Attachment 7 · MCU21/0083

Page 2

Housing that meets the needs of our
diverse community
Preamble
The front line for disability campaigners in the 2020’s has shifted from ‘awareness’ to
‘accessibility’. Attention to the finer details of how domestic dwellings can be improved to address
the independence of disabled people is now a key consideration for campaigners, designers, builders
and developers.

People living with a disability will often identify a desire to live independent lives in their own home,
perhaps with occasional support from family or healthcare workers or well-chosen adaptive
technology and so on. Adaptations that help disabled people such as stair lifts are usually applied to
the home as an ‘aftermarket’ concern or retrofit.

Increasingly people are beginning to think differently, perhaps in the wake of successful public
builds, about how buildings can cater for disability from the outset. The possibility of looking at
things another way is beginning to form questions around the traditional design of residential
buildings. What if buildings were designed to be accessible from the start? How can people, disabled
or not, get the best out of a building over the course of a lifetime?



What are accessible houses?
The Federal Government refers to Livable Housing Australia’s (LHA) ‘Livable Housing Design
Guidelines’ for the definition of accessible housing. The guideline was developed in partnership with
industry and the community and establishes nationally agreed guidance on designing and building
livable homes. It sets 15 liveable design elements for class 1 – 4 buildings and provides guidance on
what performance is expected to achieve three levels of accessible design standards:

    •   Silver standard of living;
    •   Gold standard of living; or
    •   Platinum standard of living.
To achieve the LHA standards, dwellings must be designed to comply with a suite of requirements
detailed in the Livable Housing Design Guidelines. To be certified as a compliant LHA dwelling there
is currently a separate certification process undertaken only by accredited LHA assessors. This
process will change to the silver standard as this is soon to be included in the National Construction
Code and will subsequently be incorporated into the relevant state building codes. The assessment
will then be in line with the standard building certification processes in place.


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Housing that meets the needs of our
diverse community

Preamble

The front line for disability campaigners in the 2020’s has shifted from ‘awareness’ to

‘accessibility’. Attention to the finer details of how domestic dwellings can be improved to address
the independence of disabled people is now a key consideration for campaigners, designers, builders

and developers.

People living with a disability will often identify a desire to live independent lives in their own home,
perhaps with occasional support from family or healthcare workers or well-chosen adaptive
technology and so on. Adaptations that help disabled people such as stair lifts are usually applied to

the home as an ‘aftermarket’ concern or retrofit.

Increasingly people are beginning to think differently, perhaps in the wake of successful public
builds, about how buildings can cater for disability from the outset. The possibility of looking at
things another way is beginning to form questions around the traditional design of residential
buildings. What if buildings were designed to be accessible from the start? How can people, disabled

or not, get the best out of a building over the course of a lifetime?

What are accessible houses?

The Federal Government refers to Livable Housing Australia’s (LHA) ‘Livable Housing Design
Guidelines’ for the definition of accessible housing. The guideline was developed in partnership with
industry and the community and establishes nationally agreed guidance on designing and building
livable homes. It sets 15 liveable design elements for class 1 — 4 buildings and provides guidance on

what performance is expected to achieve three levels of accessible design standards:

e Silver standard of living;

e Gold standard of living; or

e Platinum standard of living.
To achieve the LHA standards, dwellings must be designed to comply with a suite of requirements
detailed in the Livable Housing Design Guidelines. To be certified as a compliant LHA dwelling there
is currently a separate certification process undertaken only by accredited LHA assessors. This
process will change to the silver standard as this is soon to be included in the National Construction
Code and will subsequently be incorporated into the relevant state building codes. The assessment

will then be in line with the standard building certification processes in place.

Page 3

Gold Standard of Living
LHA Gold Level features twelve core design elements building upon the core livable housing design
elements featured in LHA Silver level plus enhanced requirements.

LHA Gold level provides for more generous dimensions for most of the core livable housing design
elements and introduces additional elements in areas such as the kitchen and bedroom.

