Delegated Report - Code - Planning MCU22 0208

MCU22/0208 APPLICATION FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR SHORT TERM ACCOMMODATION AT 132 SOLAR ROAD COOROY MOUNTAIN
Author	Acting Coordinator Planning, Nadine Gorton
Environment and Sustainable Development Department
Index	ECM/Application/MCU22/0208
Attachments	Proposal Plans (site plan and floor plan)

APPLICATION DETAILS
Applicant	Oliver O’Reilly C/- RG Strategic Australia
Proposal	Short Term Accommodation
Properly Made Date	7 December 2022
Information Request Date	Not applicable
Information Response Date	Not applicable
Decision Due Date	17 March 2023
Number of Submissions	Not applicable

PROPERTY DETAILS
Property Address	132 Solar Road, Cooroy
RP Description	Lot 19 SP 236314
Land Area	4675m2
Existing Use of Land	Dwelling

STATUTORY DETAILS
SEQRP Designation	Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area
Zone	Rural
Precinct	Not applicable
Local Plan Area	Not applicable
Overlays	Biodiversity, waterways and wetlands Landslide hazard Water supply buffer area Water Resource Catchment
Assessment Type	Code

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This application seeks approval to use an existing two storey dwelling at 132 Solar Road, Cooroy Mountain for short term accommodation when the owners are not using it. No changes are proposed to the dwelling and all parts of the site will be available for the proposed use. The applicant proposes to cater for up to 8 guests onsite with the existing two car garage and driveway available for guest parking.
Short term accommodation is a code assessable use in the Rural zone in which the site is contained, and the proposal has been assessed against the relevant codes and has been determined to comply with all outcomes.
This application would normally have been determined by staff under delegated authority, however in the context of recent Council reports on housing including the Short Term Monitoring Report 2022 and the Noosa Housing Strategy 2022, the matter is being reported to Council for consideration. The report recommends approval of the application as it is consistent with the provisions of the Noosa Plan.
RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Acting Coordinator Planning to the Planning & Environment Committee Meeting dated 7 March 2023 regarding Application No. MCU22/0208 for a Material Change of Use – Short Term Accommodation situated at 132 Solar Road, Cooroy Mountain, described as Lot 19 on SP236314 and approve the application subject to the following conditions.
PLANNING
When Conditions must be Complied With
Unless otherwise stated, all conditions of this Decision Notice must be complied with prior to the use commencing, and then compliance maintained at all times while the use continues.
Plans and Documents
Development undertaken in accordance with this approval must generally comply with the approved plans of development. The approved plans are listed in the following table unless otherwise amended by these conditions.
Plan No.	Rev.	Plan/Document Name	Date
002623	A	Site Plan	-
002623	A	Floor Plan as amended by Council	-
Currency Period
This development approval lapses if the use has not happened by 16 March 2029, unless an application to extend the currency period is approved by Council.
Nature and Extent of Approved Use
The total number of bedrooms within the existing dwelling that are available for guest accommodation must not exceed 4.
The total number of guests accommodated at any one time must not exceed 8.
Amenity
All outdoor areas, including balconies, decks, pool and the like, must not be used after 10pm each night.
The operation of the approved use must not detrimentally affect the residential amenity (including but not limited to noise, overlooking, light spill or odour) enjoyed by surrounding residents or cause a nuisance, including a noise nuisance.
The operation of the approved use must be in accordance with Administration (Amendment) Subordinate Local Law (No.1) 2021.
*Refer Advisory Note.
Contact Person
Prior to the commencement of the use written confirmation must be provided to Council confirming:
the name and telephone number of the contact person (which may include the name and contact details of an individual, letting agency, property manager, security firm or the like) for the purposes of the operation of the short stay letting at the premises; and
that the contact person is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; and
that the contact person resides within a 20 kilometre radius of the premises; and
that the contact person is to be responsible for the supervision and management of the premises, including addressing complaints about the use of the premises for short stay letting and visitor queries.
Code of Conduct
A code of conduct must be developed and provided to all users and occupants of the short term accommodation, including any website or social media used to promote the use of the premises for short term accommodation.
The code of conduct must advise all users of the premises:
That the use of the premises must not:
detrimentally affect the residential amenity (including but not limited to noise, overlooking, light spill or odour) enjoyed by residents in the vicinity of the premises; or
cause a nuisance (including a noise nuisance);
display unacceptable behavior including:
a.	loud aggressive behaviour;
b.	yelling, screaming, arguing; or
c.	excessively loud cheering, clapping and singing.
create a level of noise above the acceptable levels described by Queensland Government legislation for environmental protection (noise).
That a user of the premises must not sleep or camp on the premises in a tent, caravan, campervan or similar facility.
That each vehicle used by a user of the premises must:
be stored in a manner that does not cause a nuisance or inconvenience to adjoining premises; and
be parked within the parking facilities at the premises where provided.
That each user of the premises must store general waste (including the separation of recyclable waste) produced as a result of the ordinary use or occupation of the premises in a waste container.
That each user of the premises must ensure that the premises, including the grounds of the premises, are kept in a safe and tidy condition.
That pets occupying the premises must be managed and not cause a nuisance (including a noise nuisance).
The nature and extent of the approved use as detailed in conditions numbers 5 to 8 of this development approval.
The Code of Conduct must be displayed in a prominent location at the premises so that it can be viewed by guests.
Complaints Management
The contact person must maintain a record of all complaints received, identifying how each complaint has been resolved or addressed within a reasonable time.
The contact person must respond to all complaints within 30 minutes of notification of a complaint.
The contact person, must keep and maintain a register of the use of the premises for short stay letting or home hosted accommodation, and record in the register, each of the following:
on each occasion on which the premises are used, or occupied, for short stay letting or home hosted accommodation on a commercial basis:
the number of adults who are users of the premises; and
the number of minors, an individual who is under 18, who are users of the premises.
the dates when each person’s use, or occupation, of the premises for short stay letting or home hosted accommodation began and ended.
The contact person, must make available, for inspection by Council, within 5 business days of receipt of a written request given at any time, each of:
the written record of complaints referred to in condition 16; and
the register referred to in condition 18.
Water Supply
The development must be provided with a potable water supply.  The storage capacity of the potable water supply must be a minimum of 5000 litres per guest.
Waste Water Treatment and Disposal
The development must be provided with an on-site waste water treatment and effluent disposal system having a capacity sufficient for the use*.
*(Refer to Advisory Note)
Retention of Existing Trees
All existing native vegetation located on the site and in the road reserve must be retained and protected.
ENGINEERING
All car parking areas and access driveways must be maintained exclusively for vehicle parking and manoeuvring and kept in a tidy and safe condition at all times.
Directional signage must be provided to direct visitors to the car parking spaces provided on site.

