PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
World Heritage listing (WHL) for the Cooloola Section of the Great Sandy National Park has now been approved by the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments and the nomination process has begun. This is a direct product of almost 20 years of effort by NPA. Following community consultation and finalisation of the nomination, the Australian government is likely to submit the nomination to UNESCO in 2012 (only a single nomination may be put forward by a country each year and both Cape York and Ningaloo Reef are currently ahead in the queue). A previous application for Cooloola WHL in 1992 was rejected because of a raft of UNESCO concerns including potential development of the lower North shore, future commercial development of Double Island Point, water-mining (to cater for the increasing Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay populations) and construction of a major connection road within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. Tireless NPA campaigning over the past 20-years has led to these uncertainties being done away with. Acknowledgement and deep gratitude must go to Michael Gloster for his vision, tenacity and resilience in ensuring that the WHL application has reached this stage. Not cause for wild celebrations yet but the end is in sight. Another future hope is that National Heritage listing will be bestowed on the Noosa National Park and the Noosa River and lakes system, thereby affording these special places another layer of protection against misuse. NPA will continue to work cooperatively with government on this and other initiatives.
Recently, management committee undertook to update the official NPA brochure. One of the sections within it pertains to “Future Challenges” which has been amended significantly. With amalgamation, increased bureaucracy, spiraling costs and the ever-increasing threat posed by the development lobby, our special part of the world is coming under increasing threat. For this place to remain unique in the decades ahead, NPA would like to see much more protection afforded to the Noosa Biosphere Reserve (NBR). NPA believes that the only pragmatic, long-term solution is for self-governance to be returned to the Noosa region. Thus de-amalgamation will become an integral part of our future campaign. We believe that extending the boundaries of the NBR and the new shire to include the like-minded communities of Eumundi-Doonan-Verrierdale is a logical step. We envisage a shire that remains dominated by green belts, low-rise buildings, and a lack of big-city symbols such as traffic lights, billboards and parking meters. We see a commitment to genuine sustainability as essential, including the recycling of waste water, an improved waste recycling program, and the encouragement of solar power and rainwater tanks. We imagine a network of communities living within the Biosphere Reserve all determining what direction it takes, as distinct from the current flawed Biosphere model in which the mega-council owns the governance structure and calls the shots.
At the recent AGM, 2 nominations were received for NPA life membership. Tony Butt and John Hall had this honour bestowed upon them for their invaluable contributions to our association over the past decade. I no doubt speak for the membership at large in offering my congratulations and sincere thanks to them both.
Ian Seels
President
