Development assessment report

PROJECT URBAN – 15104                                                                      July 2016

Demand (existing and projected)

The Noosa community has long expressed concern regarding the increasing need for aged care
facilities in the shire. This need, coupled with a lack of suitable sites on which to accommodate
such facilities, was acknowledged by Noosa Council in 2005 when Council resolved to investigate
ways in which retirement villages and aged care facilities could be better facilitated.

This review was underpinned by a needs analysis, prepared by Humphreys Reynolds Perkins
(HRP) in 2006, to ensure Council could appropriately respond to demand going forward. The HRP
report established the following:
     In 2006 the existing level of supply of residential aged care places was meeting demand;
     Between 2006 and 2026, an additional 618 residential care beds (above the existing 437
       beds) would be required to cater to expected demand;
     There are limited opportunities for existing residential aged care and retirement housing
       facilities to be further expanded to meet projected future demand;
     Additional future supply of residential aged care and retirement housing will largely need
       to be provided on greenfield sites (where available) or infill/redevelopment sites.

While the report was intended to inform possible amendments to the planning scheme, no
amendments have as yet been undertaken.

More recently, Council engaged Briggs & Mortar to prepare an updated Social Needs Assessment
to assist in the assessment of a proposed aged care facility at McKinnon Drive, Tewantin
(‘Sundale’). As part of that report (March 2015), Briggs & Mortar undertook a review of the HRP
report and indicate that projected demand may in fact be even higher than HRP predicted.

The HRP data indicated a close alignment of the overall number of existing residential aged care
places (high and low care) and the existing need in 2006. However HRP’s calculations were based
on an additional 90 places expected to become available by the start of 2007 (through expansion
of existing centres) with a roughly even split of low and high care beds. Briggs & Mortar
identified that in fact, 70 of the proposed 90 additional places were high care, thus creating a
deficit in low care beds.

The existing and projected needs from the HRP report were tabulated by Briggs & Mortar as
Table 1 below. The result is a projected need for 1,105 residential aged care places.




Source: Briggs & Mortar, 2015

Development Assessment Report                                                          Page 28 of 33
Aged Care Facility
Eenie Creek Road, Noosaville