Application To Extend The Relevant Period For Visitor Accommodation Type 4 (20 Guest Lodges) At 30 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore - 132008.1779.01

APPLICATION TO EXTEND THE RELEVANT PERIOD FOR VISITOR ACCOMMODATION TYPE 4 (20 GUEST LODGES) AT 30 BEACH ROAD, NOOSA NORTH SHORE - 132008.1779.01

Document information

Author	Development Planner, Glen Conforti
Planning & Infrastructure Department

Index	ECM / Application / 132008.1779.01

Attachments	1.	Proposal Plans

APPLICATION DETAILS
Applicant	Wolter Consulting Group Pty Ltd
Proposal	Preliminary Approval for a Material Change of Use – Visitor Accommodation Type 4, Stage 3A sub stage (ii) (20 Guest Lodges)
Properly Made Date	19/05/2015
Decision Due Date	24/09/2015

PROPERTY DETAILS
Property Address	30 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore  Qld  4565
RP Description	Lot 2 SP 186169
Land Area	8.29 Hectares
Existing Use of Land	Vacant and car park

STATUTORY DETAILS
SEQRP Designation	Regional Landscape and Rural Production
Locality	Noosa North Shore
Zone	Visitor Mixed Use
Overlays	Biodiversity Overlay – Environmental Protection Natural Hazards Overlay  -Low Potential Acid Sulfate Soils
Assessment Type	Extension to the Relevant Period

RECOMMENDATION
That Council approve the request to extend the relevant period for a Preliminary Approval for a Material Change of Use for Visitor Accommodation Type 4 (Western Development Zone Stage 3A sub stage [ii]), Application No 132008.1779.01, situated at 30 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore for a period of 2 years to expire on 6 June 2017and amend condition 4 to read as follows:
4.	The Preliminary Approval for a Material Change of Use of premises lapses on the 6 June 2017 if the total development is not complete by that date, unless otherwise extended by Council.

REPORT
background
This application 132008.1779.01 is before Council to extend the relevant period. It is part of Stage 3 of a higher order Preliminary Approval that overrides the Planning Scheme. To provide context to the following report, background to this Preliminary Approval is provided below.
Background – Preliminary Approval (132003.221037)
In October 2004, Council approved a Preliminary Approval for a Material Change of Use for Development in accordance with the ‘Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code’ (Portal Code). The Portal Code allows for a staged development which supports visitor accommodation for up to 400 persons and associated services on the site.
At the time the Preliminary Approval application was publicly notified, 4 properly made submissions were received. 1 submission was in support, with the other 3 opposing the development. Submitters opposing the development were concerned with the loss of habitat and biodiversity, water quality and Noosa North Shore did not need this style of development. The submitter supporting the development (Noosa Community Environment Board) advised the Board was not fundamentally opposed to the proposal, but provided a number of suggestions to ensure the best possible environmental outcomes were achieved for the site.
The site, subject to the Portal Code is highlighted in purple in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 – Land subject to the Preliminary Approval and the Portal Code
The Portal Code overrides the provisions of the superseded Planning Scheme, the Scheme prior to The Noosa Plan. This means that further assessments for each stage of development are not carried out against the planning scheme in effect at the time, as the Portal Code includes all the preliminary approval conditions and all the requirements for the development’s construction.
The Portal Code includes design requirements and a Structure Plan identifying the developable areas as Visitor Precincts and areas of environmental value as Conservation Precincts. The Structure Plan also identifies Buffer Precincts to address the treatment of road frontages and fire management requirements. The site has been subdivided in accordance with the Portal Code creating an eastern development visitor precinct, a western development visitor precinct and approximately half the site dedicated as conservation land in the form of 2 separate lots. These precincts and lots are identified in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2 – The site layout

The Portal Code also establishes that further code assessable applications are required to be lodged for approval prior to proceeding with an application for Operational Works and Building Works. These code assessable applications for each stage/sub stage, permit assessment of the final site layout and building design against the provisions of the Portal Code. Table 1 below identifies the status of the various Stages of the development.

Table 1 - Status of development
Stage	Status of Stage
Stage 1A	24 Eco-Cabins and leisure centre - completed.
Stage 1B	Conservation precinct east created (lot 901 SP 186169)
Stage 1C	Conservation precinct west created (lot 900 SP 186169)
Stage 2A	Eco-Centre constructed, with required car parking, landscaping & road works subject to an infrastructure agreement. (located opposite the site at 200 Maximillian Road)
Stage 2B	24 Eco-Cabins constructed and completed
Stage 3A	(i) Development Approval for 21 Beach Road Retreats, (due to lapse and subject of this application). (ii) Preliminary Approval for 20 Beach Road  Retreats (due to lapse)
Stage 3B	Development Permit for 24 Eco Cabins, not constructed and lapsed October 2014
Stage 4	Application withdrawn for 18 Eco Cabins
The Preliminary Approval lapsed in October 2014.
In October 2008 the developer, Petrac Company, went into liquidation and the National Australia Bank appointed receivers to this Noosa North Shore Project.  Since that time, the Eco Centre site at 200 Maximillian Drive, the undeveloped portion of the Eastern Development Visitor Precinct and the whole of the Western Development Visitor Precinct has been sold to individual entities.
It is important to note all Beach Road works, infrastructure provisioning and conservation land dedication required by the Preliminary Approval and Portal Code to support the whole development have been provided, except for a footpath along the sites frontage, which Council has called upon bond monies for the works, and a footpath to the beach, which is subject to an Infrastructure Agreement.

