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Attachment 1 - Needs Assessment Rev 0 11-11-16
Attached to the e-mail MCU16/0075 - Response to the Information Request - 90 Beach Road Noosa North Shore.
Needs Assessment
Beach Road Holiday Homes,
Noosa North Shore
Prepared for
Adamson Town Planning
November 2016
16017
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Disclaimer
CONTENTS
The sole purpose of this report is to
provide Adamson Town Planning
(the Client) with information in
accordance with Foresight Partners 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................1
Pty Ltd’s scope of services set out
in its proposal to the Client. 1.1 Purpose of Report and Methodology ........................................... 1
Foresight Partners has relied upon
information relevant to this report 2. NOOSA TOURISM AND ACCOMMODATION .......................4
provided by government agencies,
the Client and others. Except as 2.1 Noosa Council Zoning ................................................................... 4
otherwise stated in the report,
2.2 Noosa and Sunshine Coast Tourism Market Overview .............. 5
Foresight Partners has not
attempted to verify the accuracy or
2.3 Noosa Region Visitor Accommodation........................................ 6
completeness of such information.
2.3.1 Beach Road Holiday Homes ........................................................ 9
The assumptions underlying the 2.3.2 Other Noosa North Shore ............................................................ 9
findings, observations, forecasts 2.3.3 Noosa’s Main Visitor Accommodation Area ............................... 10
and conclusions presented in this 2.3.4 New Market Additions ................................................................ 10
report are subject to significant
uncertainties and contingencies. 2.4 Occupancy Profile ........................................................................ 11
Therefore, actual results may differ 2.4.1 Beach Road Holiday Homes Indicative Occupancy Levels ........ 11
significantly from forecast results.
Foresight Partners do not make or 3. IMPACT ANALYSIS .............................................................13
imply any warranty or guarantee
with respect to the data reported or 3.1 Noosa North Shore Accommodation Market Mix Implications 13
to the findings, observations,
forecasts and conclusions 3.2 Economic and Other Implications .............................................. 14
expressed in this report. Foresight
Partners cannot confirm or
guarantee achievement of any
forecast growth or performance, as
future events, by nature, are not
amenable to independent
confirmation or substantiation.
ABN 59 111 542 673
Suite 31, Level 4
50-56 Sanders Street
UPPER MT GRAVATT,
QLD, 4122
P: (07) 3422 2011
[email protected]
www.foresightpartners.com.au
Page 4
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Map of Participating Houses in MCU Application by Lot
Number 3
Figure 2.1: Noosa Area Visitor Accommodation Establishments by
Type 8
Figure 2.2: Occupancy Rates, Beach Road Holiday Homes in
Letting Pool (Two Dwellings) 12
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Visitors to the Sunshine Coast tourism region, June 2016 5
Table 2.2: Total Visitors to the Noosa Shire, 2014 (calendar year) 6
Table 2.3: Summary of Visitor Accommodation in Noosa by Type 7
Table 2.4: Room Occupancy Rate, Selected Noosa Area SA2s and
Sunshine Coast Tourism Region, 2014-2015 Financial Years
(Eight Quarters) 11
Page 5
1. INTRODUCTION
Beach Road Holiday Homes is a development of 48 detached dwellings within a gated
community located at 90 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore. Although initially approved as
short term visitor accommodation “Eco-cabins”, the dwellings are in fact mostly upscale,
individually designed two storey houses. The Beach Road Holiday Home development is
located in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone, which does not permit permanent occupation.
Accordingly, Condition 6 of the current approval (2006/2237) states that “the Eco-cabins
shall be for short term visitor accommodation only, with no person permitted to occupy the
Eco-cabins for the purposes of permanent accommodation in accordance with the Noosa
North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code”. The first houses were established in
2006, with subsequent stages constructed around 2012.
At present, the 48 houses within Beach Road Holiday Homes fall into the following rental
scheme categories:
22 dwellings participate in a centrally administered, formal rental pool;
6 dwellings are privately rented out by respective property owners; and
20 dwellings do not participate in a rental scheme and are used exclusively by
property owners as private holiday homes.
