Council Report - MCU18 0102.03 (As Published) · MCU18/0102.03

               PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT                                   10 FEBRUARY 2026


                      Council will have regard to any substantiated complaints relating to noise, car parking and
                      any other relevant matters associated with the Food and Drink Outlet use.
               Assessment of Request
               When the original Other Change was considered the officer’s report noted:
                      The Noosa Plan 2020 requires uses in the Mary Street/Thomas Street Health and Wellbeing
                      precinct to be low impact, limited to daytime operations where adjoining residential zones,
                      and exclude food and drink outlets, shops, bars, hotels, or entertainment venues.
                      Development should not generate high traffic or require extensive parking, ensuring a
                      transition between the business centre and nearby residences while protecting amenity.
                      The subject site is somewhat unique in the precinct as the Noosa Plan specifically identifies
                      it as being suitable for short term accommodation in the form of a hostel which can include
                      ancillary recreation facilities for guests such as a cafe. The existing development on site has
                      been designed to minimise impacts on the surrounding area with recreational areas located
                      internal to the site and screened by buildings and the approval includes conditions that limit
                      hours of operation (including use of the pool and sundeck areas) as well as requiring a
                      manager/ receptionist to be on site at all times. A site inspection by staff confirmed the
                      effectiveness of the design in providing buffering to the adjoining residential areas.
                      The new food and drink use does not result in changes to the built form and will allow external
                      patrons to visit the site and utilise the existing facilities. The applicant has demonstrated over
                      time that both uses, with appropriate management, can operate without impacting on nearby
                      residents. In this regard correspondence was received in February 2023 by Council from an
                      adjoining landowner to the rear of the site who advised they have had no reason to complain
                      and have no concerns with the originally proposed Other change.
                      In terms of traffic and car parking, the proposed change will generate some additional traffic
                      and car parking however this increase is unlikely to directly impact residents to the rear.
                      The proposed development previously complied with the car parking requirements of the
                      Noosa Plan 2006 code which required 1 space per 12 guests and 1 space per staff member
                      with parking for a courtesy shuttle bus. The approval is for a 122 bed hostel and has 13 car
                      parking spaces, 1 bus space and 4 scooter spaces in the basement, with 2 parking spaces
                      in the street already accounted for the development, since they were created by the
                      development at the time.
                      The area used for the Food and drink outlet is approximately 190m2, which would equate to
                      a requirement for a further 10 spaces on site were the outlet to be used only by non-staying
                      guests. It is however reasonable to assume that the outlet will be used for both resort guests
                      and non-staying guests and in this regard the applicant considers that at any given time a
                      maximum of 80m2 may be used by external guests which equate to an additional 4 spaces.
                      The applicant provided two surveys of video stills of the basement carpark to address
                      carparking demand for the development. The initial survey conducted between 13 February
                      to 19 February 2023 by the applicant’s planning consultant, showed the basement to be
                      generally underutilised however did indicate that the carpark was full or almost full on
                      Saturdays. Further information was requested to be provided to cover a greater period of
                      time with the applicant providing further video stills for the period between Sunday 27 August
                      2023 to Saturday 23 September 2023. The applicant noted:




Document Set ID: 24431379
Version: 6, Version Date: 23/01/2026