The benefit of these additional dimensions and design elements is that manoeuvrability is improved
for persons requiring assistance with mobility.

The twelve core design elements in the LHA Gold Level are:

    1. A safe continuous and step free path of travel from the street entrance and / or parking area
        to a dwelling entrance that is level.
    2. At least one, level (step-free) entrance into the dwelling.
    3. Internal doors and corridors that facilitate comfortable and unimpeded movement between
        spaces.
    4. A toilet on the ground (or entry) level that provides easy access.
    5. A bathroom that contains a hobless shower recess.
    6. Reinforced walls around the toilet, shower and bath to support the safe installation of grab
        rails at a later date.
    7. Stairways are designed to reduce the likelihood of injury and also enable future adaptation.
    8. The kitchen space is designed to support ease of movement between fixed benches and to
        support easy adaptation.
    9. The laundry space is designed to support ease of movement between fixed benches and to
        support easy adaptation.
    10. Ground level or entry level provides a space that can be used as a bedroom.
    11. Switches and powerpoints light switches and powerpoints are located at heights that are
        easy to reach for all home occupants.
    12. Home occupants are able to easily and independently open and close doors and safely use
        tap hardware.



Why are accessible houses so important?
Accessible housing, universal design, adaptable housing, are all terms referring to the same vision
and outcomes desired in dwellings in the name of well-designed and built homes which meet the
changing needs of home occupants throughout their lifetime. It recommends the inclusion of key
easy living features that aim to make homes easier and safer to use for all occupants including:
people with disability, ageing Australians, people with temporary injuries, and families with young
children.


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Gold Standard of Living
features twelve core design elements building upon the core livable housing design

elements featured in LHA Silver level plus enhanced requirements.

provides for more generous dimensions for most of the core livable housing design

elements and introduces additional elements in areas such as the kitchen and bedroom.

The benefit of these additional dimensions and design elements is that manoeuvrability is improved

for persons requiring assistance with mobility.
The twelve core design elements in the are:

1. Asafe continuous and step free path of travel from the street entrance and / or parking area
to a dwelling entrance that is level.

2. Atleast one, level (step-free) entrance into the dwelling.

3. Internal doors and corridors that facilitate comfortable and unimpeded movement between
spaces.

4. A toilet on the ground (or entry) level that provides easy access.

5. Abathroom that contains a hobless shower recess.

6. Reinforced walls around the toilet, shower and bath to support the safe installation of grab
rails at a later date.

7. Stairways are designed to reduce the likelihood of injury and also enable future adaptation.

8. The kitchen space is designed to support ease of movement between fixed benches and to
support easy adaptation.

9. The laundry space is designed to support ease of movement between fixed benches and to
support easy adaptation.

10. Ground level or entry level provides a space that can be used as a bedroom.

11. Switches and powerpoints light switches and powerpoints are located at heights that are
easy to reach for all home occupants.

12. Home occupants are able to easily and independently open and close doors and safely use

tap hardware.

Why are accessible houses so important?

Accessible housing, universal design, adaptable housing, are all terms referring to the same vision
and outcomes desired in dwellings in the name of well-designed and built homes which meet the
changing needs of home occupants throughout their lifetime. It recommends the inclusion of key
easy living features that aim to make homes easier and safer to use for all occupants including:
people with disability, ageing Australians, people with temporary injuries, and families with young

children.

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An accessible home design should:

   •    be easy to enter;
   •    be easy to move in and around;
   •    be capable of easy and cost-effective adaptation; and
   •    be designed to anticipate and respond to the changing needs of home occupants.

An accessible designed home seeks to enhance the quality of life for all occupants at all stages of
their life by including safer and more user friendly design features.