The owners of 19 properties within the Beach Road Holiday Homes collectively have
submitted a Material Change of Use of Premise (MCU) application to allow the option of
permanent residency within the estate. Of these, the MCU application concerns:
four houses from the visitor rental pool;
five houses being privately let; and
the remaining ten do not currently participate in any visitor rental scheme.
Figure 1.1 shows the distribution of the 19 properties subject to the MCU application.
1.1 Purpose of Report and Methodology
Noosa Council issued an Information Request (dated 26 July 2016) which seeks:
1) Please provide further information addressing the impact of removing visitor
accommodation from the visitor accommodation pool (existing and future) in the
Visitor Mixed zone and the locality, particularly given the Noosa North Shore locality
has limited visitor accommodation.
2) Please provide an economic report that addresses but is not limited to the economic
impacts (risks/effects) associated with the conversion of visitor accommodation to
permanent accommodation in this locality.
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Foresight Partners have been commissioned by Adamson Town Planning on behalf of the
Applicants to prepare the economic assessment to address the issues raised by Noosa
Council.
In order to address these issues, a number of tasks were undertaken, including:
reconnaissance of the Beach Road Holiday Homes and surrounding areas in
September 2016;
desktop inventory of visitor accommodation available in close proximity to Beach
Road Holiday Homes, as well as the broader Noosa area;
analysis of (limited) letting records provided for the purposes of ascertaining
occupancy rates per annum of a typical holiday home within the estate rental pool;
Collection of data on occupancy rates and visitor numbers to Noosa Shire from
various sources including Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Tourism Research
Australia (TRA) and other commissioned reports;
identification of the likely impacts and implications of making 19 of the 48 houses
available for permanent occupancy upon the current and future stock of tourism
accommodation within Noosa North Shore and the Noosa Shire more broadly; and
assessment of community benefits (and disbenefits) of allowing the option of
permanent occupancy among some of the Beach Road Holiday Homes.
The above investigations form the basis of this economic assessment.
Section 2 of this report provides an overview of tourism accommodation in the northern
Noosa area, which includes an inventory of current tourism accommodation within the area,
with the Noosa North Shore locality discussed in more detail. Visitor numbers, expenditure,
and accommodation used by visitors for the Sunshine Coast and Noosa areas drawn from
published Domestic and International Visitor Survey data are examined.
Section 3 outlines the likely impacts for existing and future tourism accommodation stocks
if 19 of the 48 Beach Road Holiday Homes were allowed the option of permanent
residency, and discusses its potential benefits and disbenfits with respect to Noosa North
Shore’s visitor accommodation.
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Figure 1.1: Map of Participating Houses in MCU Application by Lot Number
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Holiday Homes
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38
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35 MCU Application
Partipating Lot
0 0.05 0.1 32
Non-Participating Lot
kilometres
Page 8
2. NOOSA TOURISM AND ACCOMMODATION
2.1 Noosa Council Zoning
Classification of residential zoning under Noosa Council’s strategic framework is based
upon density and the intended function of a dwelling. Under The Noosa Plan 2013,
residential zoning may fall under one of the following classifications being Detached
Housing, Semi-attached Housing, Attached Housing, Visitor Mixed Use or Rural
Settlement1.
Under the current planning scheme, tourism accommodation along Beach Road in Noosa
North Shore is classified as Visitor Mixed Use, which permits the integration of business
functions with medium density residential development. This zoning classification extends
only to the boundaries of Beach Road Holiday Homes and the Noosa North Shore Retreat
complex with surrounding bushland reserved for Open Space Conservation land. The
remaining land forming the Noosa North Shore locality is a mixture of Detached Housing,
Community Services, Rural Settlement and Open Space Recreation zoning.
