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00:00:00 Councillor Jurisevic: And we're live. Good afternoon castles, good afternoon staff and everybody, and for those that are watching online, and welcome to the Service and Organisation Committee on 7th of July 2020. Before we begin, I'd like to pay respects to the elders of the land upon which we meet, the Kabi Kabi or Kabi Kabi people, and pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging. We're all in attendance, so there's no apologies, no presentations or visitations today, so we'll get on with item 1, Go Noosa Christmas 1923 Periodographic Management Evaluation. Councillor, any questions for staff? Councillor Lorentson: The loop bus service, a note that it was the first time that you guys offered a free bus service at night, and it ends at 10pm.
00:01:00 Was any consideration given to extend that time maybe to 11pm to further accommodate the workers down in Hastings Street and within the Noosa Shire, and also to accommodate kids? Who are out and about at night. Speaker 2: Yep, so we did speak with Hastings Street Association about the time that it should end, and 10 o'clock was the time that they suggested for the initial trial. Councillor Lorentson: Yep. Speaker 2: So I guess as we move forward into next year, we want to sort of try and we'll workshop this within a HSA and Council to say what should that time be next time. So the difficult thing for us is TransLink with their contracts is very difficult to get accurate data. Broken down hour by hour, because what would be great is to know how busy is it after 7 and how busy is it after 8. You know, what the demand is, to know should it be less than 10 o'clock or should it be more than 10 o'clock. So that's where we have to keep working with TransLink to try and know where the best fit is for that.
00:02:00 Fantastic. Councillor Jurisevic: I know in the report there's consideration of a change of a time to be starting earlier though. Yeah. If you go out one element of your service from 9 to late or twice a year, so it can't be which way it went. Speaker 2: Yeah, the time, and it's so difficult to know when is a good time to start. You know, it could be, you know, year on year. There's different factors that relate to what makes it suitable. Councillor Jurisevic: So where does an element, so whether people want to go down to the beach or not? Speaker 2: Exactly, that's right. Councillor Wilkie: Each year there seems to be a year on year improvement on the integrated package of initiatives that you offer. And that more and more people seem to be accessing this very busy precinct by means other than the car. Yes. Whether it be the free buses, pedestrian or cycling. And also there was a 6% increase in cars accessing precincts, perhaps due to the way of finding signage or the traffic control measures. But I'm also, I'm very excited to hear that the next phase involves investigating a Noosa Woods to National Park shuttle bus.
00:03:00 Yes. Which would be a great add-on. Yeah. How would that work and who would deliver that? Speaker 2: So we would have, we're currently talking with TransLink about that as well. Just the whole idea, can they allow that within their network? Would they allow that as a service? Councillor Wilkie: Would they operate it at them or would they, you're saying they might allow a third party to? Speaker 2: So it would either be the Sunbus operator that already operates the network, but TransLink has to approve that. So we can't go to, you know, someone with a bus and can you run that service? So I'm not sure if you recall, we ran a report to council last year, went through the whole legal process. And so after all of that work, we basically know that we have to work with TransLink to get through this service. So we've got a good relationship with their planners now. So they're assisting us to work out, you know, how can that, how can that work? Because we think a lot of people who probably want to go to the woods or the national park, they will continue to drive through. Yes.
00:04:00 So unless you meet that potential market, in my opinion, personal opinion, you will probably have, you'll struggle to convert them from car users to public transport users. So we want to investigate and we hope to bring that to council to consider that of having the spit via Hastings Street, you know, some proximity to the information centre or the transit centre there and out to the national park. And whether we trial that and see whether that has any improvement on the vehicles coming in as well. Obviously, we have to see what the costs are and provide what, you know, benefits will be out of that. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I noticed there's an electric tuk-tuk service on a private site has taken up the opportunity to provide a service within that. Yeah, they do. Speaker 2: I saw that. They have to wear helmets and there's, it's quite a, that would be. It is, it is. Yeah. I think for the tuk-tuks having to wear helmets, that would be a challenge as a public transport perspective.
00:05:00 I mean, that's just the initial comments, but we'll bring that as a full proposal to council once we've negotiated with TransLink on what can and can't operate as a service. Speaker 6: But we have already formally requested that commission back in June, I think we started that process. So, yeah. Speaker 2: And we also, as part of that MOU request that we put the report to council last year, so that negotiation is still occurring. And then all these little proposals would sit under that MOU where they help facilitate those projects. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: It's like a missing link. It is. Speaker 2: Yeah. And it's such a busy link as well, that that's where everyone's really trying to go. A large part of those visitors are trying to get to. Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: And we've got any figures on how many people actually catching the porridge in the shuttle? Councillor Wegener: We do. Speaker 2: Yeah. It's in there. So, that would be on page. Councillor Jurisevic: I brought my sword somewhere. Speaker 6: So, it's just in the attachment one. That's why I'm looking through the report. Councillor Jurisevic: I thought it was something else.
00:06:00 Speaker 6: Table two. Speaker 2: Three. You've got the total. Yeah. Okay. You've got the full breakdown. Here, John. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. I have another one. I have another one. What's on there? Councillor Wilkie: Any reason why the numbers on that service dropped 13%? Speaker 6: We think it's because of the loop. That was it. The loop. Yeah. So, a lot of people might have in the junction then just hopped on the loop instead of the 0641 going over the hill. Because that fridge in one would still have gone over this drive. So. Councillor Jurisevic: That's what I was. Yeah. That's what came to my opinion. That's why the figures, I remember the figures were a fairly significant drop there of 13%. Speaker 2: Because the other thing, this is, it's hard. We were reporting on a Christmas activity. So, it's so late, obviously, in reporting on it. Yeah. But we had, obviously, a lot of bushfires were going on around then. And so, we don't know whether that was impacting people's travel behavior around that.
