Response to Information Request - 9 February 2018

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Figure 1 – Existing Floor Areas

This includes the existing church worship area, multi-purpose room, down stairs office, store,
kitchen and vestry.




Figure 2 – New enclosed floor areas shown in blue.



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A copy of the Ground Floor Plan (Drawing No. 160012_A-D-A-02-02_4) is also provided as
Figure 2, which shows that the net enclosed floor area is 1,232m² (shown in blue and red).




Figure 3 – Lower Level Enclosed Area

While there is a net enclosed area of 1,232m², the net increase in floor area associated with
the new church is 817m². This is because the current church worship area, office and store will
remain, with the new church and other facilities being provided separately. Some of the
existing church structures are being removed including the kitchen, vestry and toilets (refer
Figure 1).

The new church worship area will have a floor area of 433m², with the new offices, kitchen,
amenities and small meeting room at ground floor having a floor area of 215m². The new
larger meeting room, amenities and kitchenet at the lower level will have a floor area of 169m².
The existing church worship area (338m²) will become the college hall and the office area at
the lower level is to become an additional store (77m²) (refer Figure 3).

Currently, the multi-purpose room (Figure 1) is used partly as an office and playgroup room
during church services and for playgroup meetings held two mornings per week. It is intended
that the large meeting room at the lower level will be used for community meetings, mostly
out of school hours, and will also be used as the new church playgroup room.

Issue - Car Parking and Access
It is unclear how many car parks are currently available on site.



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17020 – Good Shepherd Church Noosa

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Information Required
Provide plans including the following:
2. Car parking numbers and locations having regard to operating hours and other site users.

An Overall Site Plan (Drawing No. 160012_A-D-A-01-00_1) is provided with Attachment 1.
This plan shows the availability of carparking throughout the college and provides for 220
spaces, with an additional 2 spaces being provided near the new church towards the north
east.

There is a substantial amount of carparking provided on site which has always been shared
with the existing church use, as is normally the case for religious schools. It is not the case that
the church will operate at the same time as the college, except for school services which occur
on a weekly basis; however, these services are attended by staff and students already in
attendance at the college. The proposed additions will allow for more students to attend the
services at any time. Primarily, the church will be utilised outside of school hours and mostly
on weekends.

Under the Driveways and Carparking Code the applicable carparking rate is 1 space per 10
people able to be seated. This equates to about 24 carparking spaces being required. This is
based on the proposed seating arrangement prepared by the architect having regard to the
type of seat being purchased by the church. On this basis a total of 243 seats can be fitted in
the space provided (433m²). In this case as with most churches located on school grounds,
there is little overlap between school activities and church activities, with the uses being
complimentary community uses that generally operate at different times.

Given the above, it is suggested that there is ample parking available on site for the operation
of the church facilities in association with the College, given the primary church services occur
outside of school hours.

Issue – User numbers and hours of operation
It is unclear as to what numbers of people will be utilising the site for the school and for the
church.
Information required
3. Provide existing and projected student and worshipper numbers and any numbers of other
     potential users of the site (where applicable). Provide times for which the church operates
     independent of school usage.

The proposed church worship area is 433m², which provides for approximately 243 seats as
shown on the Ground Floor Plan (Drawing No. 160012_A-D-A-02-02_4 – Figure 2). The existing
church has an enclosed area of 338m² and currently provides for 216 seats. Consequently, the
nett increase in floor area for the church is about 95m², which provides for an additional 27
seats. Church services occur on the first Sunday of each month when there is a single service
at 9.30 am. Every other week two services are provided at 8.00am and at 9.30pm. There are
additional church services at Easter and Christmas time as would normally be expected.

The church currently has 2 fulltime staff and 1-part time staff member. It is understood that
the number of staff members is not expected to change with the new church facilities. As



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mentioned above, a church playgroup currently operates from the existing multi-purpose
building on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which will continue within the larger meeting
room at the lower ground level. This playgroup is associated with the church and does not
form part of the school use. It is understood that some volunteers also assist with church
activities, including the operation of the playgroup, some of which are parents of children
attending the school.

The church is operated as a separate entity to the college; however, there is some overlap with
sharing facilities including the use of amenities and the kitchen from time to time as would be
expected. Importantly, the current student numbers are not changing and have no bearing on
the current application. This is because no additional class rooms are being proposed by the
proposal, with the church use being distinct from the college use. It is intended however that
the existing church will continue to be used as the school hall, which also does not affect staff
or student numbers and does not cause adverse impacts off site, given this has always been a
shared space.

Issue – Landscaping
It is not clear what landscaping is proposed within the new development. It is noted that the
extensions to the church will result in a greater building presence to the street and therefore
should have adequate screening.
Information required
4. Provide details of proposed landscaping for the development in accordance with the
     Landscaping code.

The applicant has investigated the provision of more landscaping on the site near the frontage
of the church; however, the existing development footprint is restricted by the existing facilities
and infrastructure in this location. This includes the access roadway, internal pedestrian areas,
carparking and the location and orientation of the existing church (school hall), with the new
church building being extended on this same alignment (refer Figure 2). This has significantly
restricted the ability to provide additional planting near the frontage of the new building.

Landscaping strips are provided at the frontage of the new church as shown on the Site and
Location Plan (Drawing 160012_A-D-A-01-01_2 – Attachment 1). The width of landscaping is
about 1m along the western face and 0.5m along the north eastern face. Unfortunately, it is
not possible to the provide additional landscaping at this location without compromising the
built form outcome.

A green wall is to be added to the north eastern face to assist with softening the built form
and generally reduce the appearance of building bulk. The elevations indicatively show the
planting to be undertaken along the western and north western faces of the building (refer
Drawing No. 160012_A-D-A-04-50_1 – Attachment 1).

It would be reasonably expected that a not for profit organisation would seek to maximise the
community benefit with the funds available. It is not the case that the proposed building works
are being undertaken in order to maximise commercial gain at the expense of landscaping
provided at the frontage, but rather, it is a case of maximising the benefit provided to the
general community.



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The Site and Location Plan shows a substantial amount of open space internally to the site,
which is considered adequate for the development, when considered as a whole. The church
has been designed to meet the current needs while also ensuring that the existing church is
maintained as the college hall.

In accordance with section 278 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, this concludes the
response to the information request made. Could you please arrange for the adjoining owner’s
details to be provided as soon as possible so that public notification of the proposal can
commence.

Should you have any questions with respect to the above or require further information please
contact me.

Yours faithfully




Shane Adamson (BEngTech, GDURP, MPIA)
Town Planning Specialist
Director of Adamson Town Planning Pty Ltd




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