The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...

in the

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

with the

Shire of Maroochy The Shire of Maroochy was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it ...

and

City of Caloundra The City of Caloundra was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of ; it existed as a local government entity from 1912 until 2008, when it am ...

to form the Sunshine Coast Region. The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014.

History

Geological history

The Noosa Hinterland was formed during the Oligocene era around 25-30 million years ago when

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

created the ranges. By the beginning of the Neolithic era, Noosa's coast experienced a change in sea level rises when its beaches and waterways began to take shape.

Ancient history

The Noosa area was originally home to several Aboriginal groups. They primarily include the '' Undumbi'' tribe to the south, the '' Dulingbara'' to the north, and the ''

Kabi Kabi The Gubbi Gubbi people also known as Kabi Kabi are an Aboriginal Australian people native to south-eastern Queensland. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. Naming As is often the case, ethnonyms dist ...

'' (or ''Gabbi Gabbi'') to the west. ''

Gubbi Gubbi The Gubbi Gubbi people also known as Kabi Kabi are an Aboriginal Australian people native to south-eastern Queensland. They are now classified as one of several Murri language groups in Queensland. Naming As is often the case, ethnonyms dist ...

(Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi)'' is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

spoken on Gubbi Gubbi country. The Gubbi Gubbi language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Sunshine Coast Region and

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was crea ...

, particularly the towns of

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ra ...

, Noosa Heads, Gympie and extending north towards Maryborough and south to

Caboolture Caboolture () is a town and suburb in Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Caboolture had a population of 26,433 people. It is located on the north side of the Caboolture River, which separates the town from Morayfi ...

''.'' In 2003, the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...

determined (title claim QC2013/003) that the native title holders for the Noosa area are the Kabi Kabi First Nation. Although much of the culture and presence of the traditional owners of the Noosa district has been lost during the short period of white settlement, there still exist many subtle reminders. They include: *

bora ring Bora is an initiation ceremony of the Aboriginal people of Eastern Australia. The word "bora" also refers to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys, having reached puberty, achieve the status of men. The initiation c ...

s, used during rituals. * canoe trees, marks on trees where bark was removed for canoes. * border/navigation trees, marks on trees used to mark paths and/or tribal borders. * stone carvings *

burial tree A burial tree or burial scaffold is a tree or simple structure used for supporting corpses or coffins. They were once common among the Balinese, the Naga people, certain Aboriginal Australians, and some North American First Nations. North Americ ...

s * middens, shell mound created by thousands of years of discarded shells. * stone axes * spoken legends, many local legends which were traditionally passed through the generations survive today. *

place names Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

'', many local names are versions of the original Aboriginal names. It is widely accepted that the name Noosa comes from the local Aboriginal word "Noothera" or "Gnuthuru", in the Kabi Kabi language, for shadow or shady place. An 1870 map of Noosa shows the Noosa River written as Nusa River. This has led to an unfounded belief that the word Nusa is derived from the Indonesian word for island. A Keeping Place of indigenous cultural and sacred objects is maintained at the Noosa Shire Museum, Pomona.

Early European settlement

Although reports of the area can be traced back to

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

's voyages in May 1770, European settlement in the region did not proceed until almost a century later. The difficulty of transport in the region, which persisted to the 1920s and beyond, was one major reason for that. European settlement was initially driven by timber logging, and then by a gold rush in the Gympie area, north of Noosa. In 1871, the Government laid out a port at Tewantin. The surrounding land was duly surveyed and, by 1877, contained two hotels, a boarding house, school, police station and telegraph office. In 1872, the Noosa Heads and coastal region south to Peregian Beach was set aside as an Aboriginal Mission, but that was cancelled in 1878, and land was opened for selection on 15 January 1879. With the construction of the North Coast Railway inland from Tewantin, the port declined in importance after 1890. Noosa is a region, not a town. It contains beaches and a beach national park, the cleanest river in South-East Queensland and an extensive trail network inland, linking a number of lifestyle villages, including Cooroy and Pomona. In the last 50 years, Noosa has been transformed from an isolated fishing village to a tourist destination. Although that has had its costs, the shire is known for its generally ''greener'' approach to development. Most development in Noosa has been restrained. There are no high-rise buildings, due both to local community pressure and to council planning action, and much remaining native forest. 34.8% of the Noosa district consists of National Parks, Conservation Parks,

State Forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, ...

s, and other generally protected land, including parts of the

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. One of the reasons for the popularity of Noosa Heads is that it is one of the few north-facing beaches on Australia's east coast, hence Noosa Beach is relatively protected from the prevailing on-shore wind and from storms.