00:07:00 So, this was on that third. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: But there's still that Morichi service that operates down David Laneway through . Speaker 2: The 620 service still runs. Yeah. So, we think that might have been what's actually impacted on that run. Councillor Wilkie: And that's why it's, makes it a less cost-effective service because it has to be a separate shuttle running from South Peregian. Yes. Into. Yeah. The junction of the Hastings Street. But you'd rather work with TransLink to use the existing, is it the 620 that comes up from. Yes, that's it. Morichi Hall. And once people get in on the bus within Noosa Shire. Yeah. That section of the travel is free. That would be the idea. Yeah. Speaker 2: And we've said to them, we said, look, we will pay you the amount that it costs to run this service. Yes. Just so you have the one bus. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. So that we don't have to run a shuttle service. Speaker 2: You're running service. Councillor Jurisevic: Because we've already got a service delivering there. Yeah. Unlike the people at Cooroy that have a service. Yeah. The facilitators don't have a free bus coming down from there because. Yeah. We've got that Danmore service or the Cooroy service coming down.
00:08:00 Speaker 2: Yeah. We've gone as high as we can to try and get that change. And all we get back from TransLink is until their ticketing system changes, they won't allow it. Councillor Jurisevic: Hopefully not to. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Time frame for the ticketing system changing. Speaker 2: Probably years, to be honest. Councillor Wilkie: Oh really? Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Amelia, can I hear anything from you? Councillor Lorentson: Just a couple of questions. Yeah. The bus priority queue jump. Yes. Terrific initiative and seems quite simplistic. It did. You know, you just clear a lane and it's express. Yeah. There's a note that the problem with that was the illegally parked cars. Yes. Have you considered how to address that going forward? Because, you know, it works. Speaker 2: Yeah. So the things we noticed with that is that the queues, while we had the traffic control, didn't get as far as actually warranting the queue jump like last Christmas.
00:09:00 And the only way to deal with the cars parked would be to tow them. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Speaker 2: And so it was kind of we're doing a trial. What sort of style council did we want to be at the time? Did we want to be forceful and tow cars, or did we want to see what people's behaviour is in traffic? So we had all the signage and everything there, but they didn't obey. We even had traffic controllers trying to be there early in the morning and say, don't park here. But people would still park there. Councillor Jurisevic: So we have to probably have to try and start a week or two earlier and paint a line, paint a temporary line or something and say, no parking in this area from this date or something to open that up to facilitate. Speaker 2: You'd have to see what you see in Brisbane, you know, the full red zone. Yes, I agree. But then as a trial, we thought, well, that's going to be $20,000. Then you're going to take it up again. And then the costs have started getting a little bit higher towards that. Councillor Jurisevic: From a temporary sense, how do you make it temporary and still be able to be cost effective in facilitating a temporary capacity? Exactly. I don't see Craig giving any cheap options there.
00:10:00 Councillor Lorentson: It's not unfortunate. But something worthy of community consultation, at least at some stage. Because again, I think a simple way of addressing traffic congestion. Speaker 2: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, again, it didn't actually trigger a point where we would have activated it anyway from what I'm hearing. Speaker 2: No, because we were sort of expecting if the traffic was getting beyond the bridge and beyond where the first bus stop is, that's the point when it becomes beneficial. But because it wasn't getting to that point, wasn't banking up, because the traffic controls could get the flow working, it might have seen as it was probably, yeah. Not to say that other times it will, you know, could be required, but at that Christmas, it wasn't. Councillor Wilkie: I want to compliment you on how responsive you've been in monitoring all these. It's got many moving parts. Oh, yeah. This Go News initiative. Completely. I've noticed that you're responding to the sense that in the post-COVID environment,
00:11:00 there may be different traffic behaviours. Yeah. Because you've put here in the report, you're going to provide council with another report looking at recommendations for managing peak traffic periods for the remainder of 2020. Yes. So normally it's Easter and Christmas. Yeah. But you're suggesting there may be other peak periods. Potentially. As well as the Christmas period. What will be the trigger for that? How are you going to monitor that? Speaker 2: And I think that'll be probably part of a workshop and further report to council. Yeah. Actually, every day I'm taking a screenshot, I'm a little bit late because of what the current traffic congestion is down in that location. And we consider that workshop, okay, what is an acceptable trigger point to bring in some of these initiatives? And so we go through all of these things that we do over Christmas and we weigh out, okay, which one can we bring in at short notice? We can't bring in a free bus quickly. We can't bring in the VMS supports. But we can bring in like the traffic controllers and a few of those other things. And we go, okay, they work effectively. We can, at a call's notice.
00:12:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Well, again, are they those traffic controllers that we've trained? Speaker 2: They're all trained. Councillor Jurisevic: In functional operations, traffic controllers with a company that we can- Speaker 2: That's it. They're all on a panel. That's right. They're on a panel arrangement, at a call's notice. They've got all the instructions. And we can then agree, okay, on these busy weekends as it's getting warmer, this good surf, good weather, whatever it is, and we can sort of go, okay, these are the weekends that we think- Dial up or dial down. Dial up, dial down. And you can do that all at a day's notice. Mayor Stewart: Do you have any more questions? Councillor Wilkie: You have a turn, Tony. Mayor Stewart: No, no. You go. You go on. Councillor Wilkie: Well, I- Councillor Jurisevic: Well, he's on a roll. Well, he's on a roll. Councillor Wilkie: Look, I was going to jump to a related- Yeah. But when schools return- Yeah. What can you tell us about the programs around facilitating alternatives? Speaker 2: I'd love to talk about the school program stuff, but I haven't got it in this report. No, no. There's app improvements. There's decals going on down on the footpaths.
