AGM Wrap-Up: $456,000 in costs handed back to Council, and a year of wins for all of Noosa Waters.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our 2026 Annual General Meeting at Good Shepherd Lutheran College on Wednesday 14 October. Around 50 residents filled the worship hall, the questions were sharp, and we finished the formal business in an hour.

It has been a big year for the whole estate. Costs that should always have sat with Council, projected at around $456,000 over the next 10 years, have been moved off the Noosa Waters levy. We secured a path to renewal for the Eenie Creek Road noise barrier, one of the most significant infrastructure improvement for Noosa Waters in a decade. We renewed our formal working agreement with Council for the first time in 25 years. Here is what you need to know.

A path to renewal for the noise barrier

The Eenie Creek Road noise attenuation barrier is part of daily life for everyone who lives along it, walks beside it or drives past it. After sustained work with Council, its replacement is now locked into Council's asset management plan, using modern, durable materials suited to today's traffic. It will be the one of the most significant infrastructure improvement projects for Noosa Waters in a decade. This is a longer-term project, and we will keep it on the agenda at every Advisory Group meeting until it is delivered.

A proper seat at the table

The new Terms of Reference with Council, formalised in August, replaces the partnership agreement from 2000. It sets up regular meetings between NWRA and Council covering maintenance, finance and water quality, and our first meeting under the new framework has already been held. It means every resident's concerns, from parks and streetscapes to drainage and the waterway, now have a structured path to Council.

Streets, parks and entrances

• Parks. Noosa Waters has 25 public parks, 17 of them along the water, and they belong to everyone. We have started working with Council to map what each park offers and plan improvements over time.

  
  

• Entry signs. Council has given verbal approval for NWRA to clean and repaint the four estate entry signs, funded by the Association. It's a visible improvement every resident and visitor will notice.

  
  

• Shade trees. Council is continuing the staged swap of palms for native shade trees, with planting on Saltwater Avenue due in the next two to three weeks. That means more shade for walkers, cyclists and families with prams, and fewer dropped fronds.

  
  

Council came to us

We were joined by Bill Haddrill, Noosa Council's Acting Director of Infrastructure Services, who has taken over from Shaun Walsh. Bill spent 11 years managing canals and constructed waterways at Sunshine Coast Council, so he knows systems like ours well. As well as the shade trees, he answered questions on two other topics.

Algal blooms. Blooms tend to appear between August and October as the water warms, and Council's monthly testing confirms nutrient levels in the canal are elevated. What the testing doesn't show is where those nutrients come from. Council has committed to a whole-of-catchment approach to find out, looking at sources inside the estate and outside it, such as sporting fields, schools and other land in the catchment. The circulation pump has been running to flush the system this season, and Council will keep monitoring monthly and run the pumps as needed.

Rock armouring. Council has a high priority list for this financial year and is engaging a specialist contractor. Works are expected early in 2027, weather permitting. Owners whose revetment walls are on the list will be contacted before work starts.

Water quality affects all of us

he canals and brackish lake area are the heart of Noosa Waters. They shape the outlook from our parks and paths, the health of the river, and the value of every home in the estate, wet or dry. Council's own testing shows the waterway meets the required standards only 65% of the time, and the trend is heading the wrong way. That makes it one of our top priorities.There is a part everyone can play. What goes onto our gardens, driveways and streets ends up in the canal, so cutting back on fertiliser and washing cars on the lawn rather than the driveway both help. On our side, we are pushing Council on a simple idea: pump on the high tide, when river water has water with less turbidity, sediment upstream pollutants from runoff, and higher levels of salinity, at no extra running cost.

Getting the levy right

Waterfront owners pay two special levies for the lock, weir and canal walls. This year we went through the levy line by line with Council and found costs that should always have been Council's:

• Salinity pump running costs. For at least two decades, the levy covered the electricity and maintenance on the salinity pump, about $27,900 a year, even though the original 1983 approvals make it Council's responsibility. Council has now removed it permanently, worth around $327,000 over 10 years.