REPORT
PROPOSAL
The application seeks approval to utilise the existing two storey dwelling at 13 Solar Road, Cooroy for Short Term Accommodation. No changes are proposed to the existing dwelling with the applicant advising all parts of the site will be available for the proposed use.  The existing dwelling has four bedrooms and one media room with the applicant originally seeking approval for 10 guests however reducing the number of guests during assessment to 8 persons.
The two car garage and associated driveway will be available for car parking for guests.
The applicant intends to utilise the subject property as their holiday home however wishes to short term let the property when they are not utilising the premises. A local property manager will oversee the management of the accommodation and a code of conduct will be provided for all guests to adhere to.
The locality and proposal plan are included below.

Figure 1 – Locality

Figure 2 – Site Plan

Figure 3 – Floor Plan

Figure 4 – Photos of existing dwelling
site details
Site Description
The site is an irregular shaped lot with a narrow frontage to Solar Road, Cooroy Mountain. An existing dwelling, pool, deck and fire pit are located on site and are over 130 metres to the nearest dwellings.  Vegetation on site will mostly screen the dwelling from the nearest dwellings.  The site has an area of 4.67ha.
Surrounding Land Uses
The site is located in an area characterised by a mix of rural properties which range in size being mostly used as lifestyle properties with limited primary producing activities.
assessment
Instruments for Statutory Assessment
Under the Planning Act 2016 the application must be assessed against each of the following statutory planning instruments to the extent they are relevant to the development:
State Planning Policy;
South East Queensland Regional Plan;
Planning Regulation 2017; and
Noosa Plan 2020.
Noosa Plan 2020
The following codes from the Noosa Plan 2020 are applicable to this development:
Rural Zone Code;
Visitor Accommodation Use Code;
All Works Codes;
The subject site is located in the Cooroy area and is zoned Rural.  The proposed use is identified as a consistent use within the zone and is required to follow a code assessable application process. The Planning Act 2016 details that in deciding development applications that are properly made and involve code assessment, the assessment manager:
(a) must decide to approve the application to the extent the development complies with all of the assessment benchmarks for the development; and
(b) may decide to approve the application even if the development does not comply with some of the assessment benchmarks;
(c) may impose development conditions on an approval; and
(d) may, to the extent the development does not comply with some or all the assessment benchmarks, decide to refuse the application only if compliance can not be achieved by imposing development conditions.
The application has been found to generally comply with all applicable statutory instruments. The pertinent issues arising out of the assessment are discussed below:
Rural Zone Code and Visitor Accommodation Code
The Noosa Plan 2020 details that the purpose of the Rural Zone Code is to:
6.8.3.2 (1)
provide for rural uses and activities; and
provide for other uses and activities that are compatible with:
existing and future rural uses and activities; and
the character and environmental features of the zone; and
maintain the capacity of land for rural uses and activities by protecting and managing significant natural resources and processes
The Overall Outcomes include several outcomes relating to accommodation including:
6.8.3.2 (2)
The establishment of outdoor recreation and small-scale tourism facilities in suitable locations is facilitated in a manner that does not significantly compromise the rural productivity or ecological values of the land.
Visitor accommodation complements rural uses and promotes the sustainable use of rural land.
Houses or outbuildings may be available for short term guests where there is no resultant changes to the rural amenity or rural production of the area.
Unlike the Low Density Residential, Medium Density Residential and High Density Residential zone Codes, the Rural Zone Code does not reference these areas as being predominantly home to permanent residents.
The proposal has been reviewed against the Rural Zone Code which details that development is to be compatible with agriculture and protect the environmental and landscape values. The proposal is consistent with the code as the land is not identified as good agricultural land by the Agricultural Land Conservation Area and is unlikely to detract from the rural amenity of adjoining properties given it is located over 130m from the nearest dwellings with on-site vegetation screening the dwelling and associated pool and deck areas. Refer figure 5 below.

