PM Submission - Leslie William Bentley - MCU25/0006

Objection to Proposed Backpacker Hostel                                                                 V
Noosaville visitors, together with local residents, will be adversely affected if the proposed 48-
bed backpacker hostel in Russell Street is given the green light.

This development would:

     •   Add to the existing traffic, parking and safety issues in one of the busiest streets in the
         suburb
     •   Impose more noise and disruption on Holiday Park visitors, many of whom are regular
         visitors, as well as local residents
     •   Remove much-needed affordable accommodation for essential workers (nurses, aged care
         workers, police, council staff etc) in favour of short-stay overseas visitors.

The property in question is a standard-sized residential block that was once a family home before
being developed into three, 3-bedroom apartments that, until recently, provided affordable long­
term accommodation for local workers.

The current owners have converted the property into short-term accommodation, now mainly
targeted at backpackers, which has already resulted in more noise and more anti-social behaviour.
It has also attracted more illegal overnight camping vehicles in the street (typically friends of the
resident backpackers using either their friends' or the Holiday Park bathroom facilities). These
illegal overnighters have been the subject of multiple complaints to Council.

The proposal is a gross over-development of the site. It includes 15 shared rooms, 48 beds, a
swimming pool, rooftop terrace, communal kitchen and an open eating area, all of which will create
considerable noise in Russell Street and beyond. This is inevitable when as many as 50 young
people are crammed into a single property on a small site. Backpackers have very different social
habits to caravan park visitors!

The proposal includes 4 on-site parking spaces. These are likely to prove insufficient during peak
visitor times, so there will be more vehicles parking in what is already an extremely busy street.

Regardless of where they park, there will also be more traffic movement which will add to safety
risks. Russell Street already has a lot of pedestrian movement, cycle traffic and. increasingly,
electric scooters. Adding multiple backpacker vehicles to the mix, together with the proposed
shuttle bus, will compromise amenity and safety.

Noosa doesn't need more accommodation for short-term visitors working in the tourist
sector. What it does need is affordable long-term accommodation for genuine local workers who
will not interfere with the amenity and peaceful enjoyment of residents and holidaymakers.

Please help to stop this development by adding your name, address and signature below and
returning this form to the Body Corporate mailbox at 21 Russell Street.


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object io the proposed Backpacker development at 17 Russell Street, Noosaville (MCU25/OO06).

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Signed                                                                \         Dated