FAQs

Placemaking is…

• strengthening the connection between people and the places they share.
•  It’s a collaborative process by which we can shape our communities and public realm to maximize shared value. 
• About creating places people love by designing authentic places that cater to people

For more information https://placemaking.education/p/whatisplacemaking

What is a place-based planning approach?

Council will use a place-based approach to prepare the Pomona Place Plan. This involves looking at, listening to, and asking questions to the people who live, work and play in an area, in order to discover the needs and aspirations of the community and to create a shared vision for that place.

Place-based planning involves building community capacity to a point where the community can sustainably manage itself in the longer term.

Why is a place plan being prepared for Pomona?

Noosa Council is embarking on a new approach to planning, engaging, and improving its diverse villages and towns, through the delivery of the Noosa Place Program. 

Council has selected Pomona to be the pilot location for the Noosa Place Program. As a pilot it will enable Council to test this new approach both internally, and with the community. The learnings from this process will inform future place-based planning projects across the Shire. 

The pilot will result in a Place Plan that establishes a shared vision, sets objectives, and outlines actions for the Pomona town and community. The plan will be developed to ultimately be co-delivered by Council, community and other stakeholders.

For more information about the Noosa Place Program, visit: www.noosa.qld.gov.au/noosa-placemaking 

The new governance structures referred to as part of the Place Pilot involve looking at the potential to set up a community reference/advisory group to help in the drafting, prioritising and the ongoing implementation of the Pomona Place Plan. 

What form this will take and how this will operate is subject to further consideration as part of the pilot process. More information on this will be provided as the process continues.

Place Plans are a result of a community led local area planning process. The actions that the Pomona Place Plan will include are not yet determined as we are still in the engagement process with the community. 

Once community engagement has been completed, we will have a better understanding of what priority actions the community would like to see in the plan. 

Actions could include street activation and events, improved wayfinding and connectively in the town, more shade and landscaping along footpaths, new park furniture,  improving community wellbeing or increasing employment opportunities in local business through skills and training. 

Things not included in a Place Plan are the rezoning of land, natural disaster planning, housing supply and demand etc.

The SEQ Draft Regional Plan is prepared by the State Government not Noosa Council and is currently out for public consultation. This is the Queensland Governments plan to shape South East Queensland’s future growth. 

Council along with the community are currently being invited to make submissions to the draft SEQ Regional plan with submissions closing on the 20 September. Further Information can be found here https://planning.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/planning-framework/plan-making/regional-planning/south-east-queensland-regional-plan

The Pomona Place Plan is a separate plan which is focused on establishing a shared vision for the town, to ensure its unique character and identity is retained and will outline actions determined by the community to improve overall liveability and wellbeing of the community. 

This is a new approach to local area planning by Council which will work in partnership with the community to deliver community-based outcomes.

Council is acting in accordance with the Human Rights Commission which states the following for participation in surveys by children and young people:

The Human Rights Commission values the opinions of children and young people and acknowledges their rights to express those opinions. The Commission also acknowledges that there is a generally accepted presumption that children and young people under the age of 15 do not have the capacity to make the necessary decisions or judgements about the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information.

For this reason, the Commission requires children and young people under the age of 15 to get the consent of a parent or guardian before they participate in a survey. The Commission also reserves the right to exclude children and young people from participating in some surveys.

Once the consultation process has been completed all the responses will be considered and a consultation report will be produced summarising the key outcomes of all the engagement activities and some options for consideration in the drafting of the Place Plan. 

This report will be made available for the community in November this year and will be used to guide and inform the preparation of the draft Pomona Place Plan in conjunction with the community.

The preparation of the draft plan will likely occur early next year with the draft to be out for community consultation in April 2024, after the Council elections which are being held in March.

Place planning is a community-based process, not just a strategy or solution that is implemented by government leaders or planners. 

Therefore, the responsibility for the implementation and resourcing of the Pomona Place Plan will be co-led or shared by the community and council. 

Some actions could be identified as being community resourced and led, while others could be council, some maybe in partnership with a range of stakeholders, and some maybe subject to other levels of government funding and implementation.