I don’t know about you but something has definitely been missing from life in Noosa over the past year.  It took a little while to identify but it hit me like a ton of bricks this week when our former Mayor chose not to vote on an issue as important to Noosa as the Stockwell Civic 3 development.

What’s changed for those of us living in Noosa is we no longer have anyone to champion our cause, no ‘Go- To’ person when we have a problem.  No public face of Noosa to meet and greet visitors, to encourage conferences and conventions to come our way.  No public ‘figure-head’ to put the record straight when the media over sensationalise about beach erosion or foul weather or any other matter that is being miss-represented in the public arena.

Sure it can be argued that ‘Big Bob’ is still the man, but this is arrant nonsense, for he now has much greater responsibilities as mayor of one of Australia’s largest Regional Councils and frequently our interests differ considerably from the southern end of the coast where the vast majority of his constituents reside.  And yes, we have a couple of councillors representing Noosa on this council, but it isn’t the same as having one public identity vested with the responsibility of looking after Noosa’s interests.  The vote on extending the size of Noosa Civic is a perfect example of mixed messages being conveyed to the community.  As one of our councillors, Lew Brennan supported the application against the advice of council staff and the other Russell Green opposed it.   We need a singular voice to tell us what’s most appropriate for Noosa.

By default this responsibility seems to have fallen upon the shoulders of our local state member, Glen Elmes, but it’s not his real job, even though he is doing his best to represent us at both council and state level.  

We desperately need a public figurehead to not only be our Go-To person but also to welcome important guests to town and generate the right sort of publicity for Noosa.  Someone like a Barack Obama who is rapidly becoming the public face of the United States, or a Clint Eastwood who performed a similar task for the town of Carmel in Northern California or even a Ron Clarke who has gradually become the public face of the Gold Coast.

Normally this would be the function of a democratically elected mayor, but we no longer have such a person per favour of the Bligh government who removed our mayor last year.  Perhaps until we regain the democratic right to elect a Noosa council, we should appoint an Honorary Mayor to carry out mayoral functions on behalf of Noosa residents.  A spokesperson for Noosa alone who would keep us informed on matters impacting on the real Noosa shire.  To look carefully at any variances proposed to our ‘town plan’ and what they might mean. Examine reasons why councillors vote the way they do, explaining their decisions to the  Noosa community so we have a better understanding of issues and their impact on Noosa.  A sort of a Noosa ombudsman to investigate and then explain to residents why little has been done to restore our Main Beach and what impact, positive or negative, the Seahaven development might have on Noosa.  What’s being done about the deplorable state of our once pristine river and the erosion of the dog beach at the end of Hastings St.

We regularly hear from those with self interests on each of these matters, but not from a totally impartial ‘Go-To’ person who could assess them independently and explain what it means to the community.  The local media is really our only source of information on many of these sensitive issues and while they do a good job it’s not the same as having someone to basically fulfil the role of mayor until we regain our council.  And we shouldn’t assume this might be years away, as the state government is now going through a reality check which includes the possibility of returning water distribution to local councils, selling off State assets and generally cutting costs to cope with their massive debt.  Who’s to say they could not be persuaded to change their mind on Noosa having its own council once again.

In the meantime having an honorary Mayor, who could be publically elected, as the ‘face’ of Noosa, (our own Clint Eastwood) to look after our interests and perform many of the ceremonial functions expected of a town mayor, would go a long way to filling the current void.  Let’s at least have a public conversation about it as I’m sure there are plenty of opinions within the Noosa community capable of building on this idea or suggesting a better one.

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Bob Ansett
Friends of Noosa