Notably the Eco-Centre referred to in Stage 2A is located on the site opposite the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal development site. This was the subject of a further application to Council, wherein it was agreed the Eco-Centre could be built on this site.

As noted in Table 1 above, applications for all stages of the Portal Code have been submitted and either approved, lapsed or withdrawn. Approximately half the eastern development visitor precinct has been completed with the construction of 48 Eco Cabins, leisure centre and manager’s residence. The Eco Cabins can be seen in Figure 2 above. The balance of the eastern development visitor precinct is a separate lot and remains undeveloped with the development approvals having lapsed or have been withdrawn.

The western development visitor precinct also remains undeveloped with 41 guest lodges approved by 2 approvals (132007.742.01 & 132008.1779.05), which are due to lapse. Both the lapsing approvals are before Council in separate reports, to extend their relevant period. Figure 3 below identifies the western development visitor precinct (Stage 3), the sub stages and the relevant development approvals.

Figure 3 – Sub stage plan of Stage 3

Background Development approval 132008.1779.01 (subject approval)
On 17 June 2011 Council issued a Preliminary Approval for a Material Change of Use for Visitor Accommodation Type 4 (20 guest lodges).
A Preliminary Approval for this application was issued as the applicant (the receivers) did not submit a site specific stormwater management plan. This Preliminary Approval can be upgrade to a development permit by a further code assessable application in accordance with the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.
PROPOSAL
The applicant seeks a 2 year extension of the relevant period of 132008.1779.01 for Stage 3A sub Stage (ii) (20 guest lodges). The applicant has provided the following reasons for the request:
The appointed receivers were tasked with advancing this development application, and ultimately obtained a preliminary approval in June 2011, such that the site could be properly put to market for sale with this approval in place. For various reasons, this marketing and sale process took longer than expected and our client only acquired the site in early 2013.
Our client has a committed interest in completing the project, and an extension to the relevant period is necessary to provide sufficient time to obtain a development permit consistent with this preliminary approval, and necessary to deliver the project.
Though economic conditions have improved in recent years, visitor accommodation projects maintain a reasonably high risk profile, and require ideal market conditions. The requested extension will allow for this development to be completed within an acceptable economic and market cycle.
Finally, the proposal remains consistent with the current planning scheme which supports visitor accommodation on land in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone.
assessment
Statutory Process
In accordance with Section 388 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 in deciding a request to extend the relevant period, the assessment manager must only have regard to:
(a)	the consistency of the approval, including its conditions, with current laws and policies applying to the development, including, for example, the amount and type of infrastructure contributions, or infrastructure charges payable under an infrastructure charges schedule;
(b)	the community’s current awareness of the development approval; and
(c)	whether, if the request were refused-
(i)	further rights to make a submission may be available for a further development application; and
(ii)	the likely extent to which those rights may be exercised; and
(d)	the views of any concurrence agency for the approval …
An assessment against these provisions is provided in the sections that follow.
State and Other Statutory Instruments
South East Queensland (SEQ) Regional Plan 2009 - 2031
The site is located within the Rural Landscape & Regional Production area of the SEQ Regional Plan and the proposed visitor accommodation, defined as a Tourist Activity, is consistent with the regional policies and regulatory provisions of the SEQ Regional Plan.
Statutory Provisions – Planning Scheme
This request to extend the relevant period was referred to Council’s solicitor for advice, as the higher order Preliminary Approval (132003.221037), which approved the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code, lapsed in October 2014.The Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code is the planning instrument the subject approval was assessed against.

Council’s solicitor advised the lapsing of the Preliminary Approval (132003.221037) does not affect the status of the subject approval (132008.1779.01) notwithstanding conditions within the subject approval reference the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code. The Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code is adopted by and continues to be part of the subject approval (132008.1779.01). Lawfully, the relevant period can be extended subject to it meeting the provisions of Section 388 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.

An assessment against Section 388 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 is provided below.