Council history

The area was originally incorporated on 11 November 1879, under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'', as part of the Widgee Divisional Board. Noosa was created as a separate shire in 1910, under the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', with an initial population of 2,000. The first elections were held on 22 April 1910 and resulted in James Duke becoming the first shire chairman. The Noosa Shire Hall was constructed in Pomona in 1911. On 8 September 1917, an Honour Roll was unveiled at the Noosa Shire Hall in Pomona, to commemorate those from the district who had left Australia to serve in the armed forces during World War I. In the early 1970s, with

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

backing, development commenced in the area around Noosa Sound. In December 1980, the shire headquarters moved to Pelican Street,

Tewantin Tewantin ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Tewantin had a population of 10,920 people. Tewantin was the original settlement in the Noosa region and is one of its three major centres today. H ...

. The former shire hall in Pomona became the Noosa Museum, operated by the Cooroora Historical Society. In 1982, the Noosa community elected a young and energetic pro-environment and pro-planning council. The councillors who were most influential in that change were elected in a group called The Resident's Team. They laid the foundation for many of the planning and environmental-protection concepts for which Noosa is now well known. The 1982-1985 Noosa Council was the first to introduce the idea of a development/population cap, the concept of strategic planning, a focus on community arts, and the use of design and landscape controls in development applications, and it produced drafts of many of the first development control plans for each of the Noosa townships. The business lobby, supported by several local media personalities, were successful in replacing that council with a pro-development one in the 1985 election, but the pro-development council was, in turn, largely removed by the Noosa community in 1988, at the next election. Following the 1988 election of Noosa's first green mayor, Noel Playford, who was a member of the 1982-1985 Residents Team, Noosa's first formal strategic plan was gazetted, and in 1990, the height of developments was limited to four storeys. In 1993, a major council and community complex covering opened at Wallace Park, Noosaville. In 1995, mayor Noel Playford controversially announced a "population cap" of 56,500 people for Noosa Shire, based on the initial concepts developed during the 1982-1985 Council term. The population cap was the expected population under the planning scheme if all available land was developed in accordance with it. Noosa council had performed the calculation for all land in the shire and provided the results in strategic planning documents. Noosa was the first council in Australia to do so. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'', passed by the Parliament of Queensland in August 2007, the Shire of Noosa was

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

with the

and the

to form the Sunshine Coast Region. Noosa's mayor, Bob Abbot, won the mayoralty of the new council over Maroochy's Joe Natoli, with 70% of the combined vote. The amalgamation occurred despite a 2007 referendum in Noosa Shire, conducted by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

, in which 95% of voters rejected amalgamation. In 2012, following a change of state government, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Noosa from the Sunshine Coast Region. On 9 March 2013, 81% of Noosa residents voted to de-amalgamate Noosa from the Sunshine Coast Region. On 18 March 2013, the Sunshine Coast Regional Council decided its new planning scheme should not apply to those areas that were part of the former Noosa Shire (different attitudes to planning and developments having been a major objection by residents of Noosa Shire to the amalgamation). The Shire of Noosa was re-established on 1 January 2014, and the new councillors and mayor were sworn in the next day. In attendance were

Warren Truss Warren Errol Truss, (born 8 October 1948) is a former Australian politician who served as the 16th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott Government and the Turnbull Governm ...

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, althoug ...

and member for Wide Bay, as well as David Gibson, Member for Gympie. The ceremony was followed by the first meeting of the council, held at the Cooroy Memorial Hall,

Cooroy Cooroy is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cooroy had a population of 3,791 people. Geography Cooroy is inland from the northern Sunshine Coast hinterland about west of Noosa He ...

