Well, what a fortnight for Noosa Biosphere music lovers!

It is great to see the community passion behind this grass roots event, demonstrating the diverse cultural values of our region.

My blog post the other week even brought our very own first batch of comments to this News blog (big thanks to those who commented).  

Over the past two weeks, I am sure that most of us have been following the daily updates in media outlets and websites everywhere, as we all try to make sense of this issue.

One of the latest news articles, on Friday 18^th of December, the Noosa News reports that Council are indeed open to working with the concert organisers on issues to ensure the longevity of the event.

There has been quite a bit of information on this topic from the Peregian Originals, available from their website. And as per my earlier post, I recognise that there are two sides to this debate. Therefore I have been trying to find information from Council on the topic, however they haven’t published anything on their website as yet. 

We ran a short poll on this website (poll now closed). This poll was only meant to get a snapshot of the moment and was not intended to be a fully comprehensive and statistically valid activity.  The questions and answers were very cut and dry, with 83 respondents voting that the Peregian Originals should not be moved, no votes wanting the event to be moved, 3 people had never heard of the event and 2 voted ‘other’.  Further demonstrating the enormous community support for these great cultural events.

Our Poll got some criticism however, for being too supportive of the Peregian Originals campaign.   We understand from other sources that there may have been some misinformation being communicated during the PO campaign and Council were not nearly as ‘heavy handed’ as they were made out to be.

Christine Ballinger, Creative Planning and Programs Manager at the Council and ex Sector Board member, provided Biosphere Sector Board members with specific information about Council's genuine efforts to help find a resolution. 

This is of course an ongoing issue, with ongoing meetings planned and attended by both Council and Peregian Originals organisers.  Therefore the information she supplied is now slightly out of date, as meetings to gain further understanding by both sides have since been held on the topic.

Councillor Russell Green (Noosa Biosphere Ltd Board member) has personally been targeted quite heavily during the campaign and I got a chance to chat with him on the topic yesterday.

Russell Green said that “Council has not been trying to shut this event down.  We want to ensure the success of the Peregian Originals because it is a great community event that I personally have frequented numerous times over the years”.

“My responsibility to the broader community is to ensure that the event is conducted responsibly and sustainably.  Council has a legal and moral duty to the community to ensure that all issues to do with the growth of the event are handled professionally and responsibly – that is the essence of what we are trying to do”.

“This is an ongoing process, that commenced in November 2008, with agreements reached between residents, organisers, surf club and council.  However some elements of these agreements have not yet been implemented”. 

Russell further added “We need to provide a safe and workable arrangement that both manages the impact in the local area and ensures that community members can benefit from this important cultural event.”

Cr Russell Green will be attending the Peregian Originals event tomorrow, and has been invited by the organisers to speak at 1pm.

A big thanks to the Noosa Biosphere community for showing your social conscience and awareness through outspoken participation in supporting both sides in and around these events, and at the end of the day, I am sure that we all look forward to a satisfactory resolution to the issue.

Further information sources:

Peregian Originals website: http://www.peregianoriginals.com/  including a link to their petition.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council website: http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/