Christmas is well and truly upon us, or as my three children would say, two more sleeps!
Speaking of the festive season and holidays, the Go Noosa Free Holiday Buses are back for the Christmas and New Year period from 10 December to 22 January. The free services include the temporary route 064 and 065 buses. The temporary 064 bus route service provides a connection between Noosa Heads and Peregian Beach and the 065 Loop Bus is greener than ever with the addition of an electric bus.
It will also be free to travel on five existing Translink buses that service Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach, Noosa Parklands, Tewantin, Noosa Civic, Cooroy, Cooran and Pomona (routes 626, 627, 628, 629 and 632 only). For more information, please visit translink.com.au or call 13 12 30.
Noosa Council continues to lead the way in disaster preparedness and mitigation.
We have partnered with the US tech company Pano Al to trial 360-degree ultra-high-definition cameras and advanced Al technology to detect bushfires early, verify their location and provide real-time intelligence. We are the first Council in Qld to partner with the company to trial the technology.
The aim is to demonstrate the capabilities of new technology to improve the way we react and respond to fires.
Pano Stations have been installed at Mt Tinbeerwah lookout in Tewantin National Park and on Black Mountain to continuously scan the landscape to patrol and identify potential bushfire activity. Rapid confirmation of a fire may help our fire emergency personnel to identify and extinguish a blaze before it becomes a threat.
And just in time for Christmas, Noosa Shire’s second BookShelf library kiosk- a self service book vending kiosk has opened at the Pomona Community House. This follows the successful opening of the Peregian Beach library kiosk recently.
The kiosk is packed with more than 200 items available for borrowing. You will just need a Noosa library card which can be obtained by calling Noosa Library Service on 5329 6555 or joining online at libraries.noosa.qld.gov.au
The kiosk, as well as the weekly mobile library visits to Pomona, are part of our new outreach/community-based library service which offers additional access to the library in the hinterland.
On the back of Council’s incredibly popular Living Well Noosa Program we have added some additional programmes to this terrific initiative.
Check out traditional Japanese martial Arts Aikijutsu and Kenjutsu for 16-plus.
Living Well Noosa is a free and low-cost preventative health initiative developed to improve the health and wellbeing of the Noosa Community. The program offers low-cost and free activities to improve your physical, social, mental and spiritual wellbeing including yoga, tai chi, aqua aerobics plus events specially designed for seniors with our Living Well Seniors Program.
For more information, please check out the whole Living Well program calendar at noosa.qld.gov.au/living-well-noosa Please note that all activities will cease over the Christmas break but return on Monday 9 January.
Finally, as we near Christmas, bin collection days remain unchanged over the Christmas and New Year period so please put your bins out on usual days.
If you fill up your wheelie bin early over the break and need an extra rubbish, recycling or garden waste pickup, we can help. You can book an extra one-off wheelie bin collection online for around $15. Find out how at noosa.qld.gov.au/online-waste-forms
Our walk-in Customer Service Centre at Tewantin will close from 4:30pm on Friday 23 December and re-open on 3 January. However, our customer service team will still be available on the phone during the break, except for public holidays. Just call 5329 6500. For a full list of council facility Christmas and New Year opening hours please visit our website at noosa.qld.gov.au
As we come to the close of 2022, the year has been challenging for so many in our community with our major weather events, the impacts of Covid still being felt, rising costs and unprecedented inflation.
Among all of this, however, the resilience and spirit of the Noosa Shire community has so clearly shone through. It has and continues to inspire me and all other Councillors on a daily basis.
On behalf of them and all at Noosa Council we wish you, your families and loved ones, a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas and every blessing. We look forward to working with, and for you, in 2023.
Merry Christmas, love Clare.
