2015-09-15 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                              15 SEPTEMBER 2015


Koala Habitat and Offsets
The application involves the clearing of 7.5ha of vegetation of which 7.2ha is mapped Koala habitat.
The applicant has provided analysis of the vegetation with relation to koala values and found the
density of koala food trees is approximately 433 trees per hectare resulting in the proposed clearing
of 3,118 koala food trees to facilitate the development. Council requested the applicant provide
additional sampling effort to determine the accuracy of the koala food tree estimate but this was
not provided. The applicant contests the sampling methods were sufficiently robust and the
number of impacted koala food trees was immaterial, as a financial offset will be provided.
As noted earlier, the applicant has indicated a preference for financial offsets to vegetation clearing
and Council cannot direct it to carry out a specific offset type. Financial offsets for clearing koala
habitat under the Environmental Offsets Act 2014 and subordinate policy are determined by the
amount of area cleared and not the amount of trees cleared. The SEQ Koala Conservation State
Planning Regulatory Provisions require any clearing to be offset at a ratio of 5:1. Advice received
from the Department of Environment and Heritage indicates the provisions of the SEQ Koala
Conservation State Planning Regulatory Provisions prevail to the extent of any inconsistencies
between the provisions of the Environmental Offsets policy and SEQ Koala Conservation State
Planning Regulatory Provisions. To this end, it is expected that any koala offsets will be delivered
in accordance with the SEQ Koala Conservation State Planning Regulatory Provisions. This
discrepancy does not impact on the assessment of the current application, but does impact on the
delivery of koala offsets. Whilst there are complex issues of overlapping policies, these issues do
not materially impact the layout or the proposed uses. Conditions can be applied to ensure the
delivery of koala offsets in accordance with the prevailing SEQ Koala Conservation State Planning
Regulatory Provisions.
Bushfire
The applicant provided a Bushfire Assessment against the Noosa Plan’s Natural Hazards Overlay
Code provisions and State Planning Policies for bushfire, which concludes requirements can be
met. Council engaged bushfire consultants, Rob Friend & Associates, to assess the proposal who
found the information was deficient in a number of aspects, particularly in relation to retained areas
of vegetation directly adjacent the development. The issues include fuel load hazard rating
assessment, mitigation measures, emergency access/egress, implementation of planned burns,
and fire trail widths. The development of the site will reduce overall fuel loads but will increase the
amount of people and property in a bushfire prone area. It is considered the risks associated with
development within the bushfire prone area can be mitigated through the implementation of a
suitable site specific bushfire management plan, building design and access/egress arrangements
and other aspects as determined by experts. Appropriate conditions can be applied to address the
management of bushfire hazards associated with the development.
Landscaping
The application generally complies with the Landscape Code through the retention of native
vegetation to screen the development and the provision of local native plant species in landscaped
areas. The provision of shade trees to the car park areas could impact on the functioning of the
water quality devices through root ingress and shading. Suitable conditions can be applied to
avoid this conflict while still achieving desired water quality objectives and shade trees.
Non-Retail Use Components
The application includes a number of uses not normally part of a shopping centre proposal but
requested to allow maximum flexibility for future tenanting and operation. The uses include
markets, sport & recreation, adult education, telecommunication towers and social uses but the
applicant is unable to provide details of the form and intensity these would take. There is some
concern that certain uses could create parking shortages or generate other impacts.
Upgrades to Existing Shopping Centre
Elements of the reconfiguration of existing floor space and all of the new proposed arbour and
entrance upgrade works to the existing shopping centre are supportable.




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