2016-12-06 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                      6 DECEMBER 2016


 Issues                                           Comments
 The development offers no benefit to the         Agree.
 township of Cooroy as travellers will bypass
 the township itself instead of spending money
 at shops and restaurants in town
 The proposal would bring to an end our           It is unlikely the development would negatively affect
 peaceful and private existence                   amenity of Holts Road residents. It is agreed that it is
                                                  likely to attract a high traffic volume but the site is
                                                  located prior to residences and therefore it is unlikely to
                                                  generate increased traffic movements in proximity to
                                                  residents.
 The final Cooroy south exit configuration will   Disagree. DTMR, the applicant’s and Council’s traffic
 not be conducive to accessing a 24 hour          consultants have determined the access is acceptable
 service station.                                 for the proposed use.
5.    CONCLUSION
The application is for a service station, convenience retail and food outlet visible from the Bruce
Highway on industrial land in the water supply catchment. The proposed uses are inconsistent
with the planning scheme and therefore any decision should be based on whether its’ benefits
sufficiently improves community wellbeing to outweigh planning conflicts and impacts.
The development offers some local community benefit in terms of providing additional choice and
price, but its’ greatest need is to service the demand created by a gap in highway based service
stations/centres.
The development is not conveniently located or readily accessible from the village centres or for
the majority of the local community. It has the potential to negatively impact on hinterland villages
by directing passing motorists to the proposal rather than using existing facilities in the village
centres. Both Cooroy and Pomona have existing fuel, dining and retail options, and opportunities
also exist to locate the retail, industrial, and dining uses within these village centres. The level of
impact on the local service stations remains unresolved but may be as high as 30%.
Furthermore, the proposals viability somewhat relies on visibility from the Bruce Highway which,
is not the intent of The Noosa Plan which seeks for the industrial estate to be screened by
vegetation.
On balance, it is considered the proposal would greatly benefit passing motorists to the detriment
of Noosa hinterlands village centres.
The development is also a higher risk industrial use proposed within the water supply catchment
for Lake Macdonald. Seqwater has raised no objection to the application but the in ground fuel
storage has unknown risks to water quality. The development does not provide certainty of water
quality into the future and a precautionary approach should be taken to avoid inappropriate
development within the Lake Macdonald catchment.
The proposal is unlikely to improve community wellbeing sufficiently to override the Planning
Scheme and approve the development. Therefore, the application is recommended for refusal,
with detailed reasons listed in the recommendation.




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