00:13:00 The school, a lot of schools. I think we're up to six schools. Speaker 6: So, we're doing the precinct approach. So, we're doing the Noosaville State School and St Theresa's. So, that whole precinct, really intensively working with them. Renee's already met with both principals. They're all on board, and those two schools are going to actually collaborate as well. We're getting senior students involved and drama students to deliver out plays, which they can then deliver to the primary school. So, it's a very exciting package that she's worked on. Speaker 2: So, same as we approached Hastings Street as a precinct. Yes. We didn't just say one mode to that location. It was a precinct consideration on all modes. Yes. The same thing's going to happen with the schools. Yeah. Walking, cycling, bustling, getting them involved. Oh, cool, cool. Yeah, it'll be great. Yeah. Mayor Stewart: And just quickly on the Noosa Heads Lions Park. Yeah. Just, I know that the park is open from nine to six. Yeah. And there's been a reduction in the number of vehicles from 250 to 150. Based on the fact that we're looking at a big drive market for Christmas. Yeah. Is it the capacity, A, to open, extend the hours?
00:14:00 Because a lot of young families hit the beach early. Yeah. You know, like seven. Yeah. Or earlier. Yeah. You know, because they want to get off before it gets really hot. Especially in summer. So, extend those hours. A, and or B, extend the 150 back further up to the 250, which it was originally in the 2018-19. Speaker 2: Yeah. I'd probably consult with, obviously we have to consult with DNRM. Yeah. We have to consult with the parks team because I think the reduction was largely to tree damage. Yeah. So, the cars are parking in under the tree for the shade, which obviously the reason why they're doing that. Yeah. And that's, you know, they were saying that the trees were getting damaged, so we try to reduce those numbers. And I think that's probably something we'd have to come back to council and say, the reduction in the first place was because of these reasons. The time operation, we can talk to the Lions Club and say, you know, can you bring it forward? Yeah. The minor club. I don't think the time would be an issue. Yeah. Speaker 6: I mean, that's the only thing. They are volunteers, so asking them to stay. Yeah. Later.
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00:15:00 That would just be something logistically for them to accrue. Yeah. To start earlier. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Yeah. More volunteers. I also note in there, because it's only the grassed area where we charge on, isn't it, is talk about actually bringing the bitumen car park in that area into the parked car park, which would increase the capacity from 150 as far as paid parking goes, but decrease the capacity for other parking. So there's some thoughts around that sort of element there. I mean, if they're using the free shuttle bus and getting parking elsewhere to get in, it might make sense to be able to use that. If revenue was an issue. Speaker 2: Yeah, so we've got a future workshop lined up. We haven't got the date set yet, but these are the things that we want to talk about in that. And then we'll bring a future report as well that covers all of that. Councillor Wilkie: Just on that, there was also a mention of a broken pipe. Yeah. Oh, yeah. What was the cause of that? Speaker 6: I think it was a water pipe and they just thought it was something.
00:16:00 Simple, but it was a little bit more elaborate than just so, but it only affected it. I think it was still open 24 out of the possible 27 days. Councillor Jurisevic: The cars didn't cause the damage. Speaker 6: And they just sort of pwned off that area. Councillor Jurisevic: One of the losses, of course, if it rains, I mean, you know, that we do close the parks. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: What did you finish on? Sorry, the last question you asked. Councillor Wilkie: I asked about the schools program. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, in particular, I turned around and mentioned the fact that they don't have a good pathway network linking there. Have we looked into the feeding into the pathways and cycleways review that we're undertaking as to what the needs are from schools with regard to pathway connectivity and what does and doesn't exist? Speaker 6: Yeah. So with that precinct approach, there's a survey going out to families, so they'll have an opportunity to talk about that. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, are all schools included in that, including, you know, schools in Cooroy, for example?
00:17:00 Speaker 6: Yeah, so we'll have to work with those schools intensively and get that feedback probably for one to two terms or however, you know, three semesters, and then we can roll out to other areas. So it's not the whole. Speaker 2: So the walking cycling strategy would be picking up on some of that work, wouldn't it, Craig? So that's part of the walking cycling strategy that's looking at that pathway network. Councillor Jurisevic: It's coming from the work that we're doing with schools at the moment, or it's just coming out of the cycling? The vehicles around traffic, they obviously have to have the means of being able to walk and cycle to school safely. Councillor Wilkie: One final question, Mr. Chair, from me. You've mentioned that 68% of survey respondents to the Go Noosa feedback survey, which is available on the website, were Shire residents. Do we have any data that informs us how many bus passengers were Shire residents? Speaker 6: So most of the survey respondents were bus.
00:18:00 Councillor Wilkie: Oh, were they? Speaker 6: Yeah, they didn't have to be, but I think it was a very small percentage that didn't actually catch one of the free buses. Councillor Wilkie: So most of the respondents were bus passers- Speaker 6: Had caught a free holiday bus. Councillor Wilkie: Most, okay. Speaker 6: Yeah. Speaker 2: So the intercept surveys were at the bus stop, for example, as they're getting off the bus. Speaker 6: And just some further analysis on that. So 354 surveys, 77 of those were hard copy surveys, so any randomly selected. And of those, we had 71. And of those, we had 71 that were actually Noosa Shire residents. So it's a very high use by residents. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Speaker 2: And that's at Hastings Street where that's been picked up? Yes. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Anything further? Councillor Lorentson: Just one query. In the consultation, it says that the Go Noosa initiative involved consultation and collaboration with lots of external bodies. Yes. I just note that taxi drivers and Uber drivers.
