Pay Attention
The Noosa Express is moving. The passengers are asleep.
Welcome aboard the Noosa Express.
Destination:
Somewhere between the Noosa we love and the Noosa we wish we had protected.
The train is moving and scenery is magnificent. But remarkably few passengers appear interested in looking through the windows.
Because - perhaps the greatest threat to Noosa isn’t one particular development.
It is voter complacency.
The comforting belief that someone else will protect what we have.
“SOMEONE WILL LOOK AFTER IT.”
What if Someone on Council is already trying to protect Noosa but is being stifled? Will they be supported by other colleagues when the State pushes for more housing on green fields inland?
Can they continue to defend the planning protections as they did when State Legislation changed via the Deputy Premier so that Noosa wouldn’t be threatened by over scale developments with no height limits.
Who will question inappropriate development when some have already made clear they support large over scale buildings here. Can we trust that someone will protect the character that attracted everyone here?
Will Someone continue to say:
“No. That’s enough.”
It’s risky because here’s the inconvenient bit about the future.
Voters choose who gets to say it (If they do) again in early 2028
And sometimes voters don’t look closely enough at what councillors actually do - once they’re sitting around the Council table. They listen to promises, assess personalities but easily get distracted by the latest Facebook argument.
Meanwhile, the really important stuff happens quietly.
Votes are cast.
And votes tell you rather more than election slogans.
WATCH THE VOTES
Take Short-Term Accommodation.
The argument isn’t that STAs are inherently bad.
The point is much simpler:
Some councillors have voted against greater Council control of STAs. Even back in 2020 for first Noosa Plan.
That’s a vote. It doesn’t automatically make someone a bad councillor. But it does tell voters something about their approach to regulation and Council’s role.
Then there was the vote on tiny houses, where councillor/s voted against them as part of amendments to Noosa Plan.
Again, one or two votes don’t determine Noosa’s future. But it raises a reasonable question about how elected representatives respond to alternative housing solutions. Who was against social housing in Cooroy?
Then there was the decision to use recreational parkland for cars, despite more than 70% of residents saying they didn’t want that outcome. The fight continues with this…
Apparently consultation is wonderfully democratic - right up until the public gives the wrong answer.
“Thank you for your feedback.”
Translation:
“We heard you. The majority votes just preferred our own answer.”
AND THEN TOURISM
Here’s another one voters should look at.
There were councillors who voted against funding Tourism Noosa - an organisation whose role includes attracting higher-value visitors rather than simply chasing ever-increasing visitor numbers. Paid for not by residents but businesses.
That matters.
Because there is a very different philosophy between:
“Bring as many people as possible.”
and
“Attract visitors who value Noosa and contribute strongly to the local economy.”
One is a numbers game. The other is destination management.
And then there is the Destination Management Plan.
A plan designed not simply to attract visitors, but to communicate Noosa’s environmental values, encourage responsible visitation and help manage the pressures that come with being a highly desirable destination - including issues around parking, traffic and congestion. Including Who Pays?
Yet some councillors opposed that direction too. Which raises a rather interesting question:
What exactly do they think we should be doing instead?
Put up a sign saying:
“Welcome to Noosa. Please bring your money, but leave your environmental expectations at the gate.”
Perhaps not.
THE PATTERN MATTERS
Any one vote can be explained.
Any one decision can be defended.
But voters shouldn’t necessarily look at each decision in isolation. Look at the pattern.
Greater Council control? Who supports it?
Alternative housing? Who supports it? Upgrade the river foreshore and widen paths for wheelchairs. Who supported that?
Community wishes? Who listens? What is Community - a few emails and a coffee chat? Yet surveys are ignored.
Tourism that seeks value rather than simply volume? Who supports it?
A Destination Management Plan designed to protect Noosa’s environmental values while managing tourism pressures? Who supports it?
And when State pressure for more housing arrives:
Who will actually stand up for Noosa?
That’s the question that matters.
THE STATE IS COMING DOWN THE TRACK
State governments have their own housing priorities.
