2021-06-16 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                                     16 JUNE 2021


Submission Topic   Detail
                   It goes without saying that the consumer price index over the 12 months to March 2021
                   during that quarter rows by 1.1% what you are proposing is significantly in excess of
                   this. Please can you provide your justification for such an increase?

                   It is difficult to understand the basis or justification for such an increase particularly
                   when Holiday left properties which are periodically occupied on any of you must use
                   less council infrastructure than those that our owner occupied full-time

                   In addition it is our experience that holiday property guests generally are relatively small
                   uses of council services and the significant economic benefit bought to the region by
                   visitors cannot be underestimated and surely must underpinned one of the reasons
                   why Noosa has become such a popular, dynamic and favoured destination for people
                   from all over Australia.

                   In addition we have like many other sectors in the community suffered in relation to
                   Covid and ongoing border restrictions that have caused financial hardship to the
                   tourism sector and unsurprisingly Noosa has not been spared from this problem.
                   Indeed it’s ongoing at the moment as we have had a number of cancellations for rentals
                   for people from Melbourne so there has been a significant loss of income over the last
                   15 months also that the pandemic has persisted.

                   In these conditions it’s difficult to justify any kind of increase let alone one of the
                   magnitude of what is being proposed here. Why are you penalising holiday let property
                   owners when they have already suffered income loss and by virtue of being property
                   owners provide significant economic benefit to the Noosa region.

                   I am at a loss to understand the basis of a justification for such an extraordinary
                   increase way beyond the CPI and at a time when many property owners are reliant on
                   income to support families during a time when the pandemic affects still have a
                   significant impact across the community

                   Could you please reconsider this decision on any view it’s difficult to find justification
                   for such an extraordinary increase. Finally could you please answer the questions
                   posed above?

                   Submission 5:
                   I think the change to rates for STL properties is necessary as Tourism is becoming all
                   consuming in Noosa and strangling the local community and residents. Currently it’s
                   inequitable that residents carry the costs for promoting tourism ( Noosa does not
                   require any more advertising) as well as the added pressure on infrastructure by the
                   tourists and the inconvenience of STL in residential areas. I am hopeful that in the
                   future the home businesses will be treated more fairly and compete on a level playing
                   field with hotels, reports and unit blocks.

                   Submission 6:
                   We want to emphatically state our opposition to the proposed rate changes proposed
                   by Noosa Council. Of particular concern is the singling out of completely unfair and
                   disproportionate increases to any resident who participates in providing any home
                   hosted accommodation – ie. renting out a room in their home. Putting in place a
                   separate PPR with home hosted short term stay categorisation is discriminatory in the
                   extreme. There is no extra charge for PPR who also have a home based business
                   (under which home hosted currently resides and should remain) or for PPR who have
                   boarders or lodgers stay. There is also no limit or additional charge on the number of
                   family members or other people who can stay in a residence. However for residents
                   who rent out a room for 1 or 2 short term guests they are accused of using excessive
                   additional council resources and infrastructure. This is pure fiction. I could have several
                   additional family members or paying tenants staying in my home with me and there is
                   no additional charge levied but for us 2 residents with 1 to 2 guests in our home for just
                   some of the time, we are now supposed to believe we are extraordinary users of council
                   resources.

                                                                                             Page 22 of 47