Request To Change A Condition Of A Development Permit For A Material Change Of Use For A Home Based Business Type 3 - Significant Scale (Quad Bike Tours) At 298 Tablelands Road, Cooran MCU12/0012.01

REQUEST TO CHANGE A CONDITION OF A DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR A HOME BASED BUSINESS TYPE 3 - SIGNIFICANT SCALE (QUAD BIKE TOURS) AT 298 TABLELANDS ROAD, COORAN MCU12/0012.01

Document information

Author	Coordinator Planning, Denis Wallace
Planning & Infrastructure Department

Index	ECM / Application / MCU12/0012.01

Attachments	1.  Existing Development Permit
2.  Petition of Support
3.  Petition Signatory Locations

APPLICATION DETAILS
Applicant	Mr CJ Marais
Proposal	Change to a Condition of a Development Permit for Material Change of Use - Home based business Type 3 - Significant Scale (Quad Bike Tours)
Properly Made Date	27/03/15
Decision Due Date	12/05/15
Number of Submissions to Original Application	• Properly Made - 24, of which 11 object and 13 support • Not Properly Made - 669, of which 86 object and 583 support • Not Properly Made petition – 71 objections
PROPERTY DETAILS
Property Address	298 Tablelands Road Cooran
RP Description	Lot 2 RP 192052
Land Area	8.952 Ha
Existing Use of Land	Detached House
STATUTORY DETAILS
SEQRP Designation	Regional Landscape & Rural Production
Locality	Mary River Catchment
Zone	Rural
Assessment Type	Change to Existing Approval

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Coordinator Planning to the Planning & Organisation Committee Meeting dated 26 May 2015 regarding Application No. MCU12/0012.01 for a request to change a condition of an existing Development Permit for a Material Change of Use - Home based business Type 3 - Significant Scale (Quad Bike Tours) situated at 298 Tablelands Rd Cooran and agree to delete Condition 16.

REPORT
PROPOSAL
The application requests a change to a condition of a Development Permit for a Material Change of Use for a Home Based Business for Quad Bike Tours situated at 298 Tablelands Road, Cooran.  A copy of the approval is included as Attachment 1. The approval includes a sunset condition stating the approval lapses unless further extended by Council.  The proponent seeks to extend the approval and remove the sunset clause so the approval is ongoing.
The location of the site is shown in Figure 1 below.  The applicant submitted a petition of support for the development signed by neighbouring residents included as Attachment 2. The location of the signatories is included as Attachment 3.

Figure 1 – Locality Plan
The application was received prior to the development permit lapse date of 31 March 2015 and the permit remains valid while Council undertakes its assessment. The request is before Council due to the previous public interest in the original application.
Background
Sunshine Coast Council approved a Development Permit for a Material Change of Use for a Home based business Type 3 - Significant Scale (Quad Bike Tours) subject to 20 conditions at its Ordinary Meeting on 18 October 2012.  The applicant subsequently made representations to 2 conditions relating to effluent disposal and days of operation.  Council agreed to the changes and issued a Negotiated Decision Notice on 2 November 2012.
The approved use allows approximately 800m2 of the 8.95ha site to operate as a base for the quad bike tour business.  The area is used to store 12 quad bikes and to induct tourists on quad bike operation.  The tours commenced in early 2013.  Up to 2 x 3hr tours a day are allowed Monday to Saturday.  A maximum of 10 tourists take part led by 2 guides.
Tourists are collected by mini-bus either from their accommodation or from Cooran.  Once at the site they undertake a 20-30 minute briefing and induction.  Tours then proceed from the site on the quad bikes, approximately 500m along Tablelands Road to the Woondum National Park entrance, on the quad bikes.  The bikes are speed restricted to 30km/h and travel single file behind the tour operator for the journey through the Park.
It is important to note Council’s development approval only relates to the use of the subject site and not the majority of the tour, which is off site.  A Commercial Activity Permit was issued by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection allowing the tours within the National Park.  Queensland Police also issued a permit for the quad bikes to use Tablelands Road and the access tracks in the Park.  DEHP extended its permit to March 2018 in April 2015 and Qld Police extended the road permit until August 2015 in August 2014.
assessment
Statutory Assessment Process
The application seeks a change to the development approval under S369 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. A change to a development approval can only be made where the change constitutes a ‘permissible change’ as defined in S367.

The proposed change to the development approval requested by the applicant is considered to constitute a permissible change because:
The change would not result in a substantially different development as it seeks to change a condition only;
The change would not trigger a new referral to the State Assessment and Referral Agency;
The original application was impact assessable and the proposed changes would not likely cause a person to make a properly made submission because they do not alter the nature of the approved development; and
The changes do not involve prohibited development.
Request to Change Condition
Details and assessment of the requested change to the existing conditions are provided below.
Condition 16 – Sunset Clause for Completion of Approved Development
Pursuant to s342 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, this development approval lapses on 31 March 2015, unless application is made and approved by Council for extension.
Applicant’s Request
We wish to apply for the removal of clause 16 Sunset Clause for Completion of the Approved Development. The purpose of this clause was to assess any complaints made during the probation period of operation of the business (Quad Bike Training for the purpose of conducting an already approved tour business of the Woondum National Park).
To date neither Council and/or ourselves have received a single complaint regarding any aspect of our business.  If anything, we now have full support of several previous incorrectly made submitters opposing our original application. Further, we now have the full consent of all direct neighbours to our property and along the route of the tour, inclusive of National Park neighbours.
Having experienced an accident and some very minor incidents during the first few months of operation, we revised our training, testing and safety procedure for guests to partake in the tour.  As a result we have not had a single accident or incident for over 14 months with over 900 guests during this time.  Our operation for quad bike tours is now considered to be the safest in both Australia and New Zealand.
We also wish to note that close to 80% of our guests are from the greater Brisbane region, visiting the Noosa area on a day or overnight trip for the sole purpose of experiencing our unique safe and well reviewed experience offered by Noosa Quad Bike Tours.  Accordingly, these guests inject on average $150 each into the local economy.  An estimated total to date in excess of $150,000.  This is a small but significant benefit to the local economy.  Our business also injects almost all expenditure to other small businesses within the Noosa region. Some are advertising, mechanical servicing, fuels, accounting and legal services.
We are now also ranked as the second most popular sightseeing tour on “Trip Advisor” for the Noosa area.
As such we trust council will now remove this probationary sunset clause and grant us the material change of use we originally applied for.
Assessment
The applicant’s submission regarding the successful operation of the business and support of neighbours is noted.
The condition was applied to allow Council to discontinue the use in the event the business did not comply with Council’s requirements or was found to cause undue impacts on the area.  Council’s Development Compliance Officer has undertaken inspections and confirms the business operates in accordance with the development conditions and no complaints have been received.
No reasons exist for the development approval to be discontinued and deletion of condition 16 is supported.
conclusion
Since commencing operation in 2013 the Quad Bike Tour business has operated in accordance with Council’s conditions of approval and has not caused significant impacts on the amenity of the area or led to any complaints.  The applicant’s request to delete Condition 16 to remove the lapsing date and make the development permit ongoing is therefore supported.

Departments/Sections Consulted:

	Community Services	X	Planning & Infrastructure
	Disaster Management & Public Order		Building & Plumbing Services
	Waste & Environmental Health	X	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 & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING REPORT	26 MAY 2015

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Sunshine Coast
Council

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