Noosa nails down split council gain with more to do

Annual review for Noosa Council is rosy

DRIVING FORCE: Council CEO Brett de Chastel and Mayor Tony Wellington in the shire driver's seat. Picture: Contributed

A POSITIVELY beaming Noosa Council CEO Brett de Chastel has handed down his latest year in review.

While other councils are mired in alleged corrupt conduct scandals and others are battling to stay afloat, Noosa is anything but a local government basket case the de-amalgamation critics warned it would be.

"Although our end-of-year financial statements have not yet been finalised, it is clear that we have had another successful financial year,” Mr de Chastel said.

"Revenues were above budget and expenses were below budget.

"Unemployment rates in Noosa continue to be at historic lows - Noosa 4.5 per cent, compared to the balance of the Sunshine Coast, 5.1 per cent and Queensland, 6 per cent,” he said.

Even with a community approval rating of more than 75 per cent, Mr de Chastel insists resting on their laurels is not an option for councillors or hard-working staff.

Among the goals for this financial year were implementation of Noosa's transport strategy and an environment strategy.

Council will also be "pursuing the State Government on Beckmans Rd” bypass funding.

Areas of improvement the council has been working on, as identified in its community survey, are parking, public facilities, economic development and employment, road maintenance and its response to the concerns.

"It would be an understatement to note that the last 12 months has been busy and productive,” Mr de Chastel said.

"The scale, scope and diversity of subject matter addressed by council during the last 12 months speaks for itself.”

Among the key achievements are finalising the drafting of the new Noosa planning scheme for the state interest check stage and acquiring Johns Landing at Cooroibah and assisting more than 90 people to find alternative accommodation via the Noosa community roundtable process.

The council also signed off on the Noosaville Foreshore Land Use Master Plan process following an exten- sive community consultation and successfully negotiated an additional 2400ha to be added to the environment estate through the Yurol/ Ringtail Conservation project.

Mr de Chastel said there was a record capital works delivery of about $28 million while the council had implemented the roll-out of new green bins to help reduce waste flow into landfill.

The CEO said the council Peregian Beach Digital Hub was starting to crank up its creative output.

Noosa Council has answered more than 100,000 customer inquiries during the last financial year year, swept more than 11,000km of road, and emptied more than a million bins.

"Our council also approved 98.5 per cent of all development applications in 2017/18, which clearly demonstrates we are not a difficult council to deal with when it comes to development,” Mayor Tony Wellington said.

"Noosa's significant input into the development of the South East Queensland Regional Plan helped ensure the outcome did not expand Noosa's urban footprint.

"Nor did it impose the sort of population increases on Noosa that other SEQ council areas are facing.

The mayor said this was "the biggest success story in terms of preserving Noosa's lifestyle and future trajectory”.

"I want to acknowledge the terrific work done by our strategic planners in helping achieve this great result,” Cr Wellington said.

"We will also continue to implement our Transport Strategy and break ground on Cooroy's hinterland playground project. Plus, I look forward to finalising our Environment Strategy and our Noosa River Plan in consultation with the local community,” Mayor Wellington said.