00:19:00 That's included in that list. Is there any reason given that they're probably the ones that are most directly impacted by Go Noosa? Speaker 2: No, we haven't really gone to the Uber drivers as such yet, to be honest. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Only because I just know a lot of residents in Noosa that make a sort of secondary and some primary living out of driving as Uber drivers. Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good point. We can- Councillor Jurisevic: We do facilitate a drop off. Speaker 2: We do have a drop off zone. Councillor Jurisevic: What about taxi drivers? Do we get- And taxi drivers. Consultation with taxis? Speaker 2: I mean, they've got their taxi rank, and I guess it's an assume that they've already got their system and their processes set up. It's not a new, taxi catching isn't a new process for accessing that area, but I think the Uber point is a good one to make. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And just given that we live in a tight community, Adam, it's just great to involve anyone that may be directly or indirectly impacted by these initiatives. We have had workshops with Uber- Councillor Jurisevic: And whether the service is actually creating a negative impact on-
00:20:00 Councillor Lorentson: Or positive. It could actually be the reverse. Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 2: We have had workshops at a high level transport strategy level with Uber, like the managers of Uber, but not with drivers as such. Okay. But it's something that we can probably, through the contacts that we have- Yeah. Reach out and say, is there anything that they notice, like you say, as a driver that would make their role easier? Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Or make the role easier, or has there been an impact on, you know, have they seen less calls? Yeah. Or have they seen less responses as a result? Yeah. Speaker 6: And we do, Suncoast cabs do deliver our flexi link out to Boyan Point, and also the council cabs for the over 60s. So we do, you know, talk to them quite regularly. So we get that- And you're not getting any feedback from them? No. Speaker 1: So I just wanted to leave the, the overall package needs to be working pretty well now. We've got all the different components. It's probably the only one there that's probably not still hitting the mark is the ride share up. Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. Speaker 1: What's the plan there? Has it really worked? Has it? Speaker 2: No, because the funny thing with the ride share is when a car parking's really busy-
00:21:00 You've got the free buses. They've got the free buses. Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so it's- That's the one that's going well. Yeah. It's almost a catch 22. But as you said, when the demand is there, we've got the free buses, so why would you want a ride share? You can park anywhere and get in. That's right. And conversely, it's not busy where you can drive in. Speaker 2: It'd only be if council were to make any other parking management changes down the future. That might impact whether that's going to be more patronized or not. Speaker 6: And Renee did actually do a door-to-door of shops on Hastings Street right before that period. Yep. So it's not for lack of promotion. No, no. Speaker 1: That's what I mean. It's still not. Yeah. It just hasn't had the demand. Mm-hmm. That's right. Speaker 2: There might be other influences that affect that demand that we haven't reached yet. Yeah.
00:22:00 Councillor Jurisevic: And speaking of apps, the Go Noosa app. Yeah. Further facilitation of that and further uptake of that. What have we got in mind with regard to opportunities here? Marketing through Tourism Noosa when they market to a particular area, the Go Noosa app is marketed with their marketing or anything like that as well? Speaker 2: We got a good relationship with Tourism Noosa and they do mention that within their Visit Noosa website, which is good. I must admit, we felt we advertised a lot. It was all on the buses and everything. I see. Councillor Jurisevic: I think the uptake was as good as it could have been. Speaker 2: No, exactly. And so we noticed on the survey responses that something like 40% or something noticed the app. And so we thought, right, okay, we're going to have to, A, improve the product even more so that there's a word of mouth spread about it as well, plus actually do better marketing of that. Particularly now that we're adding in the schools and better riding features and other things. Councillor Jurisevic: It doesn't become just, I guess I'm leading to, it doesn't become just a holiday app, that it's a facilitation that can be utilised all year round.
00:23:00 Speaker 2: That's right. Councillor Jurisevic: If it can be something that people, whenever they come to town, know that they can look at the parking regime and the buses and all the rest. It's there 24 hours. That's right. And if you're going to be doing that for three or 55 days a year. Yep. You might get a. That's right. We get that uptake that people learn it anyway. And that's when the locals use it. Speaker 2: And when you have a novel, like a bespoke app like this as well, it probably takes time to sort of find the nuances of when it's used, when it's not used, analyse that, who's using it, why they're using it. And then slowly improve this, you know, as you gather that information. Mayor Stewart: It might be worthwhile talking to Tourism Noosa to get their holiday or their accommodation providers to, you know, when you send out a confirmation email, thanks for coming to stay. Yes. Don't forget to come download the app so they've got that information. Councillor Jurisevic: Download the app to get around. Exactly. That's the sort of thing I was. Yeah. I was leading to with Tourism Noosa. Speaker 6: And we did actually get little flyers for all the compendiums and the accommodation providers. Yeah. Just, you know, every single one at the bottom. Oh, don't forget the app. Right. Councillor Jurisevic: So just keep, keep that message.
00:24:00 So like with these days, if they're an app user, they're an iPhone or an iPad user, you know, or a. Yeah. Tablet. That's right. Smartphone. Smartphone user. And they're going to, you know, have all their information with regard to the places they've, they've sourced to stay at on their, on their phone and using that. They might not, compendiums might be a thing of the past for a lot of people. Speaker 2: That's right. So we would randomly catch the buses as well and just ask people, oh, do you know about the app? Oh, yes, we do. We wouldn't say who we were just to test, you know, and they would say, yeah, we use the app. Go on you random person. Yeah. And it's just like, yeah, we use the app and we know that, you know, it tells us how long before the bus is getting to our stop outside of our accommodation and we just walk down and we catch it. So. Right. Okay. Do hear some, some good comments about it. Speaker 6: Right. But we did also get the local sort of perspective. I don't need it because I live here. I know. I don't really, you know, so I guess it's that as well. Councillor Lorentson: Can I just throw a suggestion, Adam? Yeah. So we're talking about the Go Noosa app, which I think is great, but I agree.
00:25:00 Not a lot of people know about it. Yeah. Given that a lot of people travel to the national park because of surfing. Yes. And a lot of those people are always on Coastal Watch. Yes. Have you guys ever talked to Coastal Watch and talk to them about maybe a collaboration where you can actually see traffic so that people that are coming into town that want to surf and go to Noosa National Park all of a sudden can sort of have a look at the traffic. Actually visual. So rather than dots. Yeah. It's visual. It's visual. And then at the bottom there, maybe pay for an ad, say, jump onto the Go Noosa app for more parking information. But is that something that you have been watching? We can. We have. Speaker 2: Because we do know that the congestion out there is obviously related, largely related to the surf. And so I guess we could talk to Coastal Watch and work out what features are there. Can we bring in, you know, to be honest, I actually use it myself with what we have because you can look at the, when you click on the car button, it'll tell you how busy
00:26:00 it is out at the national park location and you can actually see which, which way is red. And so you'll know, you'll know when it's red, getting past Ben and Jerry's, but not heading in that everyone's leaving. Councillor Lorentson: You're kidding. Speaker 2: And that's the time to go in. Councillor Lorentson: So the trick is, and that's the sort of thing, like once you sort of share the ways to use Speaker 2: the app, you might get better uptake, you know, for doing those things. So the feature, the capacity is there. Great. So it's just whether or not we educate people on how you can use it in that manner. Councillor Jurisevic: So all the information is there, 365 days a week. Speaker 2: It's already there now. Councillor Jurisevic: The national park is there. So the surfers. It'll be a great benefit to the surfing community to have the app and to monitor through the app. Councillor Lorentson: And maybe that's something I'll take up with the World Surfing Reserve. Absolutely.