For the home occupant of today, accessible housing seeks to enhance the overall comfort, safety
and liveability of the home. For the home occupant of the future, these same features could enable
key living spaces and features to be more easily and cost effectively adapted to meet changing needs
and abilities. A wide range of Australians immediately benefit from homes that are universally
designed, including:

    •   families with young children who need to get strollers and prams into their homes and want
        safer homes;
    •   people who sustain temporary or permanent injuries which limit their mobility, for example
        sporting and motor vehicle injuries, who would potentially require less time in hospital if
        they could safely move around their home while recovering;
    •   ageing baby boomers who are looking to renovate their existing homes to better
        accommodate their future needs;
    •   older people who are particularly vulnerable to slip, trip and fall injuries in their homes;
    •   people with disability and their families who are looking for a home that will accommodate
        their current and future needs;
    •   people with disability who wish to visit the homes of friends and relatives; and
    •   home care workers and family and friends who provide in-home care and support.



Accessible housing is being regulated, commencing September 2022
In April 2021 building Ministers across Australia agreed to include the Livable Housing Provisions
(Silver Level) as mandatory requirements in the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022. In agreeing
to implement a regulatory solution, Ministers took into consideration the feedback from industry,
advocates and the lived experience of members of the community affected by the lack of accessible
housing. Ministers also agreed the ABCB will publish a voluntary gold technical standard for
accessible housing.

The Australian Building Code Board (ABCB) has prepared a draft standard (attached) providing a set
of technical provisions that, if complied with, will enable dwellings to better meet the needs of the
community, including older Australians and people with mobility limitations. This ABCB Standard has
been adapted from the ‘Silver’ level requirements of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines (LHDG),


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An accessible home design should:

¢ be easy to enter;
¢ be easy to move in and around;
¢ be capable of easy and cost-effective adaptation; and

¢ be designed to anticipate and respond to the changing needs of home occupants.

An accessible designed home seeks to enhance the quality of life for all occupants at all stages of

their life by including safer and more user friendly design features.

For the home occupant of today, accessible housing seeks to enhance the overall comfort, safety
and liveability of the home. For the home occupant of the future, these same features could enable
key living spaces and features to be more easily and cost effectively adapted to meet changing needs
and abilities. A wide range of Australians immediately benefit from homes that are universally

designed, including:

e families with young children who need to get strollers and prams into their homes and want
safer homes;

e people who sustain temporary or permanent injuries which limit their mobility, for example
sporting and motor vehicle injuries, who would potentially require less time in hospital if
they could safely move around their home while recovering;

e@ ageing baby boomers who are looking to renovate their existing homes to better
accommodate their future needs;

e@ older people who are particularly vulnerable to slip, trip and fall injuries in their homes;

e@ people with disability and their families who are looking for a home that will accommodate
their current and future needs;

e@ people with disability who wish to visit the homes of friends and relatives; and

e@ home care workers and family and friends who provide in-home care and support.

Accessible housing is being regulated, commencing September 2022

In April 2021 building Ministers across Australia agreed to include the Livable Housing Provisions
(Silver Level) as mandatory requirements in the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022. In agreeing
to implement a regulatory solution, Ministers took into consideration the feedback from industry,
advocates and the lived experience of members of the community affected by the lack of accessible
housing. Ministers also agreed the ABCB will publish a voluntary gold technical standard for

accessible housing.

The Australian Building Code Board (ABCB) has prepared a draft standard (attached) providing a set
of technical provisions that, if complied with, will enable dwellings to better meet the needs of the
community, including older Australians and people with mobility limitations. This ABCB Standard has

been adapted from the ‘Silver’ level requirements of the Livable Housing Design Guidelines (LHDG),

Page 5

fourth edition, 2017, which were first published by Livable Housing Australia. The ABCB Standard is
not an exact replication of the LHDG, with adjustments being made to convert what was a voluntary
guideline into a regulatory standard. Further adjustments made in response to stakeholder
feedback received during consultation processes are also included in the redrafting of the
document.



