Stability and connection restored
A $40million, three-year repair job on what’s believed to be Queensland’s largest landslip at Black Mountain has finished, with residents being thanked for their patience since the road disappeared in February 2022.
Being 130 metres wide and five-storeys deep, the abyss needed 6000 cubic metres of concrete, 800 tonnes of steel, 70 upslope anchors, over 260 piles between 23-28 metres deep and 60 drains to desaturate and provide a complex framework for the unstable geology.
It took engineers 12 months to understand the subsurface before being able to design a solution and contributions from three levels of government to repair the road which is tipped never to fail in that location again.
The $40 million bill exceeds the amount often spent on council’s annual capital works budget and could not have been achieved without State and Federal funding.
Back to the campgrounds
Illegal campers have been given strong incentives to choose campgrounds over carparks with over 50 fines of $333 handed out in two separate patrols conducted by Council’s Local Laws team in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.
The signage restricting overnight parking between 10pm and 4am will also be extended from Noosa Heads to Peregian Beach.
Officers will continue to exercise discretion and not fine genuinely homeless people, instead connecting them with accommodation and other service providers.
Affordable housing project
Council advanced its Housing Strategy and commitment to play its part in the national housing crisis by approving remediation and civil works on its land at 62 Lake MacDonald Drive Cooroy, where community housing provider Coast2Bay has committed to build and manage 25 affordable units on one lot.
The council has committed to conducting community consultation to help determine land uses on the remaining two lots.
Councillors set the 2025 agenda
Delivering $51 million in capital works – including the $9 million Doonella Bridge rebuild – sits high on council’s priorities over the next 12 months.
Councillors endorsed the new Operational Plan which is the council’s contract with the community on how resources will be directed this financial year.
This councillor-endorsed blueprint gives staff clear direction on how to progress the strategies and plans developed after extensive community consultation such as the Environment Strategy, Housing Strategy, Transport Strategy, and the Noosa Plan 2020.
These councillor-endorsed plans inform all the recommendations staff bring before councillors for approval over the next year.
The plan ensures resources are available for critical work like the shire-wide road reseal and gravel re-sheeting program as well as upgrades to footpaths, cycle ways and park furniture. Progress is also being made on elements of the Noosaville Foreshore Infrastructure Master Plan, including a new Changing Places facility.
Designs for the Beckman’s Road duplication in collaboration with the state are also funded.
Advocacy
Council approved two motions recently on the State’s Shark Control Program. One being a motion to be considered for acceptance at the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) conference calling on the State to support councils that may wish to have the state trial the removal of mesh nets during whale migration season.
The other was a Mayoral Minute for Noosa Council to write to the State requesting it consider Noosa as a trial site for the removal of mesh nets during whale migration season in conjunction with education and consultation as per the recommendation in the KPMG review of the Queensland Shark Management Control Plan 2021-2025.
It’s understood the State is currently not in favour of trialling removal of mesh nets during whale migration season.
Reaching out further
We’re wanting to create a community feedback panel made up of residents who may not always take part in community consultation and want to help shape our future.
It’s a pilot program designed to replicate the demographic profile of Noosa, give better insight into what really matters and to test how representative input can guide our work across the shire.
It’s open to all Noosa residents and ratepayers, and you can opt out any time.
To sign up or learn more noosa.qld.gov.au/About-Council/News-and-publications/Residents-Survey
Along with the regular forms of feedback and engagement, deputations, question time, councillor coffee chats and the more regular hosting of council meetings in community halls, it’s part of making Noosa Council one of the most accessible and consultative in Australia.
