By JOLENE OGLE
NOOSA Council has just announced the second agenda item for the community jury and it looks like the Noosa River will be the hot topic for the second jury that will begin deliberations in August.
The new 24-member jury will be asked: “How can we manage the Noosa River better? What role should Council play and what resources should Council apply?”
Noosa mayor Noel Playford said the council and the State Government have been looking for ways to work together to tackle a range of issues affecting the river.
“The community’s keen interest in securing positive outcomes for our much-loved waterway makes this a fitting topic for a community jury to deliberate,” Cr Playford said.
The announcement of the new community jury topic comes as locals ramp-up a push for the council and the State Government to remove the rotting hulks from Noosa River.
The Noosa Ratepayers Association (NRA) has planned a public meeting for 6.15pm on 16 July, at the Boathouse Restaurant, Noosaville.
Among other topics, the community forum will focus on informing residents about what is happening with the boats on Noosa River, what the council and the government are doing to look after the river as well as offer residents the chance to raise any concerns they have about the health of the river.
NRA president Brian Stockwell said both the council and the Queensland Government had been invited to present their positions at the community forum, but Mr Elmes said he was frustrated as that week was a sitting week in parliament.
Cr Playford said there has been great frustration that a river plan developed years ago to manage the river better had only been partially enacted.
“Issues such as pollution from increasing numbers of permanent live-aboards and a lack of control over the number and state of vessels being added to the river have remained a problem that we need to address,” he said.
“We have a small river subject to increasing pressure, and we need action now before it becomes a bigger dumping place for unwanted vessels and cheap accommodation.”
Noosa MP Glen Elmes said he was being proactive in the search for an answer to ridding the river of rotting hulks, but it was not an easy task.
“I’ve been going through the legislation that is specific to the Noosa River and finding out what the regulations are so we can be better informed,” he said.
“But it’s going to take a minefield of searching to find all the relevant information relating to the Noosa River.”
Mr Elmes said he won’t give up and was dedicated to working with Noosa Council to find a solution.
“This needs to be a partnership,” he said.
“One can’t do it without the other, so the council and State Government need to work together.”