Under the Visitor Mixed Use zone, permitted residential land use is limited to Visitor
Accommodation and covers the following types of dwellings:
Type 1 Home hosted: Detached houses where the resident family hosts no more
than six guests for a short-term stay, with meals provided by the hosts and at least
one bedroom excluded from use by the visitors;
Type 2 Caravan Park: Provision of short-term accommodation for recreational
vehicles, self-contained cabins, tents and similar structures along with other
buildings for the management of property facilities and recreational activities;
Type 3 Rural: Short-term accommodation including cabin parks, guesthouses and
retreats which directly relate to the rural production, environmental or scenic values
provided by the premise; and
Type 4 Conventional: Provision of short-term visitor accommodation within a
complex of two or more dwelling units, including guest housing, hostels, motels,
resorts and serviced rooms. These premises may also contain buildings and
facilities for property management, recreational purposes and guest dining services.
The Beach Road Holiday Homes presumably fall within the Type 4 Conventional category.
1
Rural Visitor Accommodation Permitted in the form of “domestic, home-hosted forms and in larger
guesthouses or cabin parks” in addition to overnight camping within the more rural parts of the Shire.
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2.2 Noosa and Sunshine Coast Tourism Market Overview
As a major tourism region, Noosa is subject to a highly seasonal population and the
economic implications of this on the regional economy. The following section provides a
broad overview of tourism in the Sunshine Coast and Noosa with specific reference to visitor
numbers and their contribution to the regional economy.
Tourism is both a major economic driver and an influential factor on planning regulation and
development in the Sunshine Coast region. Bordered by Inskip Peninsula in the north and
the Glasshouse Mountains to the south, the Sunshine Coast was the ninth most popular
destination by visitor numbers in Australia. In 2015-16, the region hosted around 3.4 million
domestic and international visitors, who spent about $2.2 billion. A further 6.0 million
daytrips were recorded to the region as well (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1: Visitors to the Sunshine Coast tourism region, June 2016
Average Average Spend
Visitor Length of per Night
Visitors Nights Stay Expenditure ($)
Visitor Type (‘000) (‘000) (Nights) ($m)
Domestic Overnight 3,105 11,425 3.7 $1,918.1 $168
International Overnight 266 2,820 10.6 $245.3 $87
Total 3,371 14,245 4.2 $2,163.4 $152
Domestic Daytrippers 6,019 - - $498* $89* (per trip)
* For 2015 calendar year, from Tourism Research Australia.
Source: Sunshine Coast Regional Snapshot, Year ending June 2016, Tourism and Events Queensland.
Although holidays were the major reason for visiting the Sunshine Coast (59% of domestic
visitors), a sizable 31% or 972,000 visitors were visiting friends and relatives as their main
reason for visit. Business visitors accounted for 7% of domestic visitors in 2015-16.
Average length of stay was just under four nights for domestic visitors and nearly 11 nights
for international visitors. Although domestic visitors spent more per night ($168), the longer
average length of stay for international visitors means that international visitors spent more
per trip ($922 versus $622).
International Visitor Survey and National Visitor Survey data generated by Tourism
Research Australia for the year to December 2015 indicate that about:
36.2% of all visitors used friends or relatives’ property for their stay;
28.3% stayed in a hotel, motel or similar commercial accommodation;
12.9% stayed in a rented property (e.g. self-contained unit or house); and
22.6% stayed in other accommodation (own property, backpacker/hostel, guest
house/B&B, caravan, camping etc.).
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Noosa Sub-region
Tourism Research Australia produced similar statistics at the Noosa Shire level for the
calendar year 2014 (latest available) and these are summarised in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Total Visitors to the Noosa Shire, 2014 (calendar year)
Average Average
Visitor Length of Spend per
Visitors Nights Stay Expenditure Night
Visitor Type (‘000) (‘000) (Nights) ($m) ($)
Domestic Overnight 656 2,750 4.2 $509 $185
International Overnight 116 793 6.8 $69 $87
Total 772 3,543 4.6 $578 $163
Domestic Daytrippers 885 - - $88 $99 (per trip)
Source: Tourism Research Australia, 2014 Noosa Visitor Profile.
Noosa accounts for about 23% of visitors to the Sunshine Coast region and a slightly higher
proportion of its visitor nights, with its visitors also showing a higher average spend per
night. Noosa’s domestic visitors stay longer than the Sunshine Coast average, but
international visitors’ average stay is considerably shorter.
Published accommodation use data for Noosa Shire is generated by the International Visitor
Survey and National Visitor Survey for the year to December 2014 (latest available), but
based on total visitor nights rather than visitor numbers. While not readily comparable with
the Sunshine Coast tourism accommodation use, which is reported by visitor numbers, it
does provide some indication of the mix of accommodation used:
36.9% of visitor nights were spent in “Other” accommodation, including rented
property, own property, guest house/B&B;
29.6% of visitor nights were spent in hotel, motel or similar accommodation;
23.2% of nights were spent in homes of friends or relatives;
5.7% of nights were spent in commercial caravan or camping sites; and
4.5% of nights were spent in backpacker/hostel accommodation.
2.3 Noosa Region Visitor Accommodation
Table 2.3 provides a broad overview of the current stock of visitor accommodation within
most of Noosa by geographical area. Figure 2.1 shows the distribution of this stock.
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Table 2.3: Summary of Visitor Accommodation in Noosa by Type
Accommodation Establishment Type No. Establishments No. Rooms/Units
Noosa North Shore & Teewah Beach
Hotel, Resort, Motel - - - -
Self-contained Holiday Accommodation 2 100% 68 100%
Hostel, Other (Timeshare, Niche, etc) - - - -
B&B, Cottages, House/homestay - - - -
Total 2 100% 68 100%
Noosa Heads, Noosaville & Tewantin
Hotel, Resort, Motel 33 28% 2,052 57%
Self-contained Holiday Accommodation 76 64% 1,398 39%
Hostel, Other (Timeshare, Niche, etc) 5 4% 134 4%
B&B, Cottages, House/homestay 4 3% 17 0%
Total 118 100% 3,601 100%
Other Areas*
Hotel, Resort, Motel 3 9% 95 24%
Self-contained Holiday Accommodation 17 50% 231 58%
Hostel, Other (Timeshare, Niche, etc) 4 12% 37 9%
B&B, Cottages, House/homestay 10 29% 36 9%
Total 34 100% 399 100%
All Areas
Hotel, Resort, Motel 36 23% 2,147 53%
Self-contained Holiday Accommodation 95 62% 1,697 42%
Hostel, Other (Timeshare, Niche, etc) 9 6% 171 4%
B&B, Cottages, House/homestay 14 9% 53 1%
Total 154 100% 4,068 100%
Caravan, Tourist Park, Camping#
Noosa North Shore & Teewah Beach 2
Noosa Heads, Noosaville & Tewantin 3
Other 1
Total 6
*Includes areas of Peregian Beach, Sunshine Beach, Doonan, Cooroibah, Ringtail Creek and Weyba Downs
but excludes hinterland.
#Accommodation in various configurations including powered/unpowered caravan and camping sites, cabins etc
Source: Trip Advisor Australia; web searches, October 2016.
The Noosa North Shore area accommodation is dominated by the Noosa North Shore
Retreat and Tourist Park, which offers a mix of accommodation types including self-
contained accommodation, caravan, tourist park and camping.
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Figure 2.1: Noosa Area Visitor Accomodation Establishment by Type
Accomodation Category
Hotel, Resort, Motel
Self-Contained Holiday Accomodation
Hostel, Other (Timeshare, Niche, etc) PEREGIAN
PEREGIAN
BEACH
BEACH
B&B, Cottages, House/homestay
Gagaju
Gagaju
Gagaju
Caravan, Tourist Park, Camping
Gagaju
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Bush
Bush
Bush
Bush
Bush
Bush
Camp
Camp
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Noosa
Noosa
Noosa
Noosa North
Noosa
Noosa North Shore
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MAXIM
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Page 13
2.3.1 Beach Road Holiday Homes
Beach Road Holiday Homes is comprised of 48 detached dwellings offering visitor
accommodation in two, three and four bedroom configurations, the latter of which may
accommodate up to ten guests. Based on available data for 36 of the dwellings, there is an
average of 3.4 bedrooms per dwelling2.
