As posted previously, the State Government put out tenders for 3 Eco trails across QLD and the Cooloola Great Walk was one of these. The tender process undertaken by the Department can be found at https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/tendering/improve-approach/capability/steps and incorporates a number of criteria that Departmental staff assess. MP’s have no part of that process, nor does anyone else to my knowledge. CABN, who were successful in the tender, committed to setting up a facility in Noosa to build the pods, or will subcontract to a local company to do so. As yet there is no update as to which, though last month they were on the search in the Noosaville industrial area.
Consultation with stakeholders included Noosa Parks Association, Kabi Kabi representatives, Noosa Council, Friends of Kinaba as well others commenced in 2018 and public consultation June 2019.
In August, we visited the drafted sites to see how the consultation process with the Kabi Kabi had progressed. There were many elements that had to be considered including least impact, not visible to walkers or canoers, nor located in any areas considered sacred. No pods overlooked water.
We have been advised the maintenance of the accommodation pods will be managed by CABN. The Department of Environment and Science will continue to manage and maintain the existing public camping areas. Maintenance of the trail will be undertaken in accordance with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships guidelines and manuals. Final plans for the eco accommodation component of the enhanced Cooloola Great Walk will include capped walker numbers to ensure a unique ecotourism experience, environmental sustainability, and safety. This number will be determined once the sites have been finalised.
Within the $1.5m that was allocated to this project in the 2020/2021 Budget, the specifics are yet to be provided by the Department, and we will update once this has been received.
Updates along the last 2 years have been posted here to Noosa 360 https://www.sandybolton.com/?s=cooloola&et_pb_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess&et_pb_include_posts=yes
In addition, updates can also be found on the Sandy Bolton MP Facebook page if you search ‘Cooloola Great Walk’ in the page search bar.
For any further questions or concerns please call us on 5319 3109 or via email noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au.