Friday, 8 April, 2022
There’s only one
NOOSA and only one ...
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Honouring Betty’s legacy
Slow flood inspires
Dolphins downed in fierce battle
48-page liftout Property Guide
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PR OP ER TY
Holiday tourism boom By Abbey Cannan Noosa’s tourism operators are gearing up for a hat-trick of long weekends this month to deliver a bumper holiday season. Tourism Noosa chief executive officer Melanie Anderson said the combination
of three long weekends in a row, along with three weeks of school holidays between Queensland, NSW and Victoria, has strengthened forward bookings to an average of 70 per cent across the region for the entire month of April. Continued page 7
Noosa lifeguards gear up for three long weekends in a month.
Picture: BONZA
Fight for Fed Hall By Maggie Maccoll Federal doesn’t have a township, a pub, a general store or a post office, only a hall, built as a memorial hall to commemorate local soldiers, on land donated by the Otto family. Now Noosa Council wants the prime lease of the hall to be taken over by an independent private school. Last Sunday the Federal Memorial Hall and Community Centre Committee organised a public meeting to discuss an approach from
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BOOKINENGSDED RECOMM
Noosa Council, proposing the hall be leased to the Mary Valley Steiner School, allowing the community only to sub-lease it when available on weekends outside school hours. According to the 2016 Census there are 300 people in 86 families living in private homes in the farming community of Federal. About 50 people from those families attended the meeting, showing by their numbers, comments and a petition containing more than 950 signatures, the support to retain the hall for the community.
FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL
Committee treasurer Mick Jones told the meeting Council notified the committee on 21 February about the hall’s low usage. “Council want to obtain better utilisation of the hall. Federal Hall has one of the lowest usage rates in the Shire,“ he said. At a meeting with Council, the committee heard the Steiner school wanted to hold the prime lease on the hall in order to have a base with which they could move ahead with a development application to get funding for a school.
The current lease on the hall is due to expire on 1 July. “It would mean the current use of the hall would have to be a sublease from Mary Valley Steiner School. “We didn’t understand how that would work for the community. The Council didn’t have information on how that would work. “Council will provide more information on how that relationship could work at a meeting on 28 April,“ Mick said. Continued page 3
little nicholas' treasure (PG) wed April 13th 7pm + Sun May 1st 2.30pm
the young lovers (m) Sat April 30th 7pm closing night film
MAIGRET (PG) sun April 10th 2.30pm + Wed April 27th 7pm
Farewell, mr. haffmann (m) Sun April 24th 2.30pm+ Wed May 4th 7pm