After six years of work, Noosa Council staff put forward a draft Noosa River Catchment Pla, at Monday’s general council meeting that included the establishment of a Conservation Park, but after more than hour of questions and debate, the plan was deferred to council’s October meetings.
Having a catchment plan would enable council to access state and federal government funding for river health, staff said.
It would provide a framework for collaboration with key partners and the draft plan had a range of actions and opportunities for community and stakeholder engagement.
Among the opportunities was for Kabi Kabi people to play a greater role in river management and the possible establishment of an Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger program.
Among the actions was “the establishment of a Conservation Park under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) across fish habitat areas to protect and improve the health, biodiversity and species’ habitats of the Noosa River“.
Staff said “this would provide a statutory head of power for better integration of river management across government agencies under a trust agreement and joint management plan with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science“.
“At the moment, council has no jurisdiction over the river. This would give us seat at the table via a management plan,“ staff said on Monday.
“We learnt from the 2019 draft plan that other government agencies are not happy with council taking over. This is looking at a more structured way.
“If council has concerns, we would have a voice at the table.“
The plan states that the “Conservation Park would explicitly recognise that the current fish habitat area regulations and management principles continue to apply including ongoing commercial and recreational fishing, with Department of Fisheries (DAF) having continued responsibilities for governing sustainable fishing“, and staff said, “that remit would not shift“.
“Why don’t we just leave them to do their job?“ Cr Amelia Lorentson asked.
“We’re saying there’s a large portion of the Noosa River that needs conservation. There are lots of issues such as mooring, pollution. We would have more say,“ staff said.
Mayor Clare Stewart asked how the situation would differ with council still beholden to the state, to which officers replied that it would provide a more formalised governance arrangement.
“There are layers of legislation and multiple agencies involved in regulating the river,“ staff said.
“Council doesn’t have seat at table of legislative power. Trying to get action on certain things is challenging. This mechanism gives us legislative head of power.
“We can’t override state legislation. It’s about saying there’s a range of objectives we want to achieve for our river and have wanted to achieve for over 25 years. This puts us in better place to achieve this.“
The report stated that “Noosa River planning over the years had brought many improvements in managing and coordinating river-related issues including speed limit changes, ecological restoration, marine zone regulations for waterskiing and jet skiing, planning scheme requirements for marine related foreshore development, improved environmental monitoring, and enhanced river-based infrastructure for boat access“.
Cr Lorentson called for the matter to be deferred to enable time for feedback from stakeholders, questions to be answered and for a workshop for councillors.
“This is first time the report has come to council. A conservation park never been raised before,“ she said.
Not all councillors wanted to further extend the planning process by deferring the matter, including Cr Brian Stockwell.
“We’ve had six years’ consultation,“ he said.
“We’ve had multiple forms of community consultation. We should understand issues and aspirations. It’s been workshopped. It has been thousands of hours of consultation.
“It’s time for political leadership.
“I believe the plan is a professional plan that respects the views of a broad range of the community.“
Councillors voted 4:3 in favour of deferring the matter to the October round of council meetings.
Council’s Noosa River planning history:
Planning and management for the Noosa River by Council has an extended and ongoing history from the early 2000s when the Noosa River Plan was first being developed.
The first council plan was developed in 2004 as a whole of government endorsed plan for the river extending from the top of Lake Cootharaba down to the Noosa estuary.
Various community consultation has occurred over the past 20 years including consultation as part of the 2004 river plan, 2008 Anchoring and Mooring Strategy, Noosa River Community Jury in 2016, two rounds of community consultation as part of the updated 2019 Noosa River Plan, and the Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Committee between 2021 and 2023.
The Noosa River Community Jury was established to deliberate on council’s role in managing anchoring and mooring, community uses and jetty leases. The Jury recommended that Noosa Council take on the responsibility of managing these on-river and foreshore activities for the Noosa River.
In 2017 Council commenced a review and update of the 2004 Noosa River Plan as a whole-of-catchment management approach to protecting and enhancing the environmental, economic and social assets of the river and broader catchment.
Extensive consultation with internal and targeted external stakeholders was carried out throughout 2018, and a draft plan endorsed for further public consultation in November 2019. Community consultation occurred from December to January 2020/21. Public and stakeholder feedback indicated mixed support.
In January 2021 council determined that there was no longer a need for council to take on extra management responsibilities for anchoring, mooring, commercial uses and commercial jetties due to Maritime Safety Queensland’s (MSQ) commitment to river management and marine safety in Noosa. Council considered that mutually beneficial outcomes can be achieved by working with and supporting MSQ which has a locally-based office and dedicated officer.
The Noosa River Stakeholder Committee was formed in April 2021 in partnership with MSQ and key community stakeholders and focused largely on anchoring and mooring reforms which are now being progressed by MSQ through state government approval processes.
An updated Noosa River Catchment Management Plan has now been drafted, drawing on feedback received from consultation, scientific research, and the many partnerships, programs and projects underway.