00:27:00 Speaker 2: That's right. Absolutely. Councillor Jurisevic: If you want to come down to the national park, have your app for surfers. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: I'm on their board, so I'll bring that up. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Terrific. Councillor Jurisevic: Nothing further? No. Speaker 2: Councillor Wilkie, Councillor Stewart. Speaker 1: Thank you Joe. Thank you. Bye bye. Councillor Jurisevic: See you. Alison, Item 2, Community Disaster Response and Recovery Grants for COVID-19. Our community development manager and director and team are all here. Councillor Wilkie: The dynamic duo. Mayor Stewart: I just had a question. The 27,000 in the recovery grants and there was 140,000 with applications. Yep. So those people who missed out, is there an opportunity for them to reapply down the track? Speaker 5: So good news since we're on the reports, we had a whole heap of donations provided to us from Tozer & Co and also from Rapid Clean.
00:28:00 We had more donations provided to us than what we had written to the report. So everybody that was not recommended. Or were not recommended to the 2,500 that they had applied for. They also got their hygiene products as well. Terrific. Then we're also opening up round 13 as at tomorrow again. So people will have that opportunity to apply for a project. So projects involve events, programs or infrastructure. And the priority around those will be around that COVID-19 recovery as well. Great. So there won't be any financial hardship assistance available. But they'll be able to apply for different things now. Fantastic. Councillor Lorentson: That's great. Councillor Jurisevic: That's wonderful. Companies who are willing to donate to the local community. And I've noticed that a couple of other companies have said they are welcoming community groups directly to operational processes as well. Correct. So helping the community is fantastic to see. Councillor Lorentson: Absolutely. As a council, is there any opportunity to let these good deeds get noticed?
00:29:00 Do we have like a humanitarian award or some type of recognition for these what I call outstanding achievements? Community citizens. As a council, can we do something? Speaker 4: We don't run an award program. In the experience of that in the past, it gets complicated. What we do is we like to provide recognition when something happens. So in this situation, we've provided some media coverage around it. So that at the point that the people have made the donation, they get that acknowledgement right there and then. Last Wednesday, wasn't it? Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 5: Sunshine Coast Daily followed up as well. So we're also following up. So David Tozer himself has set up a GoFundMe page, put two and a half thousand dollars of his own money into that particular program.
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00:30:00 We will continue to follow that up through our community connecting newsletters, Facebook, et cetera, promoting that so that we can continue helping these organizations as well. Okay. Thanks, guys. That's all right. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Thanks, Alison. Well done for delivering all those donated items to the community and providing them up. And as I said, I know it's been a great lot of work to actually bundle all those packages up and get the community groups in to receive that. So great effort from you and your team, Alison. Councillor Wilkie: Just a logistical question. Has all the material gone out to these groups? Not quite. Yeah. Have you got enough? Sure. Speaker 5: So the organizations that have applied, yes, we've got enough. So we're getting, obviously, continual requests from other organizations that haven't applied. So that's where we're sending them to Bunnings or Officeworks. Councillor Jurisevic: I think it was fortunate that Kerry was away last week because Alison managed to use her office and managed to get it all out before Kerry got back. Speaker 5: Full of toilet paper, hey? And Joe. I even had Brett packing boxes for me one day and Joe was packing cars for me.
00:31:00 So phenomenal team support around me as well. Speaker 1: Great work. Mayor Stewart: Thanks, guys. Speaker 1: Thanks. Councillor Jurisevic: All right. Can I move on? Thank you, Alison. I'll move it. Thank you, Councillor Stewart. And seconder, Councillor Lorentson. All in favor? Then unanimously carried. Thank you. Item three, the Noosa Cultural Plan. Speaker 3: Hello. How are you? Councillor Jurisevic: Hello, Tracey. Hello, Tracey. One for both of you. Speaker 3: Pardon? Questions? Comments? Councillor Jurisevic: Stay inside. Councillor Wilkie was only commenting earlier how much we've achieved in the Noosa Cultural Plan. Councillor Wilkie: Well, how much you've achieved. Yeah. Speaker 3: Thank you. It's impressive, isn't it? Councillor Jurisevic: Councillor Stockwell, you've got? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. I was just going to say. I'm pretty interested in the heritage side of things. And I was really surprised of some of the content in the hyperlinks. And I was just wondering if I didn't know about that really great story about how the
00:32:00 Cod was caught, how many other people don't know they would have liked it. And I wouldn't talk to our climate team. We do have a Mine Back Wednesday. Do we have a Hunt Back Heritage, Hunt Day Heritage or something? Because that information is great to have in the library. But the eco tools along the river, for example, is there some part of the plan that says, okay, we create the content, but how do we get it out there more to be part of the understanding of the community of what our real heritage is? Speaker 3: So I think at the time that we launched those new films, we did quite a substantial promotional strategy. So we did launches at the library throughout floating land. I believe it's hosted on the council and the library websites. But definitely take your point. We could share the love again with the community through different channels. Councillor Jurisevic: And those links remain, sorry, those links remain on the website? They're active. And the cultural heritage page? Speaker 4: One of the purposes of changing the role, it's the James role, heritage coordinator role,
00:33:00 is so that more of that work can happen that's outside the library. So there's work on linking. Tourism providers in with content. There's also the heritage month, which unfortunately this year fell by the wayside with COVID. But normally that month is a really good focus. And we find that a lot of organisations come to us to get content. And that's a way to actually distribute that content out through networks. Councillor Wilkie: Question about the oral histories of significant libraries. Tracey, are these transcriptions or are they video recordings? What form are they? And how will people access them or know about them? It's great to hear these stories. People have lived here a long time. Speaker 3: It is. My understanding is they are transcriptions.
