A quieter future for Cooroy Spring Water

Noosa Council has agreed to a scaled back Cooroy Spring Water bottling plant, with a significant reduction in traffic that's caused more than a decade of complaints from local residents.

The new owners of Wimmers Soft drinks and the spring water plant had advised the council they wanted to significantly reduce the operation to just 2 to 3 days per week, with only 3 or 4 staff at most times.  

•   Council has agreed to restricting truck movements to 8 a day, between 6am and 6pm only on weekdays, and no B-double trucks will be allowed.  
   
•   A maximum of 12 staff, including drivers, will be allowed on the premises and only during those weekday operating hours.

The company will distribute bottled water, but will no longer be involved in the office water cooler business.

Mayor Noel Playford said he was pleased that a significant Cooroy business would have a future, but with considerably less impact on residents in the area.

The bottling plant began its life as a small, home-based business in 1991, but over time it expanded significantly, with on-site bottling and packaging of water from three bores employing up to 60 people in peak periods.

The expansion by the previous owners led to a long history of complaints from Cooroy residents before the company went into receivership in 2011.   

Wimmers Soft drinks and the Cooroy Spring Water company were bought by local owners who have said they plan to rebrand the water as Noosa Natural Spring Water to take advantage of Noosa's iconic name.

The new conditions for the reduced operation are still to be ratified in the Planning and Environment Court.

2 May 2014