Noosa Council Watch

Meetings

General Committee Meeting - 11 August 2026

Tuesday 11 August 2026 · General Committee Meeting · 19 substantive items

Our summary

Five attempts to get legal advice or ask the Minister a question were voted down, one on the chair's casting vote. Nine days later council did two of them anyway.

The short version

Item 7.1.3, the Noosa Heads Lions Park Land Management Plan, is the reason to look at this meeting.

The committee adjourned specifically to obtain legal advice, which was read into the record: that local government trustees cannot rely on s 52AA of the Land Act 1994 as an alternative to the s 52AB management plan process, and that council should proceed on the basis a management plan is required.

Cr Lorentson and Cr Phillips then tried five times to test that advice — asking for advice on whether the use is inconsistent at all, on what would satisfy the tests, for a scoped plan covering only the 21 days actually at issue, for written advice on whether s 52AA applies, and finally simply to ask the Minister whether he would consider a s 52AA application.

All five failed. One — the scoped, proportionate plan — was lost on the chair's casting vote at 3–3. The last, asking the Minister a question, was lost 1–5.

Cr Lorentson tabled her own analysis of s 52AA as an attachment to the minutes. Cr Stockwell was absent.

Why this reads differently now

On 20 August, council was told s 52AA is available after all and that no management plan is required, and it resolved to write to the Minister. That is substantially what defeated Amendments 4 and 6 had asked for.

The full sequence is in the Lions Park dossier.

Also on this agenda

The General Committee recommendations from this meeting went to the 20 August Ordinary Meeting as an en bloc item — including the annual delegations review transferring powers to the CEO, and the review of the Community Purpose Land and Infrastructure Tenure Policy. Items that move through committee and then an en bloc adoption get two chances at scrutiny and frequently receive neither.

Background

Agenda

Timestamps link into council's own recording. Document names are what council listed; the files themselves stay on council's site — why.

  1. 1 DECLARATION OF OPENING 0:06
  2. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY 0:19
  3. 3 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES 0:27
  4. 4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES 1:25
  5. 4.1 GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DATED 7 JULY 2026 1:31
    Minutes open on council's site
  6. 5 PRESENTATIONS
  7. 6 DEPUTATIONS
  8. 7 GENERAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
  9. 7.1 REPORTS FOR NOTING
  10. 7.1.1 CAPITAL PROGRAM 2025-2026 DELIVERY STATUS REPORT 1:47
    Report open on council's site
  11. 7.1.2 HOUSING MONITORING REPORT 9:59
    Report open on council's site
  12. 7.1.3 Noosa Heads Lions Park Land Management Plan 55:38
    ReportAttachment 1 - Guideline for Managing Actions Consistent and Inconsistent With the Purpose of Trust LandAttachment 1 to the Minutes of the General Committee dated 11 August 2026 - tabled by Cr Lorentson - Section 52AA of the Land Act 1994 open on council's site
  13. 7.1.4 PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED BY DELEGATED AUTHORITY – JUNE 2026 4:53:15
    DA Planning ReportATTACHMENT 1 - Delegated Report - June 2026 open on council's site
  14. 7.1.5 OPERATIONAL PLAN 2025-2026 Q4 QUARTERLY REPORTING 4:55:18
    OPERATIONAL PLAN 2025-2026 Q4 QUARTERLY REPORTINGATTACHMENT 1 - Q4 2025-2026 Operational Plan UpdateATTACHMENT 2 - Q4 2025-2026 Key Performance Measures Update open on council's site
  15. 7.2 REPORTS FOR ACTION 5:07:30
  16. 7.2.1 TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) - NOOSA WATERS RESIDENT ADVISORY GROUP 5:08:18
    ReportAttachment 1 - Noosa Waters Partnering AgreementAtachment 2 - Terms of Reference NWRAG open on council's site
  17. 7.2.2 UPDATE TO INFRASTRUCTURE CHARGES RESOLUTION 5:35:57
    ReportATTACHMENT 1 - NOOSA SHIRE COUNCIL CHARGES RESOLUTION (No.10) 2026 open on council's site
  18. 7.2.3 REVIEW OF THE COMMUNITY PURPOSE LAND AND INFRASTRUCTURE TENURE POLICY 5:41:07
    ReportAttachment 1 – Proposed Community Tenure PolicyAttachment 2 – Existing Community Purpose Land and Infrastructure Tenure Policy (2015)Attachment 3 – High-Level Comparison of Existing and Proposed Community Tenure Policies open on council's site
  19. 7.2.4 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1576 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 8 WITTA CIRCUIT, NOOSA HEADS 6:18:08
    ReportATTCHMENT 1 – DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT MANAGER'S REPORT open on council's site
  20. 7.2.5 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1763 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 5/7 PEZA COURT, NOOSA HEADS 7:01:41
    ReportATTCHMENT 1 – DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT MANAGER’S REPORT open on council's site
  21. 7.2.6 MCU17/0559.05 - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1842 OF 2026 - FOR MINOR CHANGE TO A DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR A DUPLEX DWELLING AT 2/16 GRANT STREET, NOOSA HEADS 7:05:02
    ReportATTACHMENT 1 – DEVELOPMENT ASSESSMENT MANAGER’S REPORTATTACHMENT 2 - APPROVED PLANS - MCU17 0559.04 open on council's site
  22. 7.2.7 DELEGATIONS ANNUAL REVIEW - COUNCIL TO CEO 7:07:59
    ReportAttachment 1 - 2026 Council to CEO Register of Delegations open on council's site
  23. 8 CONFIDENTIAL SESSION
  24. 9 MEETING CLOSURE

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