00:34:00 Audio, not visual or video. I believe that where Jane is planning to turn them into a format that is able to be loaned through the library collection. So it might be on a USB stick and created in a cover and loanable similar to a library item, any other sort of library item. Councillor Wilkie: And will they be suitable for I think the people who just click on and listen? Is there any problem with that? Speaker 4: Yeah, eventually. No, we click on copyright with them. So you'll recall that one of the initiatives that we had through the budget process was for the online heritage portal. So you'll recall that one of the initiatives that we had through the budget process was to create a digital story that was able to handle bringing together rich, what we call rich content. So an oral history can go from many hours. Many hours. So what we do is they then take slices of that content and package it with some video
00:35:00 or some photographs to bring the content to life. That's what this heritage portal will enable us to do. So we can start to create what are called digital stories. Yeah. Take parts of content from different areas, put it together so that it comes alive. Councillor Jurisevic: News Heritage Podcast. Yeah. Speaker 4: Things like that. Because as a start to finish, an oral history goes on and on and on. But there will be absolute slices of gold in there. Councillor Wilkie: Cutting to the chase. Speaker 4: Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 4: Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: I just want to just make note, I enjoyed reading the notes. Yeah. And I just want to make note of the work that you guys provided, particularly the impact of COVID on the culture sector. And I think we need to be reminded at how much this sector has actually been impacted, from venues being closed to out of work actors. And that was the reminder you gave us. A lot of these people employed in this sector actually are now eligible for JobSeeker.
00:36:00 So I think what we can do it as a council to support the cultural sector is really important and should be recognized and supported as well. Thank you all so much for being here today and thank you to all of you who have been recognized as such. And also you keep, you remind me again at how during these tough times, how culture connects us. So thank you. The reading was really good. Speaker 4: Tracey, you might want to make mention about the grants that have just been released and we've just got some information today, which is going to provide some assistance for that sector. Speaker 3: So unfortunately, it's been quite a delayed response from the government to provide some support to this sector. But the good news is they have just released some funding to revitalize predominantly the live music and performing arts sector. So there is funding that I think I only found it this morning. We had news a couple of weeks ago it was coming. And there is funding towards performing arts venues to be able to deliver.
00:37:00 A six month program of specifically live original music. There is also some funding, I think it's creative to go that individual artists are organizations and venues are able to apply for. Just to help boost. Their industry getting back into getting some work locating some venues for them to perform in. So that's very exciting. So we started looking at that this morning and we're hoping to promote that throughout the community and help support anyone interested in writing applications. So it's really exciting news. Speaker 4: Currently, yeah. Councillor Wilkie: It's, it's very pertinent. During COVID, how you just mentioned that the performing arts venues have shut down and that's one of the priority areas in the 219 action plan to help visual and performing arts venues to be able to do that.
00:38:00 Understand how they can operate home based businesses with an existing planning and regulatory frameworks seems really pertinent now. So is this, where to from here for that priority? It seems like it's very relevant. Speaker 3: So I have had an initial meeting with economic development to understand how we'll move forward with this. So our priority will be on this sector for this financial year. And getting or gaining a greater understanding of the actual impact when you look at the statistics, they do group the arts and recreation services together. So it's very difficult at a local level to understand the significant impact that has happened here. So I'll be working very well, the working group for the cultural plan will be working very closely with economic development to understand the local impact.
00:39:00 They already run a series of different workshops to help support this sector in home business or related topics, but this will be our emphasis this year. Speaker 4: I think when we did the original consultation for the cultural plan, it was interesting to us that a number of people in that sector were of the view that if they did something from home, they would be breaching the cultural plan. So I think that's something that we need to think about as we move forward with the cultural plan. And they in fact didn't even want to ask the question for fear that they were breaching something. And so in fact, they could actually be legitimately running small operations from home, but it had not occurred to them to actually ask the question about what they could do. And so it was quite fascinating. So and I'm, you know, often a lot of that sector, they're going from week to week, just trying to keep things going. And they do it whatever way they can.
00:40:00 So I guess the good aspect about that is that within the town planning framework, there's already provision that is there for them. It's about us helping educate them about what they can do and saying, put up your hand and ask the question. That's where it starts. Councillor Wilkie: There are performances happening in backyards and driveways already. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, that's right. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Outside of theaters. Councillor Jurisevic: So many people turn to the Digital League and do that. Yeah. And I think that's a great thing about digital performances. That was a wonderful thing to see that people could still deliver their either art or performance in some way, shape or form to a greater audience by using that digital medium and not locking themselves away to the point where they're getting frustrated and not being able to undertake their art form. Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to doing an audit to find out, you know, what changes have occurred within our local communities, what venues still exist. Yeah. I guess. And what new platforms are available for this sector to share their artwork.
00:41:00 Councillor Wilkie: So you've mentioned that an audit of existing public performance spaces to identify new spaces and or maximize existing spaces available for artists to perform. You mentioned also small performing or exhibiting spaces. So you're intending to discover a few over and above those. It would be interesting to see if there are any new spaces that are available for artists that we already know or... Speaker 4: I think we might. What's the scope of the audit? Yeah. I think partially it's understanding how much have we lost. Yeah. Because we're aware that we will have lost venues. And is it a temporary loss or is it a long-term loss? Then it will be trying to identify those small ones. Like you say, there's small ones occurring. Mm. To understand what... Yeah. What is the nature of that?
