2021-12-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                13 DECEMBER 2021


        1.     is directly associated with and subordinate to the industry activity on site;
        2.     demonstrates a demand for 24 hour care of buildings, operations, plant or equipment;
        3.     is not separately let for other accommodation activities;
        4.     includes no more than one caretaker’s accommodation per site;
        5.     is on a site with an area of at least 2,000m2;
        6.     has a maximum gross floor area of 65m2 and
        7.     is occupied by at least one person who is employed by the primary non-residential use
               on site.
All of the above-mentioned codes requires sufficient justification that the caretakers
accommodation is directly associated and required for 24 hour care of the industry use. In relation
to the need to caretake the property the applicant states:
       “there is anecdotal evidence that since the introduction of 24hr offerings in the Noosaville
       Industrial area, vandalism has increased which raises significant concerns for the subject
       business…”
       “It is well known that a residential presence onsite deters criminal activity and given the
       extent and value of stock and equipment onsite, a 24/7 onsite caretaker is justified in this
       instance”.
       “the caretaker will also tend to after hour deliveries which is increasingly occurring”
       “Scooter style has had to rent 2 offsite storage sheds for secure stock storage valued at
       around $100 - $200K. Due to unreliable supply chain post COVID it has become necessary
       to get and have on hand as much stock that is available as the supply chain reliability is and
       has been unknown over the past 18 months. – The provision of an onsite caretaker would
       alleviate this situation and expense that is presently being incurred for offsite storage by
       allowing some more if not all of the stock to be stored onsite.”
       “Insurance is not able to be secured for this stock stored offsite, by having an onsite
       caretakers and stock stored onsite, insurance will cover all stock.”
The development currently caters for security of people and property by providing opportunities for
casual surveillance and sightlines through the property. The property with frontage to Rene Street
and opposite the intersection with Leo Alley Drive is highly visible from the public realm.
The business has been operating successfully since 2013 and during this time a Caretaker’s
Accommodation has not been onsite. It is considered that whilst the ability for the owner of the
business to live on site would be convenient for deliveries and add additional security to the premises
it is not the test for determining whether the proposed caretakers is genuinely required for the
industrial use to operate onsite.
In this case, the Motorcycle/Scooter Repairs and Sales can function without a Caretakers
Accommodation onsite, and therefore the proposal does not comply with the Noosa Plan
Performance outcome PO2 (b) of the Caretaker's Accommodation, Dwelling Unit and Rural Workers'
Accommodation Code, Overall Outcome j) (i) of the Medium Impact Industry Zone Overall Outcomes
and PO5 (b) and (e) of the Medium Impact Industry Zone Code.
Furthermore, the premises is secured by a high chain wire (including barb wire) fencing and secure
gate (refer to Figure 5 below) which would contribute to security and contribute to deterrence of
break and enters. The applicant has further indicated that the scooters/sales equipment is securely
stored indoors overnight and outside of business hours, meaning that stock is heavily secured
(fenced, gated, indoors) from potential vandalism and/or theft.
The Caretakers Accommodation component of the application is therefore recommended for refusal.
Accordingly, car parking requirements will be conditioned for the industry and sales and repair
component of the proposal only.




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