Consistency with The Noosa Plan
The site is included in the Noosa North Shore Locality and is zoned Visitor Mixed Use. Visitor Accommodation Type 4 (Conventional) is an inconsistent use and required to follow an impact assessable application process. The Visitor Mixed Use zone seeks to provide for visitor accommodation and business uses to serve visitors to the locality. Visitor accommodation is intended to be located in premises which are low impact, low intensity and of domestic scale.
Although the guest lodges are approved as Visitor Accommodation Type 4, their design and proposed use is more akin to Visitor Accommodation Type 3, being small guest lodges having a gross floor area of between 54m² and 69m² and are not self-contained.  Notably, Visitor Accommodation Type 3 (Rural) is a consistent use within the Visitor Mixed Use zone.
The Noosa North Shore Locality Code provides specific provisions for visitor accommodation in the Visitor Mixed Use zone which are as follows:
Probable Solution S23.2
S23.3 Soft landscaping is designed and maintained along road frontages and property boundaries to provide a dense visual buffer to the development;
A 20m vegetation buffer is proposed to all road frontages which will provide a visual buffer to the development. Furthermore, the guest lodges are nestled between vegetation throughout the site, with limited trees required to be removed for their construction. An Arborist Report and numerous Management Plans (Bushfire, fauna, flora, stormwater, water quality etc.) have been submitted and approved by Council to achieve best possible environmental outcomes. As a whole the development has under gone a stringent environmental impact assessment.
Probable solutions S25.1 to S25.3 & S25.5
S25.1 Buildings are clustered to maintain corridors of vegetation and more extensive areas of open space;
AND
S25.2 Accommodation buildings have no more than four attached accommodation units;
AND
S25.3 Accommodation buildings are lowset and do not exceed the height of the surrounding vegetation (generally building height in storeys and in metres does not exceed 1 storey or 5 metres respectively); and
S25.5 Off-street carparking facilities are clustered in small groups which are integrated into the natural terrain and landscaping.
Both visitor development precincts are areas of the original site that were identified as being historically disturbed and of least environmental value. The lots dedicated as conservation land provide linkages to vegetation corridors with one conservation lot adjoining Noosa National Park.
A tree survey has been undertaken so that buildings are sited to minimise disturbance of the landscape. The guest lodges are individually sited in cleared and disturbed areas of the site as practicable.
The small guest lodges are single storey and generally do not exceed 5m in height. External finishes of the guest lodges are designed to integrate into the surrounding landscape.
Internal driveways weave through the vegetation to car parking adjacent to each guest lodge. A car park has been constructed near Beach Road to service the hotel/eco-centre located on the site opposite at 200 Maximillian Road.
It is considered the proposed guest lodges are designed to integrate with the attributes of the site and are considered generally consistent with the intent of the planning provisions for the Visitor Mixed Use zoning for the site under The Noosa Plan.
Infrastructure Charges
The existing approval includes no requirements to contribute to the following trunk infrastructure networks:
Transport (paths/roads/public transport)
Public Parks
Stormwater
Accordingly, an Infrastructure Charges Notice may be issued to address the missing trunk infrastructure networks.
Community’s Current Awareness of the Development, Rights to Submit and Likelihood of Further Submissions
Under the current planning scheme the proposed use is impact assessable and required to be publicly notified.
The application 132008.1779.01 was code assessable and therefore not publically notified because it was a downstream application subject to the original Preliminary Approval (132003.221037). The original Preliminary Approval (132003.221037) was publically notified and involved consultation with community and interest groups.
The Eco Cabins located in the Eastern Development Precinct were completed and titled in 2007 and were advertised ‘for sale’ by the receiver from 2008 along with the balance lot of the Eastern Development Precinct and the Western Development Precinct lands. This maintained a degree of the community awareness of the whole Eco-Tourism Portal development. Furthermore, the Noosa North Shore locale is a reasonably low populated locality with limited population change.
If this request to extend the relevant period of the development approval was refused, the proponent would be required to lodge a new development application which would be subject to impact assessment and consequently third party appeal rights. However, given the proposal is considered generally consistent with the current planning provisions and it is unlikely any submission would be made.

cONSULTATION
IDAS Referral Agencies
The proposal was originally referred to the Department of Natural Resources and Water as a concurrence agency due to proposed vegetation clearing and Environmental Protection Agency as an advice agency due to the site being within 100m of a wetland.
The Department of Natural Resources and Water generally had no concerns. The Environmental Protection Agency had no concerns with the development.
In regard to this request to extend the relevant period the application was referred to the State Assessment & Referral Agency (SARA) to obtain the views of the following referral agencies:
Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning

A response was received on 17 July 2015 stating the department had no objection to the request to extend the relevant period for 2 years.
conclusion
The approved Visitor accommodation Type 4 is an inconsistent use in the zone. However, it is considered the guest lodges are generally more aligned with the Visitor Accommodation Type 3 use under The Noosa Plan, which is a consistent use in the zone. Notwithstanding the definitions, the proposed guest lodges are considered generally consistent with the planning intent for the Visitor Mixed Use zoning of the site. All aspects of the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development service provisioning have been completed to support the guest lodges (except footpaths). The approved development does not raise any significant planning concerns and is recommended that Council agree to extend the relevant period for 2 years.

Departments/Sections Consulted:

	Community Services	X	Planning & Infrastructure
	Disaster Management & Public Order		Building & Plumbing Services
	Waste & Environmental Health		DA Planning
	Community Facilities		Strategic Land Use Planning
	Cultural Facilities		Asset Design & Investigations
			Asset Planning
			Civil Operations
			Environment
	Executive Office		Corporate Services
	Community Engagement		Finance
	Customer Service		ICT
	Executive Support		Procurement & Fleet
	Governance		Property & Facilities
	Human Resources		Revenue Services

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PLANNING AND ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT	15 SEPTEMBER 2015

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