2014-01-28 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                 28 JANUARY 2014


The Bowls Club was under increasing financial strain for some time before the sale of the site.
Other land uses including mixed use multistorey retirement resort with bowling club and retail
uses were canvassed by the Club prior to selling to Coles but not pursued.

The use for a Bowls Club is no longer viable or an ongoing option under the current ownership
and contract arrangements. It is recognised the Bowls Club provides a sport and recreation
facility for the community, however, the club facilities are a private operation servicing paying
members and are not accessible to the general public.

The Social Infrastructure Strategy adopted by Sunshine Coast Council does not specifically
identify the Noosa Bowls Club site as accommodating community facilities and services, now or
in the future. Nor does it identify a need for additional land for community facilities in Noosa
Junction. The Strategy states that “due to the forecasted relatively low population changes
expected in Noosa Heads, the current facilities are expected to continue to meet the needs of the
community”.

Use of Retirement and Special Needs housing, allowed in the Community Services zone is under
increasing demand particularly as the local population is aging and a relatively high proportion of
Noosa residents are already over 65. While allowed in other zones, there is realistically very
little land remaining in a suitable zone for this use, particularly in a location within walking
distance of supermarkets, personal services, medical centres, community facilities, entertainment
and dining and public transport. This could be considered a missed opportunity; however, it is
difficult to direct a particular use on private land without a public/private partnership arrangement.

The Open Space Strategy 2012 identifies a shortfall of 2 local recreation parks (1.3ha) in Noosa
Heads to support the development of a Community Hub in Noosa Junction. The Strategy
suggests the following “Future Directions” for the area:

     consider opportunities to establish two local recreation parks through embellishment, trail
      co-location and potential land exchanges. One of these would support the development of
      a community hub in Noosa Junction

     consider opportunities to improve performance of existing recreation parks

It is unclear if the shortfall has been, or would be, met by the recent upgrades to community
spaces in the town centre. The shortfall may also be met through the proposed improved visibility
and accessibility of the 5.7ha at Pinaroo Park, through this application.
The Place Making Strategy identifies the Bowls Club site and Noosa Fair site as having
redevelopment potential. In particular the Bowls Club site was identified as having potential
commercial and residential opportunities, given the status of the Bowls Club operations. The
Strategy also identified the need to take better advantage of the large 5.7ha of land at Pinaroo
Park on the edge of the town centre by creating a new access road to the Park through the
extension of Arcadia Street and Pinaroo Way including pedestrian and cycle ways in a green
highly landscape setting.
In summary, it is considered the zoning of the Bowls Club site could be reconsidered for the
following reasons:

     despite the Community Services zoning, the site was not accessible to the general public;
     the Bowls Club site was identified as a possible redevelopment opportunity for a range of
      uses by the Place Making Strategy, including residential, community and commercial uses;
     the Bowls Club site is located within the business centre and could form a logical extension
      to the centre with a range of commercial, retail, community, entertainment and dining,
      residential uses and civic/community space; and


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