Structure

The elected council consists of a mayor and six councillors. Noosa Shire does not have divisional electoral boundaries.

Current council members

Towns and localities

The Shire of Noosa includes the following settlements: Greater Noosa: * Castaways Beach * Noosa Heads * Noosaville * Sunrise Beach * Sunshine Beach *

Coastal Region: *

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...

¹ * Marcus Beach *

Noosa National Park Noosa National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 121 km north of Brisbane. It is situated near Noosa Heads between the Pacific Ocean and the Sunshine Coasts's northern area of urban development and extends southwards, past ...

Noosa North Shore Noosa North Shore is a coastal rural locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , Noosa North Shore had a population of 179 people. Geography It contains part of the Great Sandy National Park and the small town of Teewah. Th ...

Peregian Beach Peregian Beach is a beach and small coastal town on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a suburb split between two local government areas with the eastern coastal in the Shire of Noosa and the western hinterland part in the Sunshine ...

² * Teewah Hinterland: * Black Mountain *

Boreen A boreen or bohereen ( ; ga, bóithrín , meaning 'a little road') is a country lane, or narrow, frequently unpaved, rural road in Ireland. "Boreen" also appears sometimes in names of minor urban roads such as Saint Mobhi Bóithrín ( ga, Bó ...

* Boreen Point *

Cooran Cooran is a rural hinterland town and locality in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Cooran had a population of 1,624 people. Geography Cooran is predominantly farming land with its urban centre in the north of ...

* Cooroibah *

* Cooroy Mountain * Cootharaba * Doonan² * Eerwah Vale² * Federal * Kin Kin *

Lake Macdonald Lake Macdonald (Pintupi: Karrkurutinyja) is an ephemeral lake that straddles the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It lies south of Lake Mackay, and south-west of Kintore, Northern Territory. Lying in country inhabited ...

* Pinbarren * Pomona * Ridgewood * Ringtail Creek * Tinbeerwah ¹ - includes part of

Great Sandy National Park Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The park features untouched beaches, large sand dunes, heathlands, rainforests, swamps, creeks, freshwater lakes and mangrove fores ...