Our proposal at 25 & 27 Toolar Street - 8 x Gold Standard LHA Units
We are a small local development group made up of friends who love the Noosa community and
have invested interest in seeing our community, not just survive, but thrive and throw open our
doors to inclusiveness in a literal sense, not just for accessible public spaces but for private homes.

Imagine a future where people with disabilities have an accessible home, and all the homes around
them are accessible so they can visit neighbours and feel included in their community. Great things
have to start somewhere so we are starting right here with 8 Gold Standard Units. It may not resolve
the current issues around provision of accessible homes and lack of supply, but it demonstrates the
possibilities and sets the bar for other developments. (I feel there is an Olympic themed analogy here
with bars being set and the word gold being thrown around).

We started out with a vision and limited ideas about how to make our development our legacy to
our community that meant taking a risk and venturing outside our comfort zone. We didn’t really
know what accessible housing was, but we were familiar with universal design, access to the built
environment in the public realm and common sense building so we put the brains trust together and
went about researching the market for what our development might look like and what the needs of
our community are for now and into the future. Once we discovered the Livable Housing
Development benefits and opportunities it was hard to go back and justify not taking the extra step
and the decision to design and construct gold standard LHA units was inevitable.

Our Planning Scheme’s Strategic Intent calls for housing choices to meet the diverse needs of the
community, which should be celebrated however it would appear in practice there is a large part of
our diverse community unable to access housing that is accessible.

We believe that what has been presented to Council for consideration, albeit non-conforming in
some aspects of the assessment benchmarks, is exactly what residents of Noosa Shire need. As the
leaders of an inclusive community where diversity is valued, Noosa Shire has the ability to join us in
delivering housing choices that ensure residents’ housing needs are catered for, regardless of age,
mobility, household size and budget by providing truly accessible housing.



Riverport Properties Pty Ltd


[OCR of page images]
fourth edition, 2017, which were first published by Livable Housing Australia. The ABCB Standard is
not an exact replication of the LHDG, with adjustments being made to convert what was a voluntary
guideline into a regulatory standard. Further adjustments made in response to stakeholder
feedback received during consultation processes are also included in the redrafting of the

document.

Our proposal at 25 & 27 Toolar Street - 8 x Gold Standard LHA Units
We are a small local development group made up of friends who love the Noosa community and
have invested interest in seeing our community, not just survive, but thrive and throw open our

doors to inclusiveness in a literal sense, not just for accessible public spaces but for private homes.

Imagine a future where people with disabilities have an accessible home, and all the homes around
them are accessible so they can visit neighbours and feel included in their community. Great things
have to start somewhere so we are starting right here with 8 Gold Standard Units. It may not resolve
the current issues around provision of accessible homes and lack of supply, but it demonstrates the
possibilities and sets the bar for other developments. (I fee! there is an Olympic themed analogy here

with bars being set and the word gold being thrown around).

We started out with a vision and limited ideas about how to make our development our legacy to
our community that meant taking a risk and venturing outside our comfort zone. We didn’t really
know what accessible housing was, but we were familiar with universal design, access to the built
environment in the public realm and common sense building so we put the brains trust together and
went about researching the market for what our development might look like and what the needs of
our community are for now and into the future. Once we discovered the Livable Housing
Development benefits and opportunities it was hard to go back and justify not taking the extra step

and the decision to design and construct gold standard LHA units was inevitable.

Our Planning Scheme’s Strategic Intent calls for housing choices to meet the diverse needs of the
community, which should be celebrated however it would appear in practice there is a large part of

our diverse community unable to access housing that is accessible.

We believe that what has been presented to Council for consideration, albeit non-conforming in
some aspects of the assessment benchmarks, is exactly what residents of Noosa Shire need. As the
leaders of an inclusive community where diversity is valued, Noosa Shire has the ability to join us in
delivering housing choices that ensure residents’ housing needs are catered for, regardless of age,

mobility, household size and budget by providing truly accessible housing.

Riverport Properties Pty Ltd