2021-12-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                 13 DECEMBER 2021


As can be seen the difference between the local medians and the state medians are more
accentuated in the bigger dwellings.
Some SA2s have particularly small numbers of new 1 or 2 bedroom unit tenancies. As there were
only 3 rental bond lodgements for 1 bedroom units in Noosa Heads over the 12 months a median
rent figure was not published.
Some coastal parts of the Shire saw a steep spike in residential vacancies in April 2020, correlating
with lockdowns and border closures. According to SQM Research, the 4567 postcode for instance
jumped from a vacancy rate of 2.5% to 6.8% in a month. From November 2020 to July 2021 vacancy
rates stayed at or below 1.0% but rose again from August 2021 as a further wave of lockdowns
occurred. At October 2021 it was at 1.9%.
5.    Competing Interests
Since the 1997 Strategic Plan Noosa Council has recognised that the mix of long-term
accommodation for residents with the short-term accommodation for visitors has potential to yield
conflicts, and that where such conflicts arise, the protection of residential amenity will prevail. While
there are a small number of key resort sites where permanent residents were specifically precluded
(some still undeveloped), for the most part holiday resorts and motels are scattered amongst
attached housing, with many properties enjoying interchangeable use rights.
The Planning Regulation 2017 and Noosa Plan 20202 now make it clear that premises occupied by
permanent households are not considered to be the same land use as premises for the short-term
accommodation of tourists and travellers.
The planning scheme is required to be clear about which uses are consistent in any given zone in
each locality. Noosa Plan 2020 does for example identify short-term accommodation as an
inconsistent use in the Low-Density Residential zone, outside of the occasional short stay letting of
one’s principal place of residence. Notwithstanding this, many properties enjoy existing use rights,
and some have recently gained approval under the superseded planning scheme.
Many well-established resorts and holiday accommodation are located within the Medium and High-
Density Residential zones as too are the unit blocks which have traditionally been home to key
workers. Parts of Noosaville, Noosa Heads, Sunshine Beach and Peregian Beach have had a strong
mix of visitors and residents for decades, however it was generally the case that within a
neighbourhood a particular complex would be occupied by either visitors or residents. Now there is
a blurring of the lines, and many complexes contain both.
Noosa Plan 2020 continues to identify short-term accommodation as a consistent use in both these
zones, which has continued to blur the land use intent for these residential zones. Permanent
residents voice concern about transient guests and local residents and employees struggle to find
permanent rental units.
The market for two or even three-bedroom holiday units with modest kitchens and shared recreation
facilities is limited and unless individual owners regularly invest in the furnishings and décor of their
unit it becomes tired. The small number of resorts that were specifically conditioned to be for visitors
only do not command the same sale price for units as those with flexibility for residents or visitors.
For the balance, the economic return of the resort diminishes when individual units exit the letting
pools due to owners either occupying their units or renting them out independently.
There are many historical situations and many properties enjoying existing use rights. Council can
however regulate new development including MCU applications to change existing buildings from
one defined use to another.
6.    Particular Needs
Affordability is central to much of the discussion around housing, but suitability is also a concern. As
already indicated housing in Noosa Shire is dominated by large dwellings, despite a majority of
households having just one or two persons. The existing built form is not likely to change dramatically
at this stage and for that reason it is important that more efficient use is made of the remaining land
suitable for housing within existing well serviced urban areas. Changing some of the traditional

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