² - shared with Sunshine Coast Region

Population

Chairmen and mayors of Noosa Shire

''Elected by fellow councillors'': * James Duke (1910–1911) * Frank Conroy (1911–1914) * Eugene von Blankensee (1914–1915) * Alexander Chapman (1915–1916) * Charles Livingstone (1916–1917) * Alexander Parker (1917–1918) * Alexander Chapman (1918–1919) * Charles Crank (1919–1920) * Alexander Parker (1920–1921) ''Directly elected'': * William Ferguson (1921–1927) * Frederick Bryan (1927–1930) * Charles Crank (1930–1939) * William Ferguson (1939–1946) * Robert McAnally (1946–1955) * Victor Gee (1955–1958) * S.T. (Stanley) Adams (1958–1964) * Ian MacDonald (1964–1980) * Bert Wansley (1980–1988) * Noel Playford (1988–1997) * Bob Abbot (1997–2008) * ''For mayor during amalgamation (2008–2013) see: Sunshine Coast Region'' * Noel Playford (2014–2016) * Tony Wellington (2016–2020) * Clare Stewart (2020–present) ImageSize = width:1500 height:auto barincrement:10 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20 AlignBars = late DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1910 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1910 Define $now = 2022 Colors = id:ccg value:rgb(1,0,0) legend: Internal id:vccg value:rgb(0,1,0) legend: Community id:dccg value:rgb(0,0,1) legend: Amalgamated Legend = orientation:vertical position:right LineData = layer:back width:0.2 color:dccg BarData = barset:PM bar:Duke bar:Conroy bar:Blankensee bar:Chapman bar:Livingstone bar:Parker bar:Chapman2 bar:Crank bar:Parker2 bar:Ferguson bar:Bryan bar:Crank2 bar:Ferguson2 bar:McAnally bar:Gee bar:Adams bar:MacDonald bar:Wansley bar:Playford bar:Abbot bar:Amalgamation bar:Playford2 bar:Wellington bar:Stewart PlotData= width:6 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:PM bar:Duke from: 1910 till: 1911 color:ccg text:James Duke bar:Conroy from: 1911 till: 1914 color:ccg text:Frank Conroy bar:Blankensee from: 1914 till: 1915 color:ccg text:Eugene von Blankensee bar:Chapman from: 1915 till: 1916 color:ccg text:Alexander Chapman bar:Livingstone from: 1916 till: 1917 color:ccg text:Charles Livingstone bar:Parker from: 1917 till: 1918 color:ccg text:Alexander Parker bar:Chapman2 from: 1918 till: 1919 color:ccg text:Alexander Chapman (Second term) bar:Crank from: 1919 till: 1920 color:ccg text:Charles Crank bar:Parker2 from: 1920 till: 1921 color:ccg text:Alexander Parker (Second term) bar:Ferguson from: 1921 till: 1927 color:vccg text:William Ferguson bar:Bryan from: 1927 till: 1930 color:vccg text:Frederick Bryan bar:Crank2 from: 1930 till: 1939 color:vccg text:Charles Crank (Second term) bar:Ferguson2 from: 1939 till: 1946 color:vccg text:William Ferguson (Second term) bar:McAnally from: 1946 till: 1955 color:vccg text:Robert McAnally bar:Gee from: 1955 till: 1958 color:vccg text:Victor Gee bar:Adams from: 1958 till: 1964 color:vccg text:Stanley Adams bar:MacDonald from: 1964 till: 1980 color:vccg text:Ian MacDonald bar:Wansley from: 1980 till: 1988 color:vccg text:Bert Wansley bar:Playford from: 1988 till: 1997 color:vccg text:Noel Playford bar:Abbot from: 1997 till: 2008 color:vccg text:Bob Abbot bar:Amalgamation from: 2008 till: 2014 color:dccg text:Amalgamation bar:Playford2 from: 2014 till: 2016 color:vccg text:Noel Playford (Second term) bar:Wellington from: 2016 till: 2020 color:vccg text:Tony Wellington bar:Stewart from: 2020 till: $now color:vccg text:Clare Stewart

Culture

The Noosa Film Festival was held in Noosa between 2 and 8 September in 1999. A number of other festivals are also held in Noosa, including the Noosa Festival of Surfing. Noosa Arts Theatre is a flourishing and widely reputed centre for performing arts in the area. As well as various other food and cultural festivals, each year Noosa boasts the Noosa Long Weekend Festival, a 10-day (and night) multi-arts genre cultural festival. Theatre, dance, music, food, film, supper clubs, workshops and more are featured as part of the program of free and ticketed events. The festival attracts over 10,000 people each year. The recently developed J Centre in Noosa Heads has become another venue for live theatre and musical performances, as well as a secondary campus for the University of the Sunshine Coast. The Noosa Country Show, established 1909, is a yearly event to showcase the shire's best cattle, horsemen etc. The show is held at the Pomona Showgrounds on the second weekend of every September. Pomona is also home to the Noosa Shire Museum, where European and indigenous history is displayed side by side, and The Majestic Theatre, a performing arts centre for the Noosa Northern Hinterland. An art gallery has been established in the old Pomona Railway Station.

Services

The Shire of Noosa operates libraries in Noosaville and

. A mobile library service visits the following districts on a weekly schedule: Noosa Heads, Sunrise Beach,

, Federal, Kin Kin, Boreen Point,

and Pomona.

References

External links

Noosa Shire Council Home

Noosa News
- Latest news, local stories and sport from Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Official Tourism Noosa Website
- News, history, accommodation, activities, events & visitor information
Noosa Arts Theatre Official Website

Noosa Longweekend Annual Event Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noosa Shire Sunshine Coast, Queensland Local government areas of Queensland 1910 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008 2014 establishments in Australia Former local government areas of Queensland