PM Submission - Nance Forster - 132008.176.05

Subject: submission re development application no.132008.176.05 Serenity Close, Noosa Heads
From: nance forster
Date: 2023-08-13T07:46:31+00:00
To: Mailbox Council Mail

You don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>
CAUTION: This email originated outside of Council. Do not open links or attachments if the email is unexpected or unusual.



Dear  Noosa Council planning.

I wish to voice my strong opposition to the proposed construction of a 195 room hotel and shops at Serenity Close for the following reasons.

"The more you build, the less there is to love." In Noosatoday, (Aug 4, 2023), Mayor Stewart voiced her concerns regarding "huge development  pressures which threaten to overwhelm our infrastructure, such as roads and services, and threaten the very way of life and natural environment that make Noosa different by nature". A large hotel complex at the end of three quiet residential streets will undermine the Noosa "brand" as it creates traffic, congestion, and noise 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a residential area.

Grant Street, in its current form, will not cope with the congestion involved during construction and, once the hotel is completed, it will be congested with cars and mini buses going to and from the hotel. Even if Grant Street were rebuilt, traffic would still be backed up, attempting to navigate the roundabout between Grant Street and Noosa Junction. Traffic jams already regularly occur on the Sunshine Beach Road/Noosa Drive roundabout, at times even as far as the RACV resort.

Grant Street will no longer be a quiet residential street. It will become a congested commercial artery to a large resort, and this will adversely affect its residents. In order to accommodate the hotel, Noosa Council will need to rebuild Grant Street and re-open Banksia Avenue. However, as a Noosa rate payer, I strongly object to Noosa Council paying for the rebuilding of perfectly adequate residential roads in order to accommodate a commercial hotel which will negatively impact my quality of life in my own home. Will we as rate payers be footing the bill for something that will negatively impact our quality of life?

Many Noosa residents have already noted that Unity Water has had numerous problems with the pumping station at the end of Banksia Street.  At times, the stench emanating from it is very unpleasant. I understand that Unity Water has had similar problems at Peregian Springs. I can only assume that a 195 room hotel will exacerbate this issue.

If indeed, it is truly in Noosa's best interest to have another hotel to accommodate even more tourists, then it should be built in a commercial zone in Noosa Junction. There is a large vacant block which I believe is owned by Coles and is currently used as an overflow parking lot, which is mostly vacant.  There is also another vacant block  which, I believe, used to be used for lawn bowls . This commercial land is in the heart of Noosa Junction and would be an ideal location for a hotel.

I accept that the privately owned vacant land in Serenity Close will eventually  be developed. However, given the critical shortage of affordable housing for people who actually WORK in Noosa, a 195 room, four-star hotel is not going to address this issue - it will only exacerbate it. Where are all the staff associated with this proposed hotel, restaurant, bar, and shops going to live? Noosa does not "need" another four-star hotel. It does need affordable housing and Serenity Close could accommodate it. Attractively designed two and three bedroom town houses or duplexes, set amongst a well landscaped site incorporating some of the existing native vegetation, would contribute to addressing the critical shortage of housing for people who work in Noosa.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my concerns regarding this proposed use of land at Serenity Close.

Yours truly

Nance Forster

25 Grant Street, Noosa Heads