2014-12-09 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              9 DECEMBER 2014


An IA is currently in draft form and being reviewed. It is anticipated the Infrastructure Agreement
will be finalised through the Negotiated Decision process and subject to a further report to
Council.
The proposal complies with the Reconfiguring a Lot Code.
Overlay Provisions
The following overlay codes are applicable to this application:
   Biodiversity Overlay – Riparian Buffer
   Natural Hazards Overlay Code – Flood Hazard


Biodiversity Overlay Code
The Code seeks to avoid development in the riparian buffer to minimise edge effects of
development, maintain wildlife corridors and to help maintain water quality.
Approximately 40% of the site is affected by Riparian Buffer areas. The mapped buffers are not
centrally located over the watercourses and do not follow the meander of either tributary, but
range in width of up to 70m in the western tributary. The applicant proposes to rehabilitate most
of the riparian buffers and 10m from the top of bank for the full length and both sides of the
waterways, including the portion of the waterway not affected by the Riparian Buffer.
Both tributaries are identified as stream order 3 waterways. A 70m wide mapped buffer over the
western tributary is extreme for a stream order 3 waterway and is the result of the mapping
inconsistency. The Planning Scheme identifies a 10m buffer (5m each side of centre) for a
stream order 3 waterway when not affected by the Riparian Buffer Overlay.
Approximately half the playground, the access road and a bio-swale along the road is within the
riparian buffer. The location of the access road is governed by the existing stub road which was
provided as part of a previous subdivision assessed under the superseded planning scheme
which required a lesser buffer than that of The Noosa Plan.
To minimise infrastructure within the buffer, the road alignment moves eastward from the end of
the stub road upon entering the site, however, the majority of the road and bio-swale are still
within the riparian buffer. Very little vegetation is being removed for the road construction, and
the proposed 10m of vegetation rehabilitation between the road and the waterway is an adequate
buffer for a stream order 3 waterway. There is no other reasonable access to the site and, as a
whole including the western side of the western tributary; approximately 40m of riparian buffer
area is proposed to be rehabilitated adjacent the road. This will minimise edge effects, maintain
water quality and rehabilitate a current degraded area of the western tributary.
Natural Hazards Overlay – Flood Hazard Area
Approximately 50% of the land is flood affected being below the level of a Q100 event. The
applicant provided a Flood Assessment which considered the land areas subject to 4 current
development applications (being the subject application, REC13/0148, REC14/0008 and
REC14/0009). The proposed flood strategy is not a fully conventional detention system, using a
variety of storage methods to achieve a non-worsening at the site boundaries. The proposed
methods include deliberately “roughing” the flood ways by utilising riparian vegetation, excavating
side storage adjacent to the western tributary, channel re-profiling, and a restrictive footbridge
across the eastern tributary and 2 conventional bio basins. The applicants Flood Assessment
indicates that there is no risk to surrounding residences as there is a non-worsening at any flood
affected boundary in a Q100 event.




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