Targets can change. Planning rules can change. Pressure can increase.
And when Brisbane decides Noosa should accommodate more housing, the question becomes:
How strong is the Council’s resolve to protect what is uniquely Noosa?
Because State pressure doesn’t necessarily arrive with flashing lights and a siren. Sometimes it arrives wrapped in very reasonable language:
“Housing supply.”
“Growth.”
“Targets.”
“Regional responsibility.”
All perfectly respectable words.
But someone still has to decide:
Where? How much? What sort?
At what cost?
And most importantly:
What are we prepared to sacrifice? How can new housing be built on flood plains or high fire risk areas? They can when State changes the rules as they have recently done
THE LEADERSHIP QUESTION
And this is where voters need to look beyond the flashiest candidate.
The best leadership doesn’t necessarily come from the person who craves the microphone, the spotlight in the media continually or the appearance of being powerful.
It comes from people who have demonstrated something much less glamorous:
SERVICE
The genuine community carers. The people who have volunteered for decades planting trees and running community organisations.
Who have helped others when there was nothing political to gain. Who turn up without needing a camera. Who listen before speaking.
Who take responsibility seriously. Who don’t need to be the Hero of every story.
Because the best custodian isn’t necessarily the person shouting:
“Look at me!” And it certainly doesn’t come from someone who simply wants Control, Status or Power.
Psychology tells us that certain personality traits associated with excessive self focus, dominance and entitlement can occur at higher rates in some leadership seeking populations - but you don’t need a diagnosis to recognise the warning signs.
It’s often the person quietly asking: “What or Who are we leaving behind?” That is the leadership Noosa needs.
Not simply people who want power.
We need: People who can be trusted with it.
THE REAL THREAT IS COMPLACENCY
Noosa won’t suddenly wake up one morning and discover it has become somewhere else.
It happens incrementally. One decision. One compromise. One election. One councillor at a time. And every time someone raises the alarm:
“You’re exaggerating.”
Until eventually the people who were warning about the track ahead are told:
“It’s too late now.”
Exactly.
That’s why you look at the track before the train reaches the cliff.
PROTECT WHAT WE HAVE
This doesn’t mean: “Stop everything.”
It means: “Think very carefully before changing anything we can’t easily undo.”
Noosa can evolve. It can accommodate appropriate housing. It can support business. It can and already does welcome visitors. It can respond to changing needs. But evolution doesn’t mean surrender.
And growth doesn’t automatically mean progress.
The question should always be:
“Will this make Noosa better - or simply bigger and more congested?”
THE PASSENGERS HAVE A JOB TOO
The people on this train aren’t powerless.
It’s you the voters. You choose the driver and the people sitting beside the driver. And you choose who gets to pull the emergency brake when necessary. So don’t just listen to what candidates say.
Look at what they voted for.
Who supported greater Council control? Who opposed it?
Who supported alternative housing solutions? Who opposed them?
Who supported using recreational parkland for cars despite overwhelming community opposition?
Who supported funding a tourism strategy aimed at higher-value visitation?
Who supported a Destination Management Plan designed to spread Noosa’s environmental values to visitors while addressing parking and congestion and User Pays system?
And who will be both able and prepared to stand up when the State comes down the track demanding more?
Because that’s the real test.
THE TRAIN IS MOVING
The passengers are comfortable but somewhere ahead, the track bends.
There is still time to choose who sits in the cab. But don’t wait until the train leaves the rails to discover that:
“I didn’t realise”
That isn’t much of a planning strategy.
PROTECT WHAT WE HAVE.
Look beyond the slogans. Look beyond the personalities. Look beyond who gets the most attention.
Look at the service. Look at the character. Because the best person to protect Noosa’s future may not be the person shouting from the front of the carriage.
It may be the quiet community carer who has spent years serving Noosa and finally stands up and says:
“Stop. Look at where we’re going.”
Because once the train goes over the edge,
changing the driver won’t put the track back.