Town Planning Report - Noosa Professional and Medical Centre

The applicant is also considering a range of travel smart initiatives that are further
explained in Attachment 5. Some of the initiatives for staff and students of the UCQ
include:
     • encouraging the use of public transport by providing free Go Cards for students
        and staff of the UCQ;
     • provision of a pool of bicycles for use by staff and students;
     • provision of specific undercover motorcycle and scooter bays and nearby lockers;
        and
     • the development of a car pooling register to inform people of journey
        destinations and potential opportunities to car pool.

4.7.4 Conclusion about Parking

The results of the parking survey show that during peak periods, about 86% (307
spaces) of the available parking on the premises is utilised. This means that as a worst
case there is about 14% (48 spaces) of the parking available during peak periods. It is
accepted that on occasion this will vary.

Having regard to the car parking rates under the planning scheme and the rates
provided by Council’s traffic consultant, the following number of car parks are
theoretically generated by the development:

     • Noosa Plan 2006 rates – 236 spaces; and
     • Traffic Consultant rates – 378 spaces.

The above rates have been determined from the existing use areas (refer condition 12
above). A practical approach has been adopted with respect to the use area for the
Education use in terms of that used for administration and student contact.

The current approval requires 393 car parking spaces to be provided, but this requires
the construction of a multi-storey car park. The estimated cost to construct the multi-
storey car park is about $1,000,000, which would provide an additional 38 car parking
spaces.

It is proposed to provide 355 car parking spaces on the site and other travel smart
initiatives. Given the results of the car parking surveys, it is evident that even with
current high occupancy rate of the development, that on average the car park
occupancy ranges between 61%and 80%.

It is suggested that the car parking rates adopted by Council’s traffic consultant are
more than the current demand for parking on the site. However, it is accepted that the
rates provided under the planning scheme are not sufficient.

Consequently, the provision for 355 car parking spaces is considered adequate for the
development. This is provided the limits for the use areas for the various uses under
condition 12 (above) are adopted. This being the case, in my opinion, the proposed
development complies with SO7 of the Driveways and Carparking Code.




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“Noosa Professional and Medical Centre” – November 2014