  
  

• Pump replacement and pipe repairs. Council is paying for the pump replacement ($55,000), and a $24,750 pipe repair wrongly charged to the canal levy fund has been taken out.

  
  

• The Community Service Obligation. This is Council's annual contribution to the lock and weir, recognising that around 40% of the stormwater catchment sits outside the estate and the waterway does a job for the wider area. It had been rising at a flat 2% while inflation ran well ahead, and is now indexed to CPI, worth around $49,000 over 10 years.

  
  

Together that's around $456,000 over the next decade. These figures are estimates based on Council's 2026/27 levy models. It's a fair outcome, and a good example of what careful, well-researched advocacy can achieve for any part of our community.

The money

The Association's funds sit at $60,220, up about $5,000 on last year, with around $3,000 still to come out for the cocktail event. Clarity Accounting Solutions were reappointed as auditor, and the audited financial statements will be on the website within the next three weeks. We are putting some of these funds back into projects everyone can see, starting with the entry signs.

Your committee for the year ahead

The following were elected unopposed:

• President: Adrian Reed

• Vice President and Treasurer: Sam Bool:

• Secretary: Grant Holloway

• Committee: Barrie Shaw, Meg Thompson, Felicia Brown and Greg Doolan

  
  

A huge thank you to Melanie Venning, who steps down after five years as our careful and dedicated Treasurer, and to life member Dick Patterson for acting as Returning Officer. Dick also thanked the committee on members' behalf and noted that with so much Council staff turnover, getting our history and agreements down on paper sets us up well for the future.

Two things we want your view on

Membership fees. The fee has sat at $20 for a long time. A show of hands at the meeting gave unanimous support for lifting it to around $40, with some support for $50. A bigger fund gives us more weight with Council and lets us pay for professional advice when we need it. The committee will settle the amount, and if you couldn't make it on the night, we would like to hear what you think. For waterfront owners, the savings from the work of the committee comes to about $77 a year per property, roughly double the proposed $40 fee, of you are not a member we would encourage you to support the committee.  

Welcoming Headland and North Rise. Headland and North Rise are part of our catchment, and their residents often ask to join. The meeting strongly supported changing our constitution to include them, and the committee will now prepare that change.

Neighbourhood Watch needs a coordinator

John Reid is stepping down as Area Coordinator after five years, and no one has yet nominated to replace him. If no one comes forward in the next week or so, Noosa Waters Neighbourhood Watch will begin the formal closure process, with its remaining funds returned to the Association. The meet-and-greet work welcoming new residents will continue through NWRA either way. If you would like to keep Neighbourhood Watch going, please contact us now. Our sincere thanks to John, Kayleen Bertram and all the volunteers who have looked out for our streets over the years.

Coming up

• Sunset Cocktail Drinks, Thursday 22 October. A few tickets are still available. It's the best way to meet your neighbours.

  
  

• Christmas lights judging: Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 December, from dark. Monday is the dry lots and Tuesday the waterfront.

  
  

• Christmas Flotilla: Friday 18 December, with a Christmas hamper for the best dressed boat.

  
  

We are also looking for someone to help coordinate our social calendar next year. If that sounds like you, we would love to hear from you.

Why your membership matters

NWRA represents everyone who calls Noosa Waters home, on the water or off it. None of this year's wins happened by themselves. They took a volunteer committee, a lot of evenings reading Council documents, and the weight of an association that speaks for the whole estate.

Your membership helps fund the advocacy that secured the noise barrier renewal, the parks program, the entry signs, a fairer levy and a proper seat at the table with Council, and it keeps us pushing on water quality, which touches every home here. It also brings you into a community: the welcome events, the cocktail evening, the Christmas lights and the flotilla.

If you are not yet a member, please join us at nwra.com.au. The more members we have, the stronger our voice. And if anything here matters to you, get in touch with the committee. Many hands make light work.

On behalf of your NWRA committee,

Adrian Reed, President, Noosa Waters Residents Association