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

 Submitter   Submission and Grounds of Submission                                                                             Planners’ response   Recommendation
             •    By default 10 or more people getting together for a holiday is a party in terms of noise and
                  disturbance, especially where the building design forms a natural amphitheatre and neighbours are
                  significantly affected.
             •    Groups book out two adjoining houses and the party doubles in size and spills out into the street.
             •   Where large groups of people are staying noise from conversations is louder than typical background
                 noise let alone when people are drinking, listening to music, playing in the pool, socialising in outdoor
                 living areas etc.
             Short term accommodation not managed
             •    Airbnb is an unpoliced nightmare and guests have caused police involvement and personal abuse
                  because they are not managed onsite and know that their host is not around.
             •    Operators are dependent on good reviews from their guests and repeat business, the comfort of
                  neighbours are of little consequence and many property investors live elsewhere with no particular
                  personal investment in the community in which their house is located.
             •    The guests staying have paid a large price for their accommodation and expect to enjoy it to its
                  full. They are not going to pay any attention to the pleas of neighbours to keep the noise down.
             Day to day regulation required
             •    As per rental accommodation in general, noise curfews need to be stringently enforced and fines
                  given to owners and agents if they do not act on complaints made within the high density
                  accommodation areas and proof of communications of noise complaint is made.
             •    Would like to see a mechanism for complaints when guests are in "party mode", so the owners face
                  penalties for not controlling their guests.
             •    We do not agree with relying on Qld Police for enforcement. The Noosa Police advise that all
                  incidents reported to them are prioritised with the most important done first and noise complaints are
                  a low priority. It is a futile exercise trying to regulate the patrons because they are constantly being
                  churned.
             •    I have personally evicted on 4 occasions neighbouring tenants trespassing on my property or having
                  a fish off my jetty or having a swim in my pool because they thought I was away.
             •    One Short-term tenant had 22 crab pots in the canal at the front of their premises.
             •    Noosa already has a huge number of resorts operating at below 70% occupancy
             •    Older or rundown investment houses are rented as a budget alternative. Offering high density
                  accommodation (10 people+) at affordable prices.
             •    The drastic increase in online listings means an oversaturation of market and therefore a decrease in
                  the cost-per-night of these properties. This means these properties are now attracting low-yielding
                  visitors, particularly from Brisbane, rather than the historic high-yielding visitors from interstate and
                  international markets. They share the cost of the house between 10, bring their cars full of booze and
                  food, set up camp and party.
             •    Guests have no care whatsoever for residents in a residential area, or for the environment. Their
                  behaviour simply would not be tolerated in a registered, managed holiday resort or other
                  accommodation
             •    Even when absentee owners are lovely people and real estate agents have all the right policies in
                  place behaviour of the guests can be appalling
             •    Place the onus on the STR operator to ensure their guests behave appropriately. This needs to be
                  backed up with fines and cancelling the entitlement for the property to operate as a STR. Also we
                  would like to add that there needs to be significant fines for STR operators who choose to operate in
                  breach of the Town Plan. When considering at what level to set the fines, it should be noted that
                  some houses rent for many thousands of dollars per week and so a fine of a few hundred dollars
                  would not be an effective deterrence.
             •    If you are going to bring in a 10 guests per house rule, this should be recalibrated to a maximum of 2
                  per bedroom on average, up to 10 maximum, to prevent smaller houses from being overloaded and
                  thus spilling out of doors and spreading their noise further.
             •    Guests are drawn outside to congregate on the deck all hours of the night even in the middle of
                  winter.
             •    Noosa’s beautiful climate has meant homes have been designed for indoor/outdoor living with
                  lightweight building materials. Excess noise is not typically a consideration at construction
                  stage. Thin walls, lots of louvres & large opening sliding doors onto expansive outdoor living
                  areas. Any attempt to request noise be taken inside has no effect when all the doors and windows
                  are left open!




Consultation Report - Consideration of Submissions on the New Noosa Plan                                                                                            Page 40