00:42:00 And what does an audience want going into the future? Obviously, performing arts can be sensitive, particularly live music, where some people love it, want to see it in their community. Other people think that it disturbs peace, et cetera. So it's trying to find that happy medium. Because we know that the small... I think it's a very good stepping stone for our up and coming... And it's a really good fit for an area like Noosa, which we revolve more around small niche operations, not large scale. So the starting point always for looking at what comes next is to understand what we've got at the moment. Mm. Speaker 3: Yeah. And I'm hoping that will roll into a collaborative project with regional arts. Regional Arts Network Queensland and Creative Alliance, where we'll do the audit and develop
00:43:00 a mentoring program where we can help this sector not only discover where they can perform or work, essentially, but also have some support in actually building their skill set, either creating a record or a track record, or maybe getting into a regional tour through the festivals or... Yeah. Yeah. So there's lots of possibilities. Councillor Wilkie: And the other thing I'm excited about here is the wood fired ceramics from Cooroy Region Travelling Exhibition. We want to develop that. How far afield would you tour that? Speaker 3: So Michael Brennan, our gallery director, is leading that initiative. So I don't have the specifics about that today, but I can find more information for you. But I know pre-work has already started with the artist on this. Mm-hmm. Is it... Oh, I was trying to think of his name.
00:44:00 It's Rowley. Rowley. Yeah. Rowley. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 4: Okay. I don't know. Is it a sole exhibition? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Yeah. Just one more thing. Under the action plan there's a mention of... And we've spoken a little bit about it, auditing existing public performance spaces. Will you include in that places like tunnels and places where... And I've spoken to Kerry about this before, places where the youth in particular can exhibit graffiti art. We've had this conversation... Yeah. So is that part of the audit process? Speaker 4: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Okay, yeah, but great, we're all on the same page. It'd be good acoustics for a performance. And performance, absolutely, yeah, as long as I'm not singing. Speaker 4: So absolutely, that sort of consultation would occur when we do that piece of policy work.
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00:45:00 Public art is often thought of as being sculpture, but actually it encompasses a full range of things. Yeah, well, great. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Brian, you had another? I'd like to segue to my question, which was, it's related to the concept of what we do next in how we plan for public space art and performance. And it's about, when I looked at last year's implementation plan and this year's, I presume what we've done is we've listed all the actions in the plan and just ticking the ones we're doing, where what I didn't see in this year's implementation plan, and, say, in place and space. Last year, we did the review and decided to do a placemaking strategy, but nowhere are we committing that we're actually going to do a placemaking strategy Councillor Wegener: in this year's implementation plan. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And I think that's something we might want to look at. We actually, let's say, what knew we were going to do the sculpture
00:46:00 in terms of implementing the sculpture plan, but I also think we need to have a line of sight through to the implementation of some of those reviews and, you know, you might need an implementation plan if you want to see a complete minimum of one public placemaking strategy and have, you know, public art, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, in there that links it all up. Speaker 4: I guess, yes, it's that where does it now sit once the piece of work starts a year. I think if you... Speaker 3: Because we do intend to implement the pilot program this financial year, so thanks very much. I have that, yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you for the work you and your staff have done. Councillor Finzel: That's great. Just leading off the back of those conversations around the public arts policy. Councillor Jurisevic: You don't need to stand, Karen. Councillor Finzel: Oh, sorry. Speaker 1: You're not at the table? I'm used to becoming a little bit... Come a bit closer if you like. That's good. Yep. Councillor Finzel: So regarding the draft public arts policy,
00:47:00 my question was, you've got it listed. Are the actions needing closer attention? One of the ones in the 15% that require that attention. So it's to be developed with community consultation. I'm just wondering where you're at with that development and how much community consultation has taken place. Speaker 4: None. Speaker 3: Sure. Last financial year, we started with doing an audit of public art within the Shire and identified priority works that needed repair. Okay. And took on board any feedback from the community that had been given to us about damaged public artworks. So that was our focus last financial year. We haven't begun the consultation as yet. Councillor Finzel: Have you got a date that that may commence? Speaker 3: No. I was waiting for this meeting to gain your approval for the next action plan. And I'm looking forward to working through that this year with you all.
00:48:00 Speaker 4: Terrific. Fantastic. Thank you. Speaker 3: Mm-hmm. Speaker 4: The... Yeah. So consultation for an art in public places or public art policy is normally very extensive. You will have a lot of stakeholders with very different perspectives. Mm-hmm. And then there'll be general community perspective as well. So it's quite a big piece of work. There were some pieces of public art, the sculptural public art, that required some pretty serious attention. So the decision wasn't in the first year, get the house in order before we roll out a policy that said where we might go to next. Councillor Jurisevic: And that sort of understanding of how well public art that we've got out there stands up under the weather and all of the influences on public art, graffiti and stuff like that that occur would be a leading to a public art policy as to what we would accept in the
00:49:00 way of public art. Mm-hmm. What they're manufactured from and things like that. It's also... Speaker 4: And that to some degree. Learning lessons. Yeah. So, you know, you put a piece of public art in, you really need good contracts around it to govern if a repair has to occur to it. How is that going to happen? End of life. End of life is a huge issue. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: And who would undertake a repair work because... That's right. Councillor Finzel: I think that's the question that Michael Freeman here has expressed his face and that's... Speaker 4: Yeah, very good. Very good in that respect. Councillor Jurisevic: Look, for me, I mean, the highlight is the highlights. I think it's been a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement for the year. I think there's some great achievements in our cultural and heritage sphere for the year gone past. And it's particularly pleasing to see public art being mentioned in there. Also, I'm thrilled to see Floating Land again last year and I look forward to it in 2021.
