Brian O’Connor

1 BRIAN O’CONNOR Question 1 The Noosa Cultural Plan 2019-23 states that Noosa Council will review and improve its approach to place-making, while the Noosa Council Operational Plan for 2021-22 says the council will continue the rollout of the place-making project, thus indicating that work is well under way. Given these self-imposed objectives and timelines, with completion scheduled for next year, can the council confirm that the place-making project has begun and is on target to meet the deadline and can the council outline what progress has been made; and when will the result of deliberations be made public? Response by Scott Waters, Chief Executive Officer The Noosa Cultural Plan 2019 - 2023 is included under the theme "Places and Spaces", the following focus area: Sense of Place. Council will review and improve its approach to placemaking to ensure its concepts and strategies are understood and implemented collectively across the organisation. It will work with stakeholders to achieve an integrated, place based approach which supports community cohesion, improves the aesthetic appeal and maintains a sense of local identity through measures including creative arts, built infrastructure, streetscaping and precinct development. Work is underway on the Place project in line with the objectives of the Cultural Plan. The Place Project initiation included the setting up of an internal Governance framework and terms of reference, establishing a monitoring and evaluation program to ensure the ongoing progress could be measured and evaluated over time, and finally the selection of a potential pilot location to undertake a place based program. The internal Governance framework has been established and regular meetings have been occurring with relevant Council officers since November 2020. In order to establish an accurate baseline for measurement and evaluation across the Shire, Council undertook a Liveability Survey in November 2021 in conjunction with Place Score, with the results provided on Council’s webpage in March this year. Since the survey, Council staff have been collating this information along with other necessary resources, to determine a suitable evaluation process for the selection of a Pilot location. This work is now near completion and will be workshopped with Council with the hope of announcing the proposed pilot location early in the New Year. We acknowledge that this has not occurred as quickly as envisaged, however it was important to get the process correct, taking into account all the information, to ensure the best outcome. Question 2 On 22 March 2022, the Mayor, Cr Stewart, announced that Noosa Council had received $3.58 million under the $1.8 billion City Deal involving three levels of government and that Noosa's initial share would kick-start liveability projects across the shire. The deal contains a further $400 million available to 11 councils under a contestable bid process. Have any liveability projects kicked-off and, if so, what are they and can the council give an assurance that serious planning is under way to position our council favourably to win a further significant chunk of the City Deal money still to be committed? What might those additional projects be? Response by Scott Waters, Chief Executive Officer The SEQ City Deal is a 10 year funding agreement between all 3 levels of government and administered through the SEQ Council of Mayors and implementation board. Due to the recent Federal Election installing a new Federal Government coupled with significant machinery of government changes there is no progress to date on City Deal funding for Noosa Shire Council, with the exception of the resilient rivers initiative. The new Federal Government has now reaffirmed its commitment to the SEQ City Deal and as such further discussions will occur with the SEQ Council of Mayors implementation Board in relation to the funding of Council led projects. It can be advised that Noosa Shire Council’s placemaking project is in its final stages of selection and as a pilot, one town centre will be selected for place making activities. The analysis by Council Officers will be presented to Council in the next fortnight. If there is agreement with Council Officers’ analysis a report will be provided to Council for further consideration and decision. This will occur over the coming months and will not require City Deal funding. In relation to the SEQ City Deal, the CEO of Council is working closely with COMSEQ and has City Deal experience as a member of the Darwin City Deal implementation board.