Friday, 22 January, 2021
Thinking of selling? You know who to call
12479417-SN04-21
Noosa a crime target
Still Barry after all these years
Trevor tucks in at Mr Drifter
48-page liftout Property Guide
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PAGES 28-29
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INSIDE
PR OP ER TY
Family homelessness at crisis point By Margaret Maccoll
Sharla Bourke and Luke Trembath are desperate to find accommodation.
Picture: ROB MACCOLL
Just days before the first day of school term begins for her three children aged 5, 6 and 8 it’s looking like the best accommodation Sharla Bourke and her partner Luke Trembath can secure for their family is a tent site at the Big 4 caravan park. Like a growing number of families in Noosa the couple, who both hold secure jobs in the area, have been unable to find affordable and available rental accommodation. Sharla said the lease on their rental property ended on 11 January but the couple had began searching for another rental months prior. “It’s becoming a lot harder,“ she said. “We’re having trouble being accepted for a house. Continued page 3
Running the river By Phil Jarratt When Jake Hennessey took on the role of Noosa River Marine Officer for Maritime Safety Queensland 10 months ago he declared war on “river rats” terrorising other river users in their tinnies. Now, in the wake of the most over-crowded holiday period in living memory on our waterways, he faces a much bigger challenge as he co-chairs the Noosa River Stakeholder Advisory Committee, which is tasked with keeping everyone happy during the long-awaited implementation of the Noosa River Plan. MSQ and Noosa Shire Council will jointly drive the committee as it seeks to actually do something to secure
the future of the river after almost 40 years of Council and the State government squabbling about it, which is perhaps forgivable, given the complexity of the issues surrounding this most delicate and hugely popular waterway. The river had been pretty much taken for granted until the “Residents’ Team” won election to Council in 1982, and former riverboat operator Noel Playford and environmentalist Michael Gloster put its problems squarely on the table. But achieving consensus on the management of the river’s fragile ecosystem and competing recreational and commercial uses has continued to be an issue, so much so that successive councils, including most
recently those of Playford (2014-16) and Tony Wellington (2016-2020) have failed to deliver a comprehensive river plan. Some say the river plans have simply tried to cover too much territory, others claim lack of community and stakeholder consultation is to blame. The reason that Jake Hennessey now sits in a highly visible waterfront office on the historically significant old Parkyn wharf is that MSQ a year ago decided it would have to beef up its presence in Noosa in response to a version of the draft Noosa River Plan recommending that Noosa Council take over most of the responsibilities of the State, including control of anchoring, mooring and living on the river. What
may have seemed like a blatant power play at the time has actually resulted in a seismic shift of opinion about who should run the river. Part of that can be attributed to MSQ’s “more actively engaging” in the management of the river since January 2020, including establishing the Tewantin office, working on the “war on wrecks” to remove 11 boats and a couple of collapsed boat sheds, and the launch of a Maritime Enforcement Team (MET) over several weekends conducting compliance and safety checks on the river in conjunction with the Water Police and the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol. (The next MET will be this weekend through to Australia Day.) Continued page 5
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Monday 25th to Sunday 31st January Richard MacDonald and his team bring with them an exquisite collection of jewellery and an insatiable appetite for your unwanted pieces. Inquiries 0411 413 393 12478255-SN04-21
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