Friday, 6 August, 2021
12506932-HC32-21
Making a difference
Major Sponsor for 28 years
Families gather for medal blitz
Beach hoon crackdown
Cheering for Kareena
36-page liftout Property Guide
PAGE 5
PAGE 10
PAGE 44
INSIDE
PR OP ER TY
It’s Noosa’s story Author, publisher, editor, filmmaker, surfer and Noosa Today journalist Phil Jarratt impressed both his publisher and playwright David Williamson with his latest book on the history of Noosa, though there were some initial reservations. Read the full story about Friday’s book launch on page four
Supercity ahead By Phil Jarratt
12497020-DL22-21
A South East Queensland supercity with a population of five million is steamrolling towards us and will not be stopped, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said in Noosa last week. In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview with Noosa Today while in town to open the Langura Street upgrade, part of a $4.36 million roads and infrastructure funding package
for Noosa Council, Mr Joyce was asked if he thought Noosa could maintain its population cap while the rest of SEQ continued an unprecedented growth spurt. He said: “Brisbane is going to turn into a city of five million people called South East Queensland. It will start at Byron Bay and go north to Noosa and west to Toowoomba. The only green belts will be the national parks. We’ve seen the chaos of Sydney and Melbourne so we have to pre-plan this one with adequate
roads before the houses get built.” If the unstoppable forces of massive development paint a bleak picture, Mr Joyce hit a brighter note when asked if protecting the environment of unique places like Noosa should be above politics. “I think it should, once you’ve defined what’s unique and what should be protected. The rainforests and foreshores of Noosa are unique, but if you tell me that you can’t touch a forest that’s not unique somewhere out west,
I’ll say come up in a plane with me and see these same trees as far as the eye can see. You have to keep a cogent balance in place and protect what really needs to be protected. And that balance applies to the built environment too. If I want to walk along the beach in the shade of tall buildings, I’ll go down the road to the Gold Coast. In Noosa I don’t want shadows on the beach, and Noosa will never be like that.” Read the full interview in Hotseat, page 29