The Noosa Council Ordinary Meeting of Thursday 21 March 2019
The day in Council when conservation took a back seat
Some 15 protesters with banners proclaiming that Noosa Council should do more to save the Glossy Black Cockatoo formed a phalanx outside the Council chambers before the meeting. Mayor Tony Wellington and Cr Ingrid Jackson were in attendance and I think I saw Cr Jess Glasgow wander by but I didn’t notice any other councillors show up. What sort of conservationists are they, I thought, before setting aside the habits of a lifetime to join the protesters, actually holding a placard and rationalising that I was just exercising my democratic rights.
The save the birds theme was picked up at 6pm when the Ordinary Meeting commenced and Cr Jackson presented a petition bearing nearly 2,700 names on behalf of Glossy Team Sunrise, the group trying to save a cockatoo watering hole and food trees being removed in favour of a section of an aged care facility at Sunrise Beach.
When the Blue Care development application subsequently came up for debate, Cr Jackson said the original approval had been granted around 2008 and now Blue Care have made some changes but there is still great concern over the glossy black cockatoo habitat. She pointed to the difficult balance that needs to be struck between conservation and aged care which is often difficult to achieve.
Cr Joe Jurisevic asked if the works proposed around the aged care development had been extended to include extra feed trees for the cockatoos and it seems Blue Care have agreed to extra feed trees being planted on the site. Cr Frank Wilkie said said there is a nearby nature refuge which also has feed trees. Cr Jurisevic said there had been other plantings close to nearby Sunshine Beach High School.
Cr Stockwell admitted this was an endangered ecosystem but unfortunately the earlier planning decision set the tone. Mayor Wellington said he appreciated the problems posed by an historic approval, adding that he had made a commitment to the Glossy Team Sunrise group to write to Blue Care seeking further concessions.
The motion to amend the development proposal incorporates a range of modifications including some minor changes that will be of some advantage to the cockatoos. It was passed unanimously.
Trouble at Club: community friction (and a hidden agenda?)
Before the Council met, I am told that the acting CEO of Surf Lifesaving Queensland, Kris Beavis, made a last minute drive from Brisbane to Noosa to meet Mayor Wellington. The subject matter was a Council motion to be brought on that evening calling for expressions of interest for the use of the top floor of the Peregian Beach Surf Club building, the ground floor of which houses surf lifesaving equipment, the top floor of which is used for training and other activities.
This proposition seemed mundane but it represented a critical skirmish in a drawn out and bitter conflict between different factions of the Peregian community. Whoever takes control of the upstairs space was seen by one of the warring factions, based on the Peregian Beach Community Association, to have secured a bridgehead in an argument about who could legitimately define “Peregian Beach community values” and who would control the development and destiny of Peregian Beach.
The other group, the Peregian Family and Friends Association, is struggling to establish a viable and sustainable surf lifesaving club and is aligned with Surf Lifesaving Queensland as well as promoting a broader view of what should constitute the Peregian community.
After meeting the Mayor, on returning to Brisbane Beavis sent a letter to all councillors. He wrote that his organisation had “a strong desire to develop a sustainable, independent Peregian Beach Surf Life Saving Club” but noted that “without a long term lease or control of the full clubhouse area we have a strong view that this will severely compromise the capacity to provide a sustainable lifesaving operation for the community of Peregian”.
In other words, his organisation needed both ground and top floors of the building to operate a viable surf life saving club.
As the councillors began their consideration of this matter, they had both positions before them.
Cr Jackson kicked off with a motion to defer the EOI process until the next round of council meetings. She said the Council should seek legal advice on whether the building can in fact be used for non-surf lifesaving activities. The legal problem she was alluding to was an official ‘gazettal’ in 1987 that the building was part of a “reserve for local government (surf lifesaving) purposes”. This legal definition seemed to leave no room for expressions of interest that sought uses of the building other than that. So a broad-based EOI would represent a monumental waste of time.
Not so, said staff director Michael Shave who revealed State authorities had been consulted on the matter and apparently said they were not worried about an EOI. Cr Pardon disclosed he’d spoken with a “legal eagle” who said likewise. Cr Wilkie, a resident of Peregian Beach, said the Council’s staff were professional, they had legal advice and the Council should proceed quickly to an EOI.
I was surprised by Cr Wilkie’s stance. He lives locally and I thought he should support the wider community who, in my soundings, want the club for sole use by lifesavers but to me he seemed to be on side with the Peregian Beach Community Association (PBCA) that wants to grab the top half of the building.
After a couple of other contributions offering more spin than substance, the deferral motion went to a vote and was lost 2-5, with Crs Jackson and Glasgow in the minority. The Mayor then proposed the original motion for an EOI and a backflipping Cr Glasgow seconded it, confusing the 1,000 or so people viewing the meeting on video stream and perhaps even himself.
Speaking to the motion for an EOI, Mayor Wellington said it was the best and fairest way to determine use of the top floor. In doing so he’d already received a range of options from various community groups.
Presumably one of these came from PBCA (president, Barry Cotterell) and/or the recently established and mysterious Ocean Life Saving Foundation (vice president, Barry Cotterell) whose leaked letter circulating Noosa at present discloses that “the community [sic] is gearing up to take over upstairs, with downstairs used either by [Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club], or another club providing life savers or council providing life guards. The Foundation even has a substitute for Nippers called a “Junior Ocean Awareness Program”.
So, before councillors even began to discuss this issue, it seemed the fix might be in for a PBCA/Ocean Life Saving Foundation combination to end up winning the EOI. I’m no fortune teller but in time you will know whether I was right.
And the ‘debate’ went on. The Mayor hoped the EOI would determine best use. Cr Glasgow said thanks to the Noosa Heads Surf Club for five years of work and money before saying he supported the Mayor, double back flip with pike and belly flop. Ten minutes ago he voted for a deferral to stop the EOI. Cr Pardon said if the idea fails then the council will have to step in. What? The council has just supervised this shemozzle for five years. Cr Stockwell said we need an EOI to bring in a new use.
Cr Jackson, speaking against the motion, said she understands PBCA’s commitment to the community but that they should support the surf club. She reminded councillors about the letter they had received from the SLSQ CEO after his visit with the Mayor that afternoon: the SLSQ’s preferred position was for a long term lease. The EOI could compromise surf lifesaving at Peregian Beach. She said surf lifesaving should continue in a sustainable way and that the new community house could offer support for other purposes.
Cr Joe Jurisevic said an EOI could support an interest group aligned with surf lifesaving (I wonder what the favoured proposal is – stand-up paddling? surf shop? night club? whale watching? restaurant? fitness club? tiddlywinks?).
Cr Wilkie, admitting to a history of controversy at Peregian Beach, stated the EOI is a transparent process but will give clarity. (But I don’t think it will bring harmony.)
Closing, the Mayor said the council has to review community group interest and that SLSQ had recent problems and hence community groups are interested. I did not see the logic.
The motion for an EOI was put and passed 6-1 (Cr Jackson opposing). But a mere council resolution will not shove this one under bed. More to come, I’d say. Lots more.
The meeting concluded at 7:20 pm.
