Staying on the topic of the Sunrise Aged Care development, Bettina and Desiré ponders the possibilities of WIMBYism (Welcome In My Back Yard). A vision to minimise the destructive impact on our precious environment and focus on the multiple benefits that could flow from a more environmentally conscious design.
NIMBYism has got a bad reputation, and rightly so. In this post, Desi makes the case for NIMBYism and a community's rights to stand up for NO EXTINCTIONS in our back yards. Save our Sunrise Glossies!
The Periodic Review could have been a good opportunity to show insight, honesty and, yes, courage in addressing the truth of the matter. The Noosa Biosphere has failed women just as it failed the community at large.
More smoke and mirrors as Noosa Council adopts a new funding deed with the NBRF. Watered down transparency, lack of KPIs, no measurement plan ... no cigar.
The supporting papers have been published for the next series of Noosa Council meetings which includes a proposal to change the funding arrangements of the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation.
Despite some councillors insisting that critics of NBRF were merely “a...
In April we had written an open letter to our mayor Tony Wellington about our concerns with regards to a renewal of a funding deed for the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation (NBRF). So naturally I was waiting for the deliberations to begin. Before council hands over any more public funds to the NBRF it would be great to find out a few things. These are my top 5 questions for the NBRF.
Taking on the challenge by Noosa identity Bob Jarvis for someone to brag about any achievements that may have resulted from our UNESCO biosphere status, inaugural chairman of Noosa Biosphere v1 Michael Donovan lists a number of outstanding contributions made by the many volunteers and community leaders who contributed to making it an effective and viable organisation.
After years of efforts to get the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation out of the cupboard to demonstrate that it is eager to engage and be more visible and disclosing about its decisions and operations, here we are in mid-2018 and that cupboard door has resisted all efforts to prise it open.
Michael Donovan's letter to the editor calls the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation a secretive, opaque and mystery organisation of Frankenstein character. And while many of us have tried to help it turns out that, like a bad blind date, the ‘calls’ are not returned.
The current funding deed under which Noosa Council wholly finances the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation (NBRF) terminates on Saturday 30 June and the next day, 1 July, a new three-year agreement will kick in.
When you go down the rabbit hole of plans that relate to the different aspects of Sustainable Tourism, you may never come out again. Have we reached a planning paralysis? How do we move from planning into action?
Let’s take...
Is the Biosphere beef cattle project doing the best for a sustainable planet - and our health?
In recent times, grass-fed cattle raised on pastures as a human food source is receiving much attention in the beef industry as an...
As controversy continues to swirl around the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation, a major recipient of funding from Noosa Council, KEITH JACKSON reveals his experience of trying to make the organisation more transparent and accountable.
The Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation certainly...
Over the past three years I have talked with Noosa Councillors, Council employees, community organisations, clubs, schools and business owners in this region, specifically in relation to establishing Boomerang Bags Noosa (BBN) as a social enterprise in this community.
Having...
Before he entered local politics as Councillor the Sunshine Coast Council in 2012, Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington numbered amongst his activities the publication of a newsletter, ‘The Gumshoe’.
'The Gumshoe' was used as the main communications vehicle by a small...
With 2018 well into Autumn we await with bated breath the announcement of the Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation’s 2017 grants. Or more precisely, the three major grants - six 'small' ones (totalling about $100,000) have been announced.
Through the grapevine,...
It is 2018 and the 10 year UNESCO review for the Noosa Biosphere Reserve is overdue. It was due last year. It has a number of postponements since. Fortunately UNESCO is not a hard taskmaster.
My own involvement with UNESCO's...
It remains a mystery to me why certain folk believe they are the only ones who feel they can shape Noosa's future - and why they feel they should do it in their own mature, white male image.
In 2014,...
