Letter to Noosa Council - Change Application · MCU17/0073.01

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          “Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”



        Comparing the Ground Floor Plan as approved and proposed, the following changes have
        been identified:
           • Place of Worship - 433m² to 437m²;
           • New offices and amenities ground floor - 215m² to 214m²;
           • Hall enclosed area ground floor - 338m² to 337m²;
           • New meeting room lower enclosed area - 169m² to 204m²; and
           • Storeroom lower enclosed area - 77m² to 77m².

        The overall change in floor area is about 37m², which is associated with the size of the meeting
        room at the lower ground level. This meeting room is primarily used by churchgoers, which
        mainly occurs out of school hours and on weekends. Consequently, it is not expected that this
        minor increase in floor space would have any car parking implications for the site.

        The other changes made include the relocation of the plant area from beside the church to
        the western side of the access way adjoining the substation site to the south-west. This change
        will result in an overall increase in the amount of landscaping fronting the church by
        approximately 80m²; however, there will be a reduction of approximately 23m² at the new
        location. There is an overall net gain in landscaping provided beside the church of 57m².

        Some of this landscaping is provided near the access road fronting the church, which helps to
        soften the built form when viewed from Eumundi Noosa Road (refer to the Site and Location
        Plan – Figure 1).

 New Landscaping
 Beds




New Plant Area




        Figure 1 – Extract of Site and Location Plan

        It is requested that Condition 2 of the NDN be amended to reflect the new proposal plans
        provided as Attachment 1.



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        17020 – Good Shepherd Church Noosa

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 “Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”




The other changes being sought concern Conditions 12 and 13.

Condition 12 states:

The north eastern side of the congregation area should not have louvres or windows
capable of being opened.

It is noted that the condition says should not have louvres or wiondows capable of being open.
The noise expert has confirmed that the Acoustic Noise Vibration Report (Acoustic Report)
dated 12 September 2018 (referred to in condition 19), does not require windows to be fixed.

The Acoustic Report states that for the Worship Centre:
   • comprises standard constructions for roof, ceiling and external walls;
   • acoustic glazing to windows in the Sanctuary, and part of the eastern wall (closest to
      the residences); and
   • air conditioning to enable doors and windows (closest to the residences) to be closed
      during services.

The noise expert has advised that … the current design has openable windows to the east side
of the building that have acoustic glazing as required in the 12 September 2018 report. As per
the report the church would need to close the windows closest to the residences during services
(ie. as levels with windows open would exceed the day and evening criteria), but the windows
could be left open during quieter unamplified uses eg. prayer meeting or when church is open
for people to use for quiet meditation.

In short, Condition 12 should be deleted as Condition 19 requires the building to be built in
accordance with the recommendations of the Acoustic Report, which is to be certified.

Condition 13 states:

Church hours
The church must not operate outside the hours of:
   a) 7am to 10pm Monday to Thursday
   b) 7am to 11pm Friday and Saturday
   c) 8am to 10pm Sunday or any public holiday.
   d) A dawn service is allowed on an infrequent basis not exceeding one or two services
   e) per year.

The applicant is seeking to change Condition 13 to limit the hours of operation from 7am to
10pm Friday and Saturday. From an acoustic perspective, the current criteria for the night
period 10pm – 7am uses the night time background level (BG) of 30dBA; thus the criterion
would be BG + 3 = 30 + 3 = 33dBA.

The noise expert has advised that level would be more difficult to meet for the air conditioning
than the Evening criterion of 43dBA. Consequently, it may not be possible to meet the noise
criteria required for the airconditioning plant under condition 20 and also the criteria set for



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17020 – Good Shepherd Church Noosa

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 “Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”



the operation of the church under condition 21, both of which have to be measured and
certified. The noise expert has advised that the development will be able to meet the criteria
until 10 pm. Consequently, it is requested that Condition 13 be amended as follows:

The church must not operate outside the hours of:
   a) 7am to 10pm Monday to Thursday
   b) 7am to 10pm Friday and Saturday
   c) 8am to 10pm Sunday or any public holiday.
   d) A dawn service is allowed on an infrequent basis, not exceeding one or two services per
       year.

Under section 80 of the PA2016, the change application is to be referred to Energex Limited
being a referral agency (advice) for the original application.

Under the definition of a minor change (Schedule 1 of the PA2016), the changes made will not
result in a substantially different development according to Schedule 1 of the Development
Assessment Rules.

The change made to condition 13 reduces the hours of operation to 10 pm Friday and
Saturday, which will minimise any adverse amenity impacts. Further, the changes made to the
proposal plans do not change the use and will not dramatically change the built form in terms
of its scale, bulk, and appearance (condition 2). In my opinion, the proposed changes being
made to the plans of development under condition 2 and the change made to conditions 12
and 13 can be considered a “minor change”.

Should you require further information or have any concerns, please contact me.

Yours faithfully




Shane Adamson (BEngTech, GDURP, MPIA, MQELA)
Town Planning Specialist
Director - Adamson Town Planning Pty Ltd




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17020 – Good Shepherd Church Noosa