The community has supported a significant rethink on the way the shire is managed as a tourist destination, to ensure Noosa Shire remains a wonderful place to live, work and visit.
It was one of the strong directives to emerge from the six-week community engagement process from September 15 to October 29 2023 about the type of destination we want for the future.
“Our community dedicated about 1300 hours of their time to provide feedback and we certainly appreciate the input,” Mayor Clare Stewart said.
In total, 800 responded to the two online surveys, 300 people attended workshops, coffee chats and stakeholder meetings, while 67 direct submissions were provided.
A report tabled at Thursday’s Ordinary Meeting, provided a snapshot of the quantitative and qualitative feedback received as part of phase one in the development of a draft Destination Management Plan.
Mayor Clare Stewart said the level of interest and quality feedback was encouraging.
“This is such an important conversation with our community, so it’s pleasing to see the level of interest and the community’s strong directive for transformative change,” she said.
The consultation identified six key community themes and helped determine the community’s appetite for change in managing tourism in the future.
“It was quite clear that the community want transformative change and are keen to be part of the process,” the Mayor said.
The community’s three areas of most importance were managing waste, caring for the environment and implementing better controls around traffic management.
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