2022-11-04 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                          4 NOVEMBER 2022


12.3       Leslie Drive, Noosa Heads
A third area of possible future zone change was flagged in the draft strategy, however unlike the two
scenarios above this site, at the corner of Leslie Drive and Noosa Springs Drive, Noosa Heads is
outside the State’s Urban Footprint of the SEQ Regional Plan, so does not present any short-medium
term housing potential.
The site is close to, but not part of the Girraween Nature Refuge. It is currently zoned Environmental
Management and Conservation. Prior to the 2006 Noosa Plan it had been zoned Special Use and
has a long history of purposes including grazing, works storage and vegetation waste. A bus depot
was approved on the site in 2008 however community opposition was fundamental in that not
advancing.
In 2018 Council sought to have part of the land included in the Community Facilities Zone for the
purposes of residential aged care however the State did not agree to this and suggested more work
was needed to test the proposal against the objectives of the SEQ Regional Plan. Given there remain
significant challenges to investigate before being able to seriously propose a rezoning, Council did
not directly inform neighbours but included statements in the draft strategy that suggested the site
could contribute to affordable housing formats.
An external campaign to alert the Noosa Heads community of this matter through a letterbox drop
and repeated social media posts occurred in regard to this site.
Thirteen written submissions specifically objected to any development of affordable housing on the
Leslie Drive site and a further nine broadly objected to development of open space/ conservation
land. Two submissions specifically commended Council for considering this land for housing options.
From the online survey, Noosa Heads had the largest number of respondents. 106 of the 653
responses identified as being from Noosa Heads (over 16%) whereas Noosa Heads only
accommodates some 9% of the Shire’s residents. This supports heightened awareness and interest
in the matter.
29 survey responses nominated that bushland/ conservation land/ green space is not suitable for
social or affordable housing (12 of these were from Noosa Heads residents). 26 survey responses
nominated that Noosa Heads wasn’t suitable (12 of these were from Noosa Heads residents).
Council is not able to propose urban residential development on the Leslie Drive site and would need
to determine whether further investigations of this land for such a purpose long term is something to
be pursued and resourced. This not only includes consideration of the land itself but what precedent
it may set for similar land outside the urban boundary.
Staff remain of the opinion that at least a portion of the site could be used for some form of housing
need that is not currently being met in the coastal part of Noosa. However, staff are also conscious
of the fact the land has been zoned for open space/ conservation purposes since 2006 and there is
justifiably a local community expectation that this remains the intent of the land. There are more
logical areas to pursue in the short term. Consequently, reference to this site has been removed
from the Housing Strategy and there are no plans for changing its zone.
12.4   Centres
There was just one submission that specifically raised concern about attached housing in the centre
of Tewantin, so staff are optimistic that this area provides significant potential for housing choice
amongst developments and redeveloped.
On balance there was support for the redevelopment of Council owned central carparks to include
housing above car parks, particularly in Noosa Junction. There was slight concern this could worsen
existing traffic/congestion problems but on the whole this was preferred over spreading urban
development outwards or increasing densities in low density neighbourhoods.
There were calls for increased attached housing within the Noosa Business Centre, including social
and affordable housing.



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