2017-07-11 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                           11 JULY 2017


The applicant proposed a Noosa on Weyba Locality Plan to generally override the local planning
schemes provisions for the development site. The Plan identified four primary urban precincts
with varying density and character. The precincts were further broken down into zones, being
Detached Housing, Attached Housing, Rural Settlement and Neighbourhood Centre zones. An
Open Space Conservation Zone surrounded the urban precincts.
Proposed uses within the precincts included detached houses, small lot houses, duplexes,
multiple dwellings (units, townhouses and attached dwellings), retirement dwellings and aged
care facilities.
Minimum lot sizes ranged from 350m2 to 800m2 and minimum residential densities ranged
between 15 – 32 dwellings per hectare. Proposed building heights were 2 to 3 storeys and the
Noosa on Weyba Locality Plan also proposed differing built form provisions (such as site cover
and boundary setbacks) to those sought in comparable urban areas under the Maroochy and
Noosa planning schemes.
The application was refused on 4 April 2014 to which an appeal was lodged on 7 May 2014, but
was subsequently withdrawn.
As part of the original approval for this site it was identified that a part of Hollett Road is not within
the road reserve but rather it is located on freehold land owned by Council. Accordingly Council
is required pursuant to an Infrastructure Agreement entered into at the time of settlement of the
appeal to commence road closure and road opening applications.
This process is currently being undertaken by the Council’s property department, on the property
owner’s behalf, who have made the application to the State.
2.2. Site Description
The subject site has an area of 110 hectares and is located south of the Noosa Business Centre.
The site is bordered to the northeast by Eenie Creek, to the east by undeveloped land fronting
Lake Weyba, to the south by Hollett Road and the west by rural residential land. The north-west
corner of the site adjoins land developed for detached housing. The site is dissected by Walter
Hay Drive, but no access is permitted from this road, with the site having vehicular access via
Hollett Road. An Energex transmission line and an associated easement traverse the northern
portion of the site.
Topographically the site is largely flat with gently undulating slopes with a mosaic of soil types.
The site currently supports large areas of grasslands that have been actively used for cattle
grazing. The site also supports areas of paperbark forest and eucalypt woodlands and there are
a number of small dams scattered through the central portion of the site.
The site forms part of an area of land that provides a corridor for native wildlife to move between
areas of protected habitat in the locality, including Noosa National Park, Lake Weyba and
Tewantin State Forest. Notably the Regional Ecosystem Map for the site locality identifies the
presence of areas identified as being Essential Habitat for species listed as Endangered,
Vulnerable or Rare pursuant to the Nature Conservation Act. These are wetland habitats which
are associated with Eenie Creek and its tributaries for the Wallum froglet and Wallum rocketfrog.
A number of other significant fauna species also have a high probability of utilising the habitat
within the site, including koalas.




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