WITH only days left in the 2016 Council Election, candidate Ken Coleman is calling for a more diverse Noosa economy to avoid a rise in rates.
“Our ageing infrastructure is going to hurt Noosa badly if we don’t act decisively and prepare for the increased populations that will be putting pressure on not just our roads and bridges, but also the water supply, electricity network, sanitation, hospital, education, food supply, and natural environment,” Mr Coleman said.
“Unfortunately, all of these things cost money and if we don’t have revenue streams from tourism, business and building then the only source of income for council will be rates – nobody likes to increase rates, it’s bad for re-elections.”
Mr Coleman said to keep rates down the council should support a more “diverse” economy.
“In order to diversify, we need to encourage new business and I am a great believer in innovation in business, it is the way of the future,” he said.
Mr Coleman said the current council was missing opportunities to expand the economy as innovative ideas weren’t “welcomed” and cited a recent houseboat design as an example.
“I was talking to a lady named Claudia recently (who) has designed and built a prototype houseboat (which) has expandable sides and can fit on a normal width trailer so it can be towed by a normal 4WD and is easy to launch and retrieve,” he said.
“She lives in Noosa; she designed (the houseboat) here and built it in Cooroy.
“A couple of articles in a newspaper and online magazines has seen this invention attract attention from around the world.”
Mr Coleman said Claudia wanted to “keep the idea” in Noosa but was unable to do so due to a lack of skilled labour and suitable facilities.
“Claudia will probably take her design, and her ideas, and find somewhere away from Noosa to handle what may well be a multi-million dollar business and who can blame her,” he said.
“There will be no fanfare, no publicity, just the loss of another opportunity for Noosa Shire, Noosa workers, and Noosa’s future.
“My critics are correct; I don’t have all the answers but at least I am willing to ask the questions.”