Figure 5 – Subject site and surrounding properties.
The Assessment table of the Rural Zone code that details Short Term Accommodation is a consistent code assessable use within a dwelling house of no more than five bedrooms. The applicant originally sought approval to use the existing bedrooms and media room of the dwelling for accommodation for up to 10 guests which is consistent with the assessment table of the Rural zone, however reduced the number of guests to 8 during assessment of the proposal.
The proposal has been reviewed against the Visitor Accommodation Code and is consistent with this code’s requirements. The existing dwelling is sited to avoid conflicts with nearby sensitive land uses, has a site area of more than 4ha and is located within an existing dwelling with no clearing of existing vegetation to accommodate the use. The accommodation will not overlook the living areas of neighbouring properties due to existing vegetation and the location of the dwelling to the rear of the site and maintains the privacy and amenity of the area. The site has sufficient area available on site for car parking and waste storage.
To ensure the potential impacts of noise are minimised, conditions are recommended to be imposed including a limit on the number of guests to 8 at any one time, restriction of the use of outdoor areas after 10pm and a requirement to maintain a register of complaints.
Overall, the proposed use is considered to align with the intent of the Rural Zone Code and the Visitor Accommodation Code and provides short term accommodation that maintains the viability of rural activities on the site and the surrounding area.
A new Local Law for Short Stay letting commenced 1 February 2022 which regulates the ongoing operation of short stay letting and home hosted accommodation and manages the impacts on permanent residents and guest safety.  Accordingly, an advisory note will be included on the approval to alert the applicant to the requirements under this legislation.
Landslide Hazard and Regional Infrastructure Overlays
While the site is mapped by the Landslide Hazard and Regional Infrastructure Overlays, assessment of the application against these overlays is not required by the tables of assessment given the use is occurring within an existing dwelling.
cONSULTATION
Referral Agencies
Not Applicable
Internal Council Referrals
Not applicable
conclusion & reasons for decision
The application seeks approval to utilise an existing dwelling for short term accommodation in the rural area. The use of the existing dwelling ensures that the character and environmental attributes of the site are maintained.
The proposed development generally complies with the requirements of the planning scheme and does not raise any significant issues that cannot be addressed by reasonable and relevant conditions. The application is therefore recommended for approval.
The report is provided in accordance with Section 63(5) of the Planning Act 2016.
Departments/Sections Consulted:

	Chief Executive Officer		Community Services		Corporate Services
	Executive Support		Director		Director
			Community Development		Financial Services
			Community Facilities		Fleet
			Libraries & Galleries		ICT
			Local Laws		Procurement
			Waste & Environmental Health		Property
					Revenue Services
					
	Executive Services	x	Environment & Sustainable Development		Infrastructure Services
	Director		Director		Director
	Community Engagement		Building & Plumbing Services		Asset Management
	Customer Service		Development Assessment		Buildings and Facilities
	Governance		Economic Development		Civil Operations
	People and Culture		Environmental Services		Disaster Management
			Strategic Land Use Planning		Infrastructure Planning, Design and Delivery
					

[word/footer1.xml]
Page 11 of 11

[word/header1.xml]
3

[word/header2.xml]
PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT	7 MARCH 2023

[Attachment: image3.png (image text)]
FIRST FLOOR
SHED
GROUND FLOOR