00:50:00 And the numerous highlights here with the plan going forward for this year and I'd say the 2021 Implementation Action Plan, what are some of the things that we can look forward to? Speaker 3: To the next Floating Land? Councillor Jurisevic: No, to the next... In the next financial year. Speaker 3: Oh, in the next financial... Councillor Jurisevic: With regard to the yards and that. Yeah. Yeah. Delivery from the Cultural Plan. Speaker 3: Oh, okay. One of the highlights. One of the highlights we're looking forward to. Yeah. Yeah. So obviously the Floating Land and the focus around the performing arts and live music industry, I'm really looking forward to finding some initiatives and strategies to revitalise that sector. I guess with my library background, I'm very excited about the new initiative about the Seed Library Program. I'm not sure if you're aware of that as yet. The Noosa Library Service was recently awarded $25,000 through State Library's Strategic Priorities
00:51:00 Grant funding opportunities to develop a seed library, very similar to a book collection, but it will be a seed library collection. Councillor Jurisevic: As in native plant seed? Yeah. Speaker 3: So, which I feel is very relevant after our bushfires. It is a collaborative project with the local permaculture. Where we'll be inviting people to come in and share, take seeds, and attend a series of different educational workshops on how to grow, how to plant seeds. And, sorry, I lost my train of thought. So that will be a 12 month program over the next year, which is pretty exciting. Mayor Stewart: Can you engage the schools with that, Tracey? Speaker 3: Oh, yeah. That's definitely part of the plan. Mayor Stewart: There will be school excursions to come. Speaker 3: Yeah. That's a great idea.
00:52:00 Yes. So we want it to be as collaborative as possible in the community. So that's one of the exciting ones. We're updating our gallery and library websites this year, and part of that will be the heritage portal, which will be very exciting. And have wanted to progress that for a number of years. They're the key ones, I think. Wonderful. Speaker 4: All right. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Speaker 4: Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Finzel: Tom, sorry. Councillor Wegener: Just one little comment. I'm very excited about the seed program. With the cultural heritage, just a much bigger thought, but it seems a big part of our heritage is the land, the bush care, the land care, the planting, and so forth. And although that's definitely a different subject, because that's bush care and so forth, it's still a huge part of our cultural heritage as well. So I love everything that's going on here, but in the future, I might make suggestions
00:53:00 about going towards a more recent cultural heritage of the plantings, like the Ural Forest for example, that planting as being an art project and a cultural heritage project, as well as the economic and the bush care thing. Speaker 4: So you see from the cultural plan that one of the key aspects is around telling Noosa's unique story, particularly from the 1960s through to now, which is very different from other local government stories. And part of that is around the deep connection to environment and the relationships with the different environmental organisations and the works that's been done in that space. So you will continue to see capturing those stories. That was one of the reasons around the attention on capturing oral histories before those stories
00:54:00 were lost, the key stories. And we are approached by many organisations, universities, academic institutions around the world, research bodies, for that material, because it's so different from other local bush care. Councillor Jurisevic: When I talked to our local bush carers, they discovered a rare species that's around and they've been collecting seed and trying to propagate that crop that's not seed collected locally. So that still goes a long way. We're still discovering that. Absolutely. Plants that are rare in our region. So that's wonderful. Brian, I'm not sure. Land care do seed collection and storage and capture of? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: From what I heard from you, it's also about growing food. Speaker 3: It is. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Absolutely. Which is extremely, obviously, many people like myself have taken the last few months
00:55:00 to grow much more than they used to. Hence the permaculture connection there as well. Anything further? Councillor Wilkie: Tracey, earlier on you mentioned funding opportunities for performing artists and those groups involved in that sort of space. Are we able, when you're able to locate that information, can you send it through to us please? Absolutely, yeah. There's a lot of interest in that. Where will people be able to access it? I mean, we can send it out there. Speaker 4: Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Is it? Speaker 4: That's Queensland. Speaker 1: There's been a couple of announcements over the last few weeks. I think the Federal Government announced something in the last week or so as well. Speaker 4: So we're just today seeing something tangible with names of programs. So check my Queensland website. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. Speaker 4: I'll send you the link. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah, thank you. Yeah. One last. Oh, sorry. Councillor Jurisevic: No, no. You're at the table. I'm the chair, not you. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: One, just one last question. So we're talking cultural. We're talking cultural plan. How about cultural tours? I think what you guys have highlighted in your report and what I'm learning as a new
00:56:00 councillor over the last three, four months is that we are actually a cultural destination. Yes, we are. And I think that's sometimes overlooked. Yeah. So is that an area that you guys are focusing on? Speaker 4: That's certainly why there is an economic stream to the cultural plans that often people see them as traditional. You've absolutely hit it on the head. They're not. You can look at many destinations around Australia and they're seen as cultural destinations and Noosa is one of those. You'll look at things like Noosa Open Studios and the growth year on year in that and the attraction that that is not just for locals, but now people plan their holiday to come to Noosa so they can be here for those weekends for Noosa Open Studios. So our challenge going forward is how that's effectively marketed and being able to build more into that.
00:57:00 One of the big issues also is how to effectively get product to market. That's one of the missing gaps for a lot of our artists. They're very good at product creation. They're not so good at that next step of getting a product effectively to market, particularly in the current environment. Councillor Jurisevic: And that's certainly something tourism is looking into is that experiential tourism. Yes. Speaker 1: Some of the options there in terms of cultural history with that experience, that's what people are after when they travel is their own experience. That's a real opportunity. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Right, more than just the thinking that I've got just from sitting here listening and over the last few weeks, months, we've been looking at shovel-ready packages for stimulus grants. I'm wondering whether it's probably not a bad idea. Yeah. We need to have a look, whether it's stimulus from another level of government or our own, what a shovel-ready project might look like in terms of things like performance in the park.
00:58:00 We might have a lot of venues where they can't operate financially because of the separation distance inside, but they might have productions or other things that are ready to go that maybe bring them out into the community in open air settings is something that, you know. Speaker 4: And we may have, obviously we've got our REF funding. Yeah. But we're awaiting the announcement of the state around that, but like our community project funding, we can target that towards COVID related outcomes, so REF would be one way of doing that. I think one of the programs that you've had come through this morning is very much around performance and where people, where performance can occur. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah.