2017-08-14 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                                 14 AUGUST 2017


6                        PROPOSED MOTION           TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION OF
                         QUEENSLAND 2017           ANNUAL CONFERENCE - SHORT TERM VISITOR
                         ACCOMMODATION
DOCUMENT INFORM AT ION




Author                              Chief Executive Officer, Brett de Chastel
                                    CEO’s Office

Index                               ECM/ Subject/ Rateable Services

Attachments                         Nil


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the General Committee Meeting
dated 14 August 2017 and submit the following Proposed Motion to the Local Government
Association of Queensland for consideration at its 2017 Annual Conference:
“That the Local Government Association of Queensland make representations to the State
Government seeking action to formulate a clear policy and response to the use of residential
properties for short term accommodation where facilitated by on-line booking agencies including:
A.                       Requiring the on-line booking agencies to provide Councils with property addresses so that
                         they can appropriately rate the properties and ensure appropriate compliance with town
                         planning scheme requirements;
B.                       Consideration of the long-term impact on local communities including the availability of
                         rental accommodation stock, impact on local amenity and potential impact on existing
                         tourism properties.”



REPORT
The emergence of on-line booking agencies has enabled owners of residential properties to more
readily offer their properties or part thereof for short term visitor accommodation. The progression
of this concept has been a world-wide phenomenon with many cities reporting huge growth. The
number of properties in Noosa Shire offering accommodation by these agencies is estimated to
be of the order of 2,000. The trend is here to stay but there needs to be consideration given to
the impact on local communities.

While there are clear economic benefits to the property owner, visitor and the tourism sector,
other aspects may not be so beneficial. These include instances of impacts on residential
amenity, reduced availability of lower cost accommodation and increasing demands on Council
services and infrastructure for which no contribution is being made via infrastructure charges.
Currently there is no identification of the address of these types of properties, other than a
general location, until a booking process is undertaken or a complaint received. This also means
that it is almost impossible to identify these properties being used for tourism purposes and these
properties are not contributing to the cost of tourism/destination marketing via the Tourism and
Economic Development Levy. Similar concerns are being raised in other communities including
Byron Bay in New South Wales.



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