Response to Information Request - Final 21 March 2024 · MCU23/0096

 “Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”




Issue – Gross Floor Area & Building Bulk

Acceptable Outcome AO18.1 of the Community Facilities Zone Code requires individual
buildings to have a maximum gross floor area of 1,000m2. The planning report indicate that
the development will comprise a gross floor area of 1579m2 while the architectural plans
annotates that the development proposes a gross floor area of 1600m2.

Our calculations indicate that the proposal will have a total gross floor area of approximately.
1700m2 (764m2 at ground level, and 936m2 at the upper floor), noting that breakout rooms
and circulation areas are not excluded from gross floor area calculations.

Council does not support this significant variation to the maximum gross floor area of the zone.
The building will be visible from the street and the proposed design is not reflective of the
established character or building scale in the locality. The predominant building character of
the surrounding area, including the school, can be described as low scale and features smaller
sized buildings.

Information Required

5. Provide amended architectural drawings with a compliant gross floor area. Gross floor area
   calculations should be strictly in accordance with the Noosa Plan 2020.

Response:

It is accepted that the overall gross floor area exceeds 1,000m² as stated under acceptable
outcome AO18.1 of the Community Facilities Zone Code; however, again it should be noted
that compliance with the code is achieved if the development meets the performance
outcome PO18 or the overall outcomes. As stated above, the design has been amended to
achieve compliance with AO18.2, with respect to the maximum length of wall not exceeding
30m in one plane.

The development does not have a maximum GFA of 1,000m², which is an arbitrary figure
provided under the Noosa Plan 2020 and does not relate to any specific land use types, such
as an educational establishment, which have particular needs and design requirements. It is
noted that under former planning schemes a plot ratio was applied to similar zones, which
allowed for a variance in building sizes to meet the needs of particular land uses, such as an
educational establishment. Some flexibility in building size is necessarily required to meet
particular needs of the GSLC, rather than applying a homogenous maximum building size of
1,000m², which is not practical in all circumstances.

In this case, the GSLC has limited site area and is required to maximise the use of the land for
the facilities needed to meet community expectations, which also provides for efficiency and
reduced costs. It is not unusual for a school such as the GSLC to provide for a PAC, which
requires a large purpose-built building having particular design requirements. In this case,

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23002 – Good Shepherd Lutheran College – Preliminary Approval & Performing Arts Centre