Information Response_010616 · MCU15/0122

            o   27 Thomas Street 602m2

        None of these sites is of sufficient size nor offers the potential for amalgamation and consolidation for the
        development of the scale of specialist centre required to accommodate the needs of Noosa Radiology.
        Nor do these sites offer the proximity to the Noosa Hospital afforded by the subject site.

On this basis, Urban Economics concludes that there is insufficient capacity within the existing centres
to accommodate the proposed development and that there is clear planning need for the proposed
development on the subject site.

Concluding Comments

It is Urban Economics’s opinion that there is a clear and pressing need for additional health care facilities and
particularly radiation and specialist services to cater for the existing and ongoing health care needs of the Noosa
community. There is insufficient capacity within the existing Noosa Radiology premises to cater for the existing
and growing needs of the practice, requiring the practice to relocate to better meet its operational, resourcing
and patient needs.

There are clear operational and technical efficiencies for health care practitioners, staff and patients through the
co-location of specialist, health care and wellbeing services with the Noosa Hospital, with the proposed co-location
of the specialist centre and the Noosa Hospital bringing to the Noosa community a level of convenience in health
care afforded to other areas of the Sunshine Coast and the opportunity to attract visiting and locally based
specialists who require convenient access to both consulting rooms and the Noosa Hospital.

There is no vacant designated land or vacant contiguous commercial space of the size required by Noosa Radiology
to cater for the expansion of the practice or the development of the proposed specialist centre that offer the
opportunity to create a health care precinct co-located within the Noosa Hospital. There are no other specialist
centres of the nature proposed within the Noosa area. Urban Economics has also undertaken an analysis of the
available land to accommodate the proposed development. Whilst there is land available within the Noosa Shire
Business Centre, it is either designated for other uses or does not offer the significant economic, community and
health care benefits that would be derived by the co-location of new and higher level health care facilities with
the Noosa Hospital.

Therefore, it is Urban Economics’s opinion that there is a clear and pressing operator, technical, community,
economic and planning need for the proposed specialist centre to be co-located with the Noosa Hospital and that
the subject site presents a strategic opportunity for the Noosa community to enjoy the benefits of a health care
precinct that is afforded to other communities on the Sunshine Coast.




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