It was the right decision for Noosa Council to relinquish trusteeship of the Noosa North Shore Aircraft Landing Ground Reserve for state government inclusion in the surrounding National Park, Cr Brian Stockwell told council’s ordinary meeting last Thursday.
This land was of international conservation significance, he said.
The Department of Resources wrote to Council on 11 July advising the Department of Environment and Science (DES) was seeking to acquire the Noosa North Shore Aircraft Landing Ground Reserve for inclusion in the surrounding Great Sandy National Park and sought confirmation council would relinquish it.
The 428ha lot located 3km south of Teewah contains high ecological value wetlands and habitat for threatened and endangered species including the koala and eastern ground parrot, Cr Stockwell said.
“It would be an abomination for council to say anything else,” he said.
“What did the community say was the highest priority in the liveability survey – the environment.
“It’s about what in the long term is the best tenure for the lot.”
A report prepared by council officers determined “the trusteeship transferring to DES would serve a greater public interest and deliver broader community benefits. The transfer will also likely assist the anticipated reinvigoration of the campaign to re-nominate the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park for World Heritage Listing”.
The reserve has been of interest to the State for the past 30 years and recognised by successive parliaments as being of significant value for inclusion into the Great Sandy National Park.
In 1991 a Fitzgerald Commission of Inquiry into the Conservation Management and use of Fraser Island and the Great Sandy Region recommended the Noosa North Shore Landing Ground be closed and added to National Park.
A year later State Cabinet approved the declaration of the Noosa North Shore Landing Ground as National Park on the proviso the areas required for emergency landings or ultra light purposes were retained.
In 2003 Council’s Noosa North Shore Management Plan contained an action to transfer the landing ground to National Park on the proviso that areas contained for emergency landings, ultralight purposes, helicopter training and model aircraft use be retained as a reserve for landing ground purposes or that the whole area be transferred to National Park provided documented evidence was given that the use of the landing ground be allowed to continue.
The land has been gazetted as a landing reserve since 1948 with three runways established in the 1970s.
The reserve has two resident clubs, the Sunshine Coast Sports Aviators and the Noosa Model Flyers.
Council reported tenures for both clubs expired in November 2021. SCSA was issued a five-year lease in November 2021 but has not executed that lease. NMF’s tenure renewal has been in abeyance pending SCSA’s lease execution, as that lease establishes future management and maintenance responsibility frameworks for the site’s shared runways, council officers reported.
Council notified the resident user groups of the proposal to transfer trusteeship of the reserve to the state government in November 2022.
Officers said both groups were in favour of the trusteeship remaining with council because of “unfamiliarity with the Department of Environment and Science and concerns over the future use of the reserve”.
Councillors voted in favour of transferring trusteeship of the land to DES and requested the department consult with the community and resident clubs regarding future use of the reserve and its suitability for flying activities and emergency operations.
