NPM Submission - Alan Lander - MCU21/0194.01

Subject: Fwd: Submission re DA MCU 21/0194.01
From: alan lander
Date: 2023-07-27T05:25:33+00:00
To: Mailbox Council Mail

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Dear Mayor and Councillors,

I would like to write in support of an impact assessment DA for a food and drink outlet/roadside stall (MCU 21/0194.01) at 201 Mary River Rd, Cooroy, trading as Bus Stop Espresso.

While this content would not qualify as a 'properly made' submission, my comments relate to the very positive community impact the business has had since it opened in 2021.

At that time, Covid 19 was raging throughout the nation, leaving many people - particularly older residents - often isolated in their homes. The opening of Bus Stop Espresso created an opportunity for otherwise lonely, often scared, people to be able to safely socialise, and gain needed community support in an open environment, unlike the more populous Cooroy CBD.

This has since resulted in the continuation of a safe community meeting place (which Noosa Council itself has itself acknowledged by contracting the premises for a Saturday 'free coffee' initiative funded by a State grant), and similar for those hit by the Black Mountain Rd landslide.

But the business has also developed into:

- a place to exchange locally produced food and plant products, consistent with Council's aim to encourage and develop a local food 'cottage' industry

- a place for hobby groups such as the local Porsche Club and other motor enthusiasts to safely park  - and exhibit - their cars (in turn attracting visitors to the area) without clogging up Cooroy CBD streets

- a place for casual resident meeting groups such as the 'Pomona Coffee Club' to meet, again reducing CBD parking issues

- a place where trade services people with large trucks/trailers - including emergency service vehicles - can safely and conveniently stop to pick up a coffee and snacks.

I have known the owners, Rob and Beth Noy, since the business's inception, and it's my belief that the diversity of its success has surprised even them, as they are simply seeking to continue to serve the community along the lines of how customer demand has grown, while seeking to remain compliant with local laws and planning constraints (some regulars and locals have often been found to supply their own seats and tables, despite requests not to).

While the growth of the business has not occurred along fully anticipated lines, tourism-related benefits have also developed:

- while the bus (a 1948 AEC omnibus that once plied the streets of Melbourne) is an obvious tourism attraction, people have visited from far and wide to photograph it, and spend time enjoying the food and drinks on offer, many who have claimed to have ridden on the bus in their early childhood years

- the quality of coffee, roasted locally, has developed a wide range of devotees, some of whom come from as far as Landsborough simply for their favourite daily caffeine hit.

As a big supporter of the integrity of the Noosa Plan, I would be one of the first to raise objections to any precedent-setting variation to its terms, however as ideas develop and community life alters to conditions, sometimes a good idea that seemingly impacts no-one negatively, cannot be pre-conceived - in this case, even by a pair of well-intentioned small-business owners.

I hope you will weigh this information along with, no doubt, many other letters/emails of support that will arrive at council.

Yours Sincerely
Alan Lander
6 Smedley Drive,
Pomona
0457 503 709