To your left, with the exception of a few private properties, all the forest you see is part of the new park. At Louis Bazzo Drive go left. The forest you see to either side is parkland all the way to the outskirts of Pomona. From Pomona to Cooroy, the forest to the left is parkland. Take the Cooroy-Noosa Road towards Tewantin. From Tinbeerwah to the bottom of the escarpment, the forest on both sides is parkland. Welcome to Yurol-Ringtail. But strangely, few people outside a small cohort who helped create it seem to know much about this extraordinary achievement.
Hopefully Brett de Chastel’s detailed report and background to the project, an edited version of which appears in this edition, will go a long way towards rectifying that situation. Mr de Chastel was also at pains to recognise the work of Noosa Parks Association, and specifically NPA strategist and current vice-president Dr Michael Gloster, acknowledged as the architect of the multi-faceted deal, which involved three different State government departments, a private enterprise plantation forestry management company, a local council, a community based not-for-profit environment group and an Aboriginal People’s Corporation.
Mr de Chastel said: “It is important to recognise the significant role that Noosa Parks Association and Michael Gloster played in this project. From developing the concept, laying the ground work with various stakeholders and agreeing to fund one third of the acquisition costs, NPA was one of the key players in achieving this outcome.
“This was one of the most significant projects I personally worked on while I was Noosa Council CEO. It will have a legacy for generations to come.”
Dr Gloster told Noosa Today: “Over the past 60 years Noosa Parks Association has been honing its skills in facilitating the formation of strategic partnerships, culminating in the success of the multi-partnership Yurol Ringtail Conservation Project. From here on in, only genuine long-term strategic partnerships between Noosa Council, multiple state government departments, environmental groups, tourism and business groups community groups, Kabi Kabi peoples, and at times private sector organisations, will get the job done in tackling the biggest issues Noosa is facing.
“Think community and lifestyle degradation, inadequate and fragmented public transport, dumbed-down town planning, over-tourism and day-tipper gridlock, and a river and lakes system in ecological decline. NPA is in awe of the magnificent ‘let’s get the job done’ innovations of all our project partners in the Yurol-Ringtail project, NPA stands ready to work with them again to tackle Noosa Shire’s looming key challenges.
“Where there is a will, there is always a way.”
Read Brett de Chastel’s report and history of Yurol-Ringtail on page ?
