Town Planning Report - 12 Eenie Creek Rd (RESOLVED DRAFT)

a question of commercial viability for the applicant, but whether the use serves a genuine demand and
whether that demand is better met here than elsewhere.

The proposal meets a demand not presently served in this location. Noosa Shire has an established vehicle
sales presence at the Lionel Donovan Drive Auto Precinct, but no specialist premises of this kind on the
Eenie Creek Road frontage. The proposal introduces a use that broadens the range of enterprises in the
precinct, consistent with strategic outcome 3.3.5(a) which seeks a diverse and resilient economy with
business growth pathways.

The demand is not one that competes with a centre. An appointment only vehicle showroom draws
customers who have made a deliberate decision to attend a specific premises for a specific vehicle. It does not
draw convenience or comparison retail expenditure, and it does not compete with the Noosa Civic centre
adjoining the precinct or with any centre in the Noosa Shire Centres Hierarchy. The centres hierarchy is
therefore not undermined, which is the concern the zone provisions and local plan outcome 7.2.4 PO18(d)
are directed at.

The site is well suited to the demand. A motor vehicle showroom requires a large clear display floor with
direct vehicle access to the building, which is a defining element of the Showroom definition in Schedule
1. Those characteristics are found in industrial buildings rather than centre premises, which is why the
scheme locates vehicle sales showrooms in the Low Impact Industry zone at the Lionel Donovan Drive Auto
Precinct rather than in a centre zone. The existing building on this site has precisely that configuration,
and reusing it avoids the construction of a new building elsewhere.

A formal economic needs assessment is not considered necessary to establish the planning need for a use
of this modest scale, which introduces a single specialist enterprise to an existing building. Should Council
request one, a specialist assessment can be provided in response to an information request.

11       SECTION 11



         Strategic framework
As an impact assessable application the proposal is assessed against the whole of the planning scheme,
which includes the strategic framework at Part 3. The outcomes most directly engaged are those for
Economy and Employment at section 3.3.5.

Strategic outcome 3.3.5(u) provides that industrial land is retained for industrial uses which generate
employment and is protected from encroachment and impacts that may threaten the function, viability and
expansion of those uses. This is the strategic expression of the concern underlying the categorisation of the
use, and it is addressed directly.

The proposal does not remove industrial land from the Shire's supply. The site is retained in its existing built
form, and warehouse, low impact industry and medium impact industry uses remain accepted development
within an existing building without expansion of the use area. The industrial capability of the land is
therefore preserved and can be resumed without a further application. No industrial operator is displaced,
the lot is not fragmented, and the site remains a single 809 square metre allotment within an intact Medium
Impact Industry precinct of some forty parcels.

Nor does the proposal threaten the function, viability or expansion of surrounding industrial uses. It