2016-06-07 - P&E Agenda - Item 5, Attachment 1 - Agriculture and Agricultural Land Study

7. Size & Number of Rural Lots in Noosa
   Shire
7.1      Minimum Lot Sizes
The Noosa town planning scheme of 1973 specified a minimum lot size of 10 acres (roughly 4
hectares) applied for the Rural Zone, provided that this could be reduced to 5 acres wherever
Council considered it reasonable. The 1986 Policy for Subdivision of Land in Rural Areas allowed
for a minimum lot area of 2 hectares providing that the original lot had to be at least 8 hectares to
allow one additional lot and 12 hectares to allow two additional lots. In addition a lot as small as
2,000m2 could be excised from a farm for a family member to build a house.

Following the introduction of the 1997 Strategic Plan the minimum lot size was determined on both
the zone and the Preferred Dominant Land Use. In the Rural Catchment and Rural Preservation
Zone the minimum lot size was 40 hectares (approximately 100 acres) while in the Rural Pursuits
Zone and the Rural Settlement Zone a relatively complex analysis of land constraints was meant to
determine the number and size of lots that could be achieved. A range of lot sizes was applied for
each Preferred Dominant Land Use designation in each locality. Average lot sizes could be as low
as 0.5 hectares or as large as 20 hectares or even 40 hectares where there were conservation
values, good quality agricultural land or physical constraints on the land.

Since the introduction of the SEQ Regional Plan in 2005 and the IPA-based planning scheme in
2006, the minimum lot size for the Rural Zone has been 100 hectares, and the minimum lot size in
the Rural Settlement Zone is typically 2 hectares although it is 1 hectare in Boreen Point and Kin
Kin and 1.5 hectares in Tewantin and Doonan and it cannot be further subdivided on Noosa North
Shore or within the Lake Macdonald water supply catchment.


7.2      Current Pattern of Lot Sizes
Outside of the urban areas of Noosa Shire much of the land is zoned Rural or Rural Settlement. As
at March 2016 there are over 2,600 properties in the Rural Zone and approximately to 3,400
properties in the Rural Settlement Zone. Land in public ownership dedicated to vegetation
protection is more typically in the Open Space Conservation Zone, however Toolara, Ringtail and
West Cooroy State Forests are included in the Rural Zone.

The Rural Settlement Zone is generally intended for the lifestyle acreage blocks. Lots are typically
quite small so could include small scale agricultural uses but typically not commercial
agribusinesses. In very general terms these lots have better access to urban settlements and are
less remote. The Rural Zone is more specifically intended to accommodate agricultural uses,
protection of scenic and environmental values and locally appropriate rural enterprises. Many lots
in the Rural Zone are still quite small.

Maps 7A and 7B illustrate the distribution of different sized freehold properties in the Rural and
Rural Settlement zones. Within the Rural and Rural Settlement zones, excluding properties owned
by the State or local government, there are:

       3300 properties less than 2 hectares in area (over 2,000 of these are less than 1 hectare in
       area);
       1426 properties between 2 hectares and 5 hectares in area;
       477 properties between 5 hectares and 10 hectares in area;
       348 properties between 10 hectares and 20 hectares in area;
       226 properties between 20 hectares and 40 hectares in area;
       218 properties between 40 hectares and 80 hectares in area; and
       68 properties of 80 hectares or more
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