2017-04-11 P&E Agenda Attachment 1 to Item 1 Housing Needs Assessment

approximately 50 of the 104 units permanent; whereas when the current manager took over there
were less than 30 in the holiday letting pool.

Small resorts often have just one, or a couple of units let permanently.

Any Comments or Suggestions for Council from the Consultation
Given that most resorts or accommodation establishments are strata titled, many considered (and
had been advised) that there was nothing Council could do to fix the problem. The solution
offered by several owners/managers was that alternative affordable housing (and land for it) must
be provided in order to overcome the issue.

Comments were received to the effect that Council needs to have a positive attitude to move
Noosa Shire forward, and that tourism won’t thrive forever unless it progresses and such issues
are addressed. As part of these, it is seen as necessary that Council has an ‘open for business’
attitude.

Tourism Noosa would very much like the resorts protected and definitely concerned about the
issue. They do consider that the proportion of permanents across all resorts is however quite
small. Accommodation is nevertheless known to be at capacity every weekend and during the
holiday periods. Their focus is therefore increasing mid week visitation, and to improve the
product to attract high yield markets.

They see the need to provide new product in the market, and would like Council to work more
collaboratively with developers to provide this. Some existing accommodation establishments
could be redeveloped even if strata titled, but this takes a lot of time and hard effort. Vacant land
is seen to be a challenge, but there is seen to be great opportunity for higher density at Noosa
Junction. Provision of accommodation in the Junction for key workers and as an option for those
seeking affordable accommodation in the holiday resorts, is considered important.

5.2.3    Student Accommodation
Current Student Accommodation
At any one time the Lexis English College in Noosa Junction has 300 students who stay for an
average of 12 weeks. They are accommodated through a mix of Homestay, the most popular
accommodation option and four student houses owned by Lexis in Noosa.

Issues

No one caters for this length of stay in terms of accommodation in Noosa - most rental leases on
the open market require a minimum of six months.

While they have few issues with the Homestay program, the main issue from their point of view is
that they have to offer students a cottage industry of sub-standard accommodation at inflated
prices. The situation is a million miles from ideal as far as they are concerned. In all other
locations there is much greater availability of student accommodation. In Byron Bay for instance,
they have built 80 beds on site; there is ample student accommodation within walking distance in
Brisbane; in Maroochydore they can access the University market.

Unmet Accommodation Needs
There is a desperate requirement for private accommodation for students and they are losing
students to Noosa because they can’t provide it. There have been various proposals in the
Junction, and they get a lot of offers; however they all fall over because of planning restrictions.



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