The Shire of Noosa () is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

about north of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in the Sunshine Coast district of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was amalgamated with the Shire of Maroochy and City of Caloundra to form the

Sunshine Coast Region The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires o ...

. The shire was re-established on 1 January 2014. In the , the shire had a population of 56,298 people.

History

Geological history

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

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

created the ranges. By the beginning of the

Neolithic era The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

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

Gubbi Gubbi The Kabi Kabi people, also spelt Gubbi Gubbi, Gabi Gabi, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people native to South Eastern Queensland. During the Australian frontier wars of the 19th century, there were several mass killings o ...

(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

and

Gympie Region The Gympie Region is a Local government in Australia, 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, Queensland, Sunshine Coast and ...

, particularly the towns of

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the town of Caloundra had a population of 96,305 people. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is acce ...

Noosa Heads Noosa Heads is a coastal town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. It is a popular holiday destination. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 5,120 people. Geography ...

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River ( ...

and extending north towards Maryborough and south to Caboolture''.'' In 2003, the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court 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 indictable (mo ...

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 Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the Noosa district has been lost during the short period of white settlement, there still exist many subtle reminders. They include: * bora rings, 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 people, Balinese, the Naga people, certain Aboriginal Australians, and the Sioux#Funeral practices, Sio ...

s *

midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...

s, 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 nam ...

, 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. However this is unlikely as a 1870 map of Noosa by Royal Navy captain and marine surveyor George Poynter Heath shows the Noosa River written as Nusa River and a notice to mariners published 1873 refers to Nusa Head and the Nusa River in Laguna Bay. Nusa is the Indonesian word for island. The Noosa River contains Makepeace Island, Sheep Island and Goat Island. Laguna Bay was previously known as Nusa Bay and Lagoona Bay. 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 Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

'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 Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksgold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

in the

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 A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

. 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 Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s, Conservation Parks,

State Forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background State forests are forests that are Administration (gov ...

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

. 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 The Shire of Widgee is a former Local government in Australia, local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett area of Queensland, Australia. It was located in the rural areas around the town of Gympie but did not include the town itself, which w ...

. 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In the early 1970s, with

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

backing, development commenced in the area around Noosa Sound. In December 1980, the shire headquarters moved to Pelican Street, Tewantin. The former shire hall in Pomona became the Noosa Museum, operated by the Cooroora Historical Society. In 1982, the Noosa community elected a 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. This idea was initially proposed by the Council’s first full time resident Town Planner, Alan Simes in September 1984. The 1982-1985 Noosa Council created draft development control plans for Hastings Street, Noosa Junction and Tewantin. These draft development control plans had a major focus on development in Noosa maintaining and enhancing the character of Noosa. The 1982-1985 Council also introduced a focus on community arts, and the use of design and landscape controls in development applications. 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. In 1995, mayor Noel Playford announced a "population cap" of 56,500 people for Noosa Shire, based on the initial concepts proposed during the 1982-1985 Council term by resident Town Planner Alan Simes . 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 The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

in August 2007, the Shire of Noosa was

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

with the Shire of Maroochy and the City of Caloundra to form the

. 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 the 2007 Queensland local government area amalgamation plebiscite in Noosa Shire, conducted by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

, 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 In structural engineering, a Warren truss or equilateral truss is a type of truss employing a weight-saving design based upon Triangle, equilateral triangles. It is named after the British engineer James Warren (engineer), James Warren, who pat ...

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy Chief executive officer, chief executive and the Deputy prime minister, second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially creat ...

and member for Wide Bay, as well as David Gibson, Member for

. The ceremony was followed by the first meeting of the council, held at the Cooroy Memorial Hall, Cooroy.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Noosa includes the following settlements: Greater Noosa: * Castaways Beach *

* Noosaville * Sunrise Beach * Sunshine Beach * Tewantin * Tewantin National Park Coastal Region: *

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

¹ * Marcus Beach * Noosa National Park * Noosa North Shore * Peregian Beach² * Teewah Hinterland: * Black Mountain * Boreen * Boreen Point * Cooran * Cooroibah * Cooroy * Cooroy Mountain * Cootharaba * Doonan² * Eerwah Vale² * Federal * Kin Kin * Lake Macdonald * Mount Pinbarren National Park * Pinbarren * Pomona * Ridgewood * Ringtail Creek * Tinbeerwah * Tuchekoi National Park * West Cooroy National Park ¹ - includes part of Great Sandy National Park
² - shared with

Demographics

As of 2021, Noosa has a relatively older population, with a median age of 52, considerably higher than the national median of 38.5. The majority of residents, 71.7%, are Australian-born, while 14.2% were born in the United Kingdom. Noosa's residents are primarily English-speaking, with 90.9% speaking only English at home. With regard to education, 22.3% of the population hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and 26.2% of the community volunteer for a group or organisation, suggesting a high level of community engagement. The residents of Noosa enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, with a median weekly household income of $1,256, higher than the national median.

Council

Noosa Shire Council consists of directly-elected mayor and six councillors. The council is unsubdivided. As of the 2024 election election, there are 44,127 enrolled voters in Noosa Shire.

Current composition

The current council, elected in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, is:

Chairmen and mayors

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:

'' * Noel Playford (2014–2016) * Tony Wellington (2016–2020) * Clare Stewart (2020–2024) * Frank Wilkie (2024–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 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 bar:Wilkie 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: 2024 color:vccg text:Clare Stewart bar:Wilkie from: 2024 till: 2024 color:vccg text:Frank Wilkie

Election results

2024

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

has become another venue for live theatre and musical performances, as well as a secondary campus for the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

. 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. The King of the Mountain is an annual festival and mountain challenge held in Pomona in the third week of July. 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 Cooroy. A mobile library service visits the following districts on a weekly schedule:

, Sunrise Beach, Cooran, Federal, Kin Kin, Boreen Point, Peregian Beach 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

National Library of Australia Trove Archive o
{{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