The passing of former councillor and environmental advocate Heather Melrose was marked at Noosa Council’s Ordinary Meeting last week with a minute silence.
Cr Brian Stockwell spoke about Heather’s environmental activism, her musical abilities and her brilliant mind.
He said most Noosa residents would not have known that when Heather was 8 or 9 years old she was competing in violin and piano against adults and by the age of 18 she was a member of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra as well as having been dux of her school in maths.
After a successful career Heather retired to Noosa, as fate would have it, buying a house on Woodlands Drive, Peregian Beach, overlooking Emu Swamp.
When developer TM Burke proposed to build a space-themed park and a housing development on the high dune heath of Marcus Beach Heather sprung into action.
Cr Stockwell said she spent long hours looking for a loophole to prevent the TM Burke development progressing and 26 years ago organised a protest march down David Low Way that attracted 700 people.
Finally the state government stepped in with then Environment Minister Pat Comben declaring it an area of “high conservation value“ and recommended it be protected.
In 2001 when then Environment Minister Dean Wells announced the inclusion of an extra 600 hectares of land including the contested areas into Noosa National Park land, Heather described it as the culmination of a dream. “I didn’t get into council for anything else,“ she said at the time.
Cr Frank Wilkie said as a young journalist he had been impressed with Heather’s debating skills, her aim to leave Noosa a better place as well as her empathy and kindness, which had inspired him to enter local government.
