Last month I reported on a council tender process for extraction of methane gas to energy from Sunshine Coast landfills (tips) which was awarded to a Brisbane company at the expense of our Noosaville based firm, Landfill Gas Industries. LGI undertook to install extraction, flaring and monitoring systems on the Caloundra, Nambour and Noosa landfills at no cost to council plus building and operating a small scale power station and plant 5000 trees at each tip.

LGI is managed by two of the most experienced landfill gas and landfill to gas experts in Australia with a combined experience of 30 years and recently expanded their operations to the United States. Earlier this year they succeeded in securing the Brisbane City Council’s Willawong landfill gas to energy contract.  So how come they were unsuccessful with their submission to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council?  It would appear from what some industry experts are saying the SCRC misunderstood the LGI submission. Given what’s happened with other tenders granted by this council, this doesn’t come as a great surprise.

In any event, LGI had no alternative but to relocate their 21st century global business to Brisbane so Noosa misses out on what would have been a major enterprise employing locals and contributing significantly to the Noosa economy.  This is what happens when you have no control over your destiny as we Noosans are finding out on a daily basis.

Another sad story relates to a young French couple who migrated to Noosa from what was once a small seaside resort 3 hours from Paris called La Baule.  They witnessed uncontrolled growth ultimately reaching 12 million people and along with it the gradual destruction of all that made this town such a desirable place to live.

Last year they warned that Noosa was losing its true spirit or soul.  As he explained Noosa to him is the national park where he runs in the evenings admiring the sunset over the ranges or when he sees a pod of dolphins surfing the waves at Hells Gates or just observing a handful of people silently communing with their environment.

He wrote quite beautifully, “Noosa is simply something we can’t buy or possess.  Noosa is a celebration of life.   Noosa is the joy of a child playing in the swell, the serenity of the rainforest with night approaching the majesty of Mt Tinbeerwah overlooking the Noosa coast like a faithful lighthouse, the power of a whale eating plankton along the coast, the colourful songs of the birds throughout the day or the contentment of fishermen waiting for their meal along the river or beach”.

But over the past few years he has witnessed a gradual loss of that spirit, driven by the careless management of Noosa from the Maroochy Politburo. Unless quickly arrested he fears we will be facing a future not dissimilar to that of La Baule and is devastated by the thought.
So rather than see another special place on the planet gradually destroyed he and his wife have packed their bags and moved on to the South Island of New Zealand in search of their Noosa lost paradise.   He signed off with the following: “Time to move on and find my second piece of paradise which hopefully will not be destroyed by human kind materialism and industrialisation.”  Noosa is the poorer for their loss.

Finally, a recent survey conducted on behalf of Local Government Association Queensland revealed just 13% of respondents in amalgamated council areas believed they are better off as a result.  I dare say they would struggle to get anything like a 13% approval rating from residents of the former Noosa Shire.
Bob Ansett