2021-11-15 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                    15 NOVEMBER 2021



    Community comments                                   Proposed response

    Planning scheme linkages

    The removal of some of the references to future      Noosa Council is committed to working with
    planning scheme changes is seen as positive.         community groups and property owners to
    The revised CHAP now more clearly represents         manage potential coastal hazard risks faced by
    that Council’s preferred long term adaptation        our existing communities, This includes inputting
    pathway is to monitor potential risks in the urban   into the planning amendment process as a
    footprint areas. There are however ongoing           separate consultation process, following
    concerns over any future amendments to the           completion of the CHAP.
    Noosa Plan 2020 and what this will mean for
    private properties along the beaches.
    There is need for transparency around the
    details of any proposed planning change.

    Planning changes foreshadowed in the Phase 6         The Phase 6 options assessment identified
    Options Assessment report were elevated to           planning scheme changes as being a ‘go slow’
    priority actions in the Phase 7 cost benefit         option meaning ‘the option may be suitable
    analysis.                                            subject to further detailed assessment at specific
                                                         locations’. Hence the option was carried forward
    The cost benefit analysis is flawed and should
                                                         into the Phase 7 cost benefit analysis. The
    not be relied upon for the CHAP.
                                                         overriding driver of planning changes however is
                                                         the Ministerial Condition from the adoption of the
                                                         Noosa Plan 2020 which necessitates planning
                                                         scheme amendments to integrate the State
                                                         Planning Policy and address local coastal hazard
                                                         risks.
                                                         Changes to the planning scheme in relation to
                                                         coastal hazards have been in process since well
                                                         before the start of the CHAP being developed (i.e.
                                                         2016) because planning for coastal hazards is a
                                                         statutory requirement of the State Planning Policy.
                                                         The CHAP is not the primary driver for the
                                                         amendments, though it does provide important
                                                         supporting information to help identify appropriate
                                                         local land use planning and development
                                                         responses for coastal hazard risks for Noosa.

    Commend the Council for adding to the Guiding        The question of existing use rights and property
    Principles in CHAPv2 the requirement that            rights has been an ongoing concern for some
    adaptation must also consider the rights and         submitters.
    interests of individuals.
                                                         A property owner has the right to continue using
    Request that the revised plan be amended to          their property for a lawfully established use –
    expressly state that existing use rights will be     regardless of changes to planning schemes. A
    protected and that it will not:                      planning scheme cannot make an existing lawful
                                                         use unlawful (e.g. an existing house). This is set
       stop existing use rights from continuing,        out in the Planning Act 2016 (part 1).
       require existing uses to be changed,
       stop or further regulate a lawful approval.      Councils are obliged to properly consider coastal
                                                         hazards such as erosion, stormtide inundation
    Any imposition of ‘adverse’ planning changes         and flooding in their land use planning, and when
    imposed as a result of amendments to the             making management decisions. This includes
    Noosa Plan 2020 in response to the CHAP              when preparing planning schemes and assessing
    would not be found to be reasonable or               development applications.
    justifiable under the Human Rights Act,
    particularly in the absence of extended              The State Planning Policy makes it clear that
    monitoring and where there has been a reliance       planning and development outcomes must reflect
    by Council on flawed modelling.                      the State interest with respect to natural hazards,
                                                         including identifying the areas at risk and including

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