A timely letter from one of our valued members vividly illustrates the damage being done to Noosa by a mob of people given the "right" to govern us without community endorsement, people who have no understanding of the unique naturalness differentiating Noosa from other like communities within Australia and other parts of the world.

The author of this letter is of French descent, immigrating to Australia in 2006 largely because he had discovered Noosa which very much reminded him of a place where he grew up, a town called La Baule in the south of Brittany which he described as a treasure just like Noosa before infrastructure development, politics and money transformed this little sea side town into a huge American style Riviera. In less than 10 years the population doubled from 15,000 to 30,000 and now accommodates 350,000 people during the peak summer months.  He goes on to say "it is now basically a suburb of Paris although 450 kms apart and to put it simply, it has become unbearable.  In this part of the world council amalgamation programs have also had terrible effects. Visually speaking Noosa is becoming more like a suburb of Brisbane than an exotic resort. But what is happening to Noosa is not uncommon, I would even say it’s very common and so sad that we human beings do not learn from one another and repeat the same mistakes time and time again".

He is spot on; All we need do is look back over the past six months as the Maroochy politburo pursues its obsession with ‘harmonisation’  aimed at converting Noosa to a look alike, sound alike and smell like the rest of the Sunshine Coast.  Bring on the Gold Coast glitter, let’s have a ‘boardwalk’ the size of a mini LA freeway leading into the National Park and dress it up with a stainless steel guard rail so that it shimmers in the sun’s rays impairing our view of beautiful Laguna Bay. To hell with the naturalness of Noosa when we can stick up a god awful looking bus terminal at the entrance to Noosa proper and make sure everyone sees it by wiping out about 90 metres of mature age trees that have up until now obscured the parking area at the eastern end of the Junction. Yet what a shock it must have been to the Super Council after they uncharacteristically consulted the Sunshine Beach residents and shop owners about a ‘make over’ for this precinct only to find the overriding response was to leave it pretty much as it is.  They just don’t get it and they never will.

So let’s merge the Coasts tourism bodies with ultimate control vested in the same disconnected Maroochy politburo and appoint a Chairperson and a CEO from Brisbane where the font of tourism knowledge obviously resides.  What understanding do they have of our ‘low key’ naturalness that distinguishes Noosa from the rest of the Coast?   What do they know about our National Park encircled by some of the most beautiful bays you would find anywhere and our river and what it adds to the beauty of Noosa and enjoyment it brings to residents and visitors alike?  Then there is the Woods, a favourite picnic and walking place for both residents and guests, which is in dire need of protection from further erosion around the so called ‘dog beach’,  which incidentally has also been a favourite swimming beach for young families over many years. Instead of looking for ways to spend money with ‘make over’s to Sunshine Beach and the Junction, priority should be given to fixing an area that increasingly looks like the aftermath of a raging tsunami.

Noosa’s incredible diversity also includes a series of individual precincts each with its own personality, beginning with Hastings Street, arguably the most attractive shopping street in Australia and one that would compare favourably with the best in the world. But wait there’s more; we have Sunshine Beach, Gympie Terrace, Noosaville, Quamby Place, the Junction, Tewantin, Cooroy, Eumundi and the rest; how fortunate are we?  I can’t think of any other resort town anywhere with this much diversity providing such delightful sensual experiences for Noosa visitors, yet it too runs the risk of ‘harmonisation’ by our foreign rulers.  

For all these reasons and many more, Noosa must always retain control of its Brand and Tourism promotion and the only way this can be assured is for us to again elect our own local government to carry out the wishes of this and this community and this community alone.

Bob Ansett