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

8.4      Non-rural Businesses
Rural lots are also in demand for businesses that have no or little connection to agriculture but
because of reasons of nuisance can’t be located in urban areas. For instance the owners or
operators or trucking or earth moving business where heavy machinery is kept, boarding kennels
for dogs or cats, machinery servicing industries, manufacturing, etc.

Increasingly rural areas are also under pressure to accommodate land intensive uses better
located within urban areas but where proponents can’t readily find a suitable, affordable site, for
example independent schools or places of worship.

Uses that would alienate agricultural production in the future should be avoided.


8.5      Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
The State Government has been promoting tourism in rural areas because it offers an opportunity
for economic diversification and allows people to experience rural lifestyle and learn about farming.
Visitor experiences in the rural setting range from small scale accommodation in farmstays and
cabins, health retreats, meditation centres and eco-lodges, function venues for weddings and
conferences and outdoor adventure activities such as quad bikes, trail bikes or horse riding. Given
the strength of the grey nomad sector rural tourism can be as simple as parking self-contained RVs
on a farm for a few nights.

Difficult-to-locate sports which are noisy or generate some form of nuisance are also located within
the rural setting, as are land intensive sports such as golf courses.

There is an increasing interest in cycling both on the trail network and on rural roads and support
infrastructure for events or more permanent recreational pursuits is in demand.

Ideally tourism in rural areas will co-exist with productive farming and not lead to conflict however
in reality some farming activities and tourism activities are not compatible.


8.6      Extractive Industries
While not at this stage a significant issue in Noosa Shire, many parts of rural Queensland are
facing serious conflicts between primary production and mining interests. The Regional Planning
Interest Act 2014 was designed to ease some of this tension and protect high quality agricultural
areas and strategic cropping land while still allowing for the co-existence of resources activities
with other rural pursuits.

The State has identified Key Resource Areas (KRAs) for the hard rock quarry at Wahpunga Range
and the hard rock quarry at Ringtail Creek. Figure 7 below shows the overlap of the SPP ALC
Class A and Class B (in green) with KRA 57 (in orange).




                                                                                                      43