2022-04-12 Planning & Environment Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    12 APRIL 2022


It is the applicant’s position that the increased site cover is a consequence of officer’s requiring
that the provision of covered car parking complies with the planning scheme. In this regard, the
planning scheme requires 1 covered car space for 1 and 2 bedroom dwelling units and 2 covered
car parking spaces for dwelling units with 3 or more bedrooms. The applicant maintains that by
requiring 2 covered car parking spaces, one would be led to believe that, in Council’s opinion, 2
covered car spaces are:
•    of far greater importance to Council than maintaining 40% site cover;
•    of greater importance than having the opportunity to accommodate additional, potentially
     visitor, parking spaces on site than what will now be provided.
•    a necessary component of sensible, liveable and accessible design;
•    vital to accommodate the expected demand for 2 car accommodation which comprises just
     34.5% of households in Tewantin; and
•    essential to provide residents with means to accommodate multiple vehicles required for
     travel when the site is so well serviced by public transport and alternative transport options;
The applicant has also referred to Council’s Noosa Housing Needs Assessment 2021 as
justification for not requiring 2 covered spaces for the 3 bedroom dwelling units and also makes
reference to census data from 2016 which identifies that on the 2016 census night, being almost 6
years ago, that 39.4% of households in Tewantin accommodated only 1 vehicle on premises. The
same data demonstrates that 50.6% of households had 2 or more vehicles accommodated, it is
noted that 50% of the dwelling units proposed as part of this development consist of 3 bedrooms
and require 2 car parking spaces.
It is not agreed that the requirement for 2 car parking spaces results in the development not
complying with site cover. There is an opportunity for the applicant to re-design the development
to deliver the required number of car parking spaces and comply with site cover, as has been
consistently demonstrated by the many approvals that have been issued for multi dwelling
development that has complied with both requirements.
The suggestion that 2 car parking spaces are not required is not supported by Councils Noosa
Housing Needs Assessment 2021 which includes:
     Between 2011 and 2016 the number of households with 3 or more cars rose by 871, the
     number with 2 cars rose by 545. In the same five years the number with no car or one car
     decreased by 593.

     At 31 January 2020 there were 36,818 passenger vehicles registered in Noosa Shire and a
     further 9,524 light commercial vehicles. This was an increase from 33,767 passenger
     vehicles and 7,784 light commercial vehicles in 2015. Combined, that’s 4,791 additional
     vehicles in a period when the resident population increased 3,090, and does not include
     additional motorcycles, campervans, rigid vehicles etc.
     One of the most common concerns of Noosa’s urban residents is the quantity of vehicles
     parked on street where associated with residential properties than can (or at least are)
     accommodated on the property. In some cases residents choose to use their garaging for
     other purposes.
Setbacks
Front Setback
As detailed in the table above, the proposal does not comply with the required front 6 metre
setback. The applicant proposes the upper-level roof and balconies of each building at the frontage
be setback 3.5 to 4.7 metres from Toolar Street with the central blade wall between the unit’s
setback 3.9 to 4.3 metres. Privacy screens up to approximately 5 metres in height above the natural
ground level are also proposed to be setback 3.85 metres from the front boundary. (Refer figure 8
below).



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