MCU21_0110 Proposed hotel - Noosa Springs - Bushfire_evacuation concerns

c) Emergency Access to Eenie Creek Road

The potential use of the gated access from Noosa Springs Drive onto Eenie Creek Road should be
clarified. In the event of an emergency necessitating evacuation from either or both the eastern and
western districts, closing off Eenie Creek Road and opening the 2 gates would enable the controlled
movement of vehicles needing to evacuate onto Eenie Creek Road and enable the swift movement of
emergency vehicles into the area.

d) Noosa Springs Drive Overpass Bridge

The bridge over Eenie Creek Road is the only formed road access/egress for the whole of the Noosa
Springs area. If this bridge is unusable in an emergency the overall evacuation risk will be hugely
amplified.

The closure of this bridge is addressed in Noosa Council Infrastructure Services Department Procedure
– Emergency Access Noosa Springs (Attachment B). This document outlines the action required by
Council to provide emergency access for residential communities on the southern side of Eenie Creek
Road if the bridge is unusable.

The procedure does not consider or address the requirements for evacuation from the Noosa Springs
area and there is no obvious public source of information regarding when evacuation might be
necessary, what options could be made available for evacuation and how such an evacuation will be
managed. If Links Drive, or Noosa Springs Drive is compromised, or the bridge over Eenie Creek Road is
closed during an emergency, no-one will be able to leave or return to their respective districts, and
properly formulated and communicated plans (including possible options) should be in place to deal
with that.

As a minimum, the Council and Emergency Services should consult with the residents in both the
Eastern and Western precincts of Noosa Springs and Elysium to develop this information and guidance
and update them with any changes.


5. Hotel construction
There is no consideration of the impact of any bushfires that might occur during the construction of
the hotel. This period will involve construction vehicles, fuel storage and workers under the
construction contractor’s control. The building contractor should be required to develop their own
Emergency Response Plan as part of their bid, and this should be submitted for approval as part of the
overarching Emergency Response Plan to ensure that it is comprehensive and cohesive. In the
meantime, there should be some consideration as to how bushfire emergencies will be handled during
construction. The numbers of construction workers and vehicles and the associated traffic, parking and
evacuation issues must be duly considered in any assessment.


6. Environmental considerations – removal of trees
Residents have previously expressed their concerns about the impact of the development on the local
koalas and black cockatoos as a result of the removal of trees to enable the development to proceed
on land zoned as Recreation and Open Space.

The most recent information provided to Council, based on the Applicant’s revised layout, now
provides for more replacement trees (145) than are currently identified as being removed (114).
However there are still more trees to be removed within the footprint of the relocated tennis courts.
The number of these trees should be determined and, if necessary, additional replacement trees
should be provided to ensure that there is no net loss of trees as a result of the development.


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