2019-12-11 SM Agenda - Item 1 - Attachment 1 DRAFT 20191202-Noosa Plan Consultation Report

 Submitter   Submission and Grounds of Submission                                                                               Planners’ response   Recommendation
 20871462         visitation. This is having a massive effect on residents living near Short-term rental
                  accommodation. Residents once had to contend with the busy holiday season with the influx of
                  visitors and holiday makers at Easter, Christmas and a few weeks of school holidays, knowing to
                  avoid busy precincts such as Hastings Street at peak times. With tourists visiting all year round and
                  now Short-term letting in our residential streets, there is no escaping and no respite from the
                  incessant revolving door of fresh party goers and holiday cheer.
             •    The Sunshine Coast Airport’s new expansion project brings the potential to attract up to 2 million
                  passengers to the Sunshine Coast annually. Over-tourism is already evidenced through strained
                  local amenities and infrastructure (overflowing bins filled with all the wrong rubbish, rubbish in streets,
                  extra garbage collections, road traffic and parking congestion making it difficult for residents and
                  service vehicles to access the street
             •    Property owners and holiday makers display no social responsibility (with regards to noise, parking,
                  waste disposal, recycling, energy use, etc)
             •   Submitter spent significant money on gaining the right approvals to conduct a construct and operate a
                 “rural holiday accommodation” took a number of years and many thousands of dollars paid to experts
                 in fields such as environment, hydrology, town planning and the like. Outlays such as road
                 contribution in excess of $40,000; waste water treatment plant of a commercial standard costing
                 $50,000 and higher building costs to meet commercial building standards were all part of the financial
                 burden of seeking approval. Our business has been a long time member of Tourism Noosa and has
                 supported marketing campaigns, promotions and the like contributing we believe to building the
                 Noosa brand. Owners of units in our letting pool pay the annual tourism levy. By comparison owners
                 listing their properties on Airbnb have not contributed to building the Noosa brand and do not pay a
                 tourism levy. There is a lack of governance and fairness.
             Impacts of short term accommodation
             •    There are no safeguards to ensure buildings are safe for large numbers of people to occupy.
             •    Most commercial resorts or motels will have rules about restricting use of pools or outdoor drinking
                  beyond a certain time of night but there are no such rules in a holiday house
             •    Excessive and repetitive noise nuisance and sleep deprivation is having an effect on people’s
                  physical and mental health and their ability to get up and function each day at work and school.
             •    Neighbours have encountered aggressive and anti-social behaviour if they do ask guests to keep the
                  noise down and it makes them feel very intimidated and insecure
             •    Even the dogs are barking more because of constant big groups of strangers walking down the street.
             •    Some holiday rentals are pet friendly but dogs are barking because they are left alone in a strange
                  environment.
             •    The maintenance regime of leaf blowing etc. for holiday homes is noisy compared to permanent
                  residents
             •    Don’t support arguments property values will drop with regulations on short term
                  accommodation. There is significant value in not being an Airbnb area in terms of community
                  cohesion from knowing your neighbours.
             •    Private residential houses taking holiday bookings greatly impacts revenue loss for accommodation
                  resorts, hotels and apartments along the river, beach and tourist precinct.
             •    Private residential houses can and do accommodate 8 people plus kids - thereby sharing
                  accommodation costs while staying in a luxury home next to a supermarket and bottle outlet with no
                  need to go out and spend money in restaurants and bars. This does not add value for Noosa’s
                  economy but it does add traffic congestion along Noosa Parade when these guests drive down to
                  Main Beach for an ice cream
             •   Individual owners who cannot afford to maintain or service a large “luxury” residential house in Noosa
                 have a choice to permanently rent it out or sell
             Occupancy is high in short term accommodation
             •    The number of people staying in the holiday rental (quite frequently in excess of 8 persons) is
                  incomparable to the prevailing occupancy rate for Noosa Shire neighbourhoods (closer to 2 persons)
             •    The number of adults occupying holiday rentals is out of sync with typical LDR housing. Permanent
                  tenants are unlikely to live in a house with 8 adults but guests are happy to do it for a short break.
             •    Houses that used to have 3 - 4 people in them now have 6 to 8 (or up to 15). This creates
                  overcrowding which makes this destination less attractive to main clientele
             •    Although a property may only have 2 bedrooms, there can be 6 to 8 guests staying as there are sofa
                  beds, trundles, etc to provide extra beds.
             •    No residential house has 13 people living in it but some holiday homes are advertised as such.



Consultation Report - Consideration of Submissions on the New Noosa Plan                                                                                              Page 39