At present, 22 homes participate in a common rental pool and another six houses are
independently rented. The remaining 20 houses are not under a rental scheme and many
are used exclusively by the property owner (and their friends and relatives) or rented
infrequently. In addition to the accommodation, the estate also offers common guest
facilities such as large entertaining areas with BBQ facilities, tennis court and a leisure
centre including two swimming pools, hot tub, games room and a children’s playroom.
The upscale nature of the Beach Road Holiday Homes command higher room rates, with
published room rates (off-peak) ranging from $270 per night (two bedroom) to $500 per
night (four bedroom) with minimum stays of two to five nights required. Rates can be
considerably higher during peak periods, and many rental homes are used by their owners
during holiday periods.
Guests staying in the 28 Beach Road Holiday Homes that are available as part of the letting
pool, or let by the owners directly, would fall within the “Other” accommodation category
reported by the International and Domestic Visitor Surveys for Noosa Shire. However,
almost all of the 48 homes, including those not actively in the letting market, would also be
used as holiday accommodation by their owners and visiting friends and relatives of those
owners.
2.3.2 Other Noosa North Shore
Noosa North Shore accommodation within close proximity of Beach Road Holiday Homes
is composed mainly of campground and cabin-style options, with a three star motel forming
part of a larger tourism complex directly opposite the subject site. Noosa North Shore
Retreat and the adjoining Tourist Park campground is the dominant provider of tourism
accommodation in the area comprising:
Self-contained cottages for 70+ guests;
Mixed style of lodges within a motel-style complex for 135+ guests;
Semi-permanent tenting with bunkbeds for 80+ guests;
Park cabins for 50+ guests; and
Park camping with a mixture of powered and unpowered sites.
2 Department of Natural Resources and Mines data, accessed via Pricefinder.
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The retreat also features a modest convenience store, bar and restaurant, function areas,
conference rooms and other basic guest facilities. There is also ample recreational facilities
within or nearby the grounds as the complex is capable of hosting large groups, including
school camps. The Noosa North Shore Retreat and Tourist Park are very popular and is
often booked out months in advance.
An additional campground, Noosa North Shore Beach Campground, is located north of the
subject site with facilities for eight powered sites and multiple unpowered sites.
Approximately 10km north of the subject site is Teewah, which contains a small cluster of
holiday rental housing with capacity for around 148 beds across 20 houses. Accessibility to
this location is restricted to 4WD vehicles as beach driving is necessary, thereby limiting the
market of potential holidaymakers who would consider this destination for accommodation.
2.3.3 Noosa’s Main Visitor Accommodation Area
Noosa’s main tourism accommodation precincts extend from Hastings Street-Noosa Heads
to Tewantin and is within close proximity of popular shops, restaurants and beaches. Much
of the visitor accommodation in this area falls under the same Tourism Mixed Use zoning
classification as Noosa North Shore, but offers a greater breadth of accommodation options
ranging in both star-rating and type. The majority of accommodation falls under mid to high-
range resort style accommodation of self-contained apartments within an enclosed
complex. It also contains a mix of permanent residents and visitors within the same unit
complexes.
The remaining stock of nearby accommodation is a mixture of hotels, motels, bed and
breakfasts, hostels, campgrounds and caravan parks.
Additional visitor accommodation is also found in the Sunshine Beach – Peregian Beach
coastal strip, and in Noosa’s hinterland.
2.3.4 New Market Additions
Introduction of online share platforms for visitor accommodation has led to a significant
widening of the traditional tourism and short stay accommodation markets. There are
around 300 rentals of various configurations within Noosa registered on Airbnb, significantly
increasing the regional supply of tourism accommodation and broadening the options for
visitors. Stayz is another popular website for matching visitors seeking private
accommodation with residents offering accommodation.
Accommodation arrangements either occur as homestays where the property owners
continue to live onsite or short-term rentals with the entire property rented out. Online share
platforms are still relatively new (and largely unregulated) and represent a “disruptive”
technology and service which are positively impacting traditional visitor accommodation
markets by increasing the supply and flexibility of tourism accommodation and broadening
accessibility and affordability for holidaymakers in the region.
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2.4 Occupancy Profile
Occupancy rates of available rooms provide an indication of market supply and demand
over time and whether existing stocks of accommodation are sufficient in Noosa Shire to
meet current and future visitor demand. Table 2.4 below outlines the occupancy rates of
selected Statistical Area 2 (SA2) comprising the Noosa area of the Sunshine Coast tourism
region for which ABS Tourist Accommodation data is available.
These are indicative of only parts of the Noosa region, as Noosa North Shore falls within
the Noosa Hinterland SA2 for which data is not available. Total occupancy rates for the
Sunshine Coast and Queensland are included as benchmarks.
Table 2.4: Room Occupancy Rate, Selected Noosa Area SA2s and Sunshine Coast Tourism Region,
2014-2015 Financial Years (Eight Quarters)
Room Occupancy Rate (%)
Sept Dec Mar June Sept Dec Mar June
2013 2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2015 2015 Av.
Selected SA2
Noosa Heads 59.4 67.5 61.4 51.4 65.5 71.1 64.4 53.5 61.8
Noosaville 58.2 60.5 54.3 46.0 66.7 62.2 55.1 46.9 56.2
Peregian 39.0 47.1 39.3 34.3 49.9 57.9 47.1 43.7 44.8
Sunshine Beach 58.4 67.3 52.1 45.7 55.2 63.7 53.8 41.1 54.7
Tourism Region
Sunshine Coast 56.0 59.1 53.7 46.3 58.9 62.4 56.9 50.8 55.5
Queensland 67.1 63.4 58.6 58.4 67.3 63.8 58.6 58.1 61.9
Source: ABS, Cat 8635.0 Tourist Accommodation.
With the exception of the Peregian SA2 area, quarterly occupancy rates in Noosa’s tourism
areas mirror those of the broader Sunshine Coast region, with the Noosa Heads area
achieving consistently higher occupancy rates that other Noosa areas.
Given the unique nature of Noosa North Shore and its mix of cabin, caravan and camping
at one end of its accommodation spectrum and the upscale Beach Road Holiday Homes at
the other, direct comparison with other Noosa and Sunshine Coast accommodation markets
and occupancy levels is problematic.
2.4.1 Beach Road Holiday Homes Indicative Occupancy Levels
Discussions with the client indicate rental properties in Beach Road Holiday Homes are
achieving an occupancy rate of below 20% per annum. Although the financial records of
these properties are not publicly available, figures for two houses were provided by the
property owners as examples of the annual occupancy rate achieved by the 22 dwellings
within the central rental pool.
Based on these figures, the average occupancy rate for rental houses was 22.8% per
annum, with an average length of stay for visitors of between 2.4 and 3.4 nights per group.
The occupancy rate generally reflected the traditional holiday trends in visitor volumes, with
a peak of 52.5% in the month of January and a low of 5.4% in July.
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Figure 2.1 shows the average annual occupancy rate from July 2015 to June 2016 based
on available data. As is evident, seasonal trends in occupancy rates for Beach Road Holiday
Homes generally reflect that of Noosa’s broader market. However, low occupancy levels
achieved during the peak Christmas period are indicative of owner usage during the holiday
periods rather than a lack of market demand.
Although data for only two of the 22 dwellings in the letting pool must be interpreted with
some caution, discussions with the owners/applicants suggest that they are reasonably
typical of the broader performance, as lettings should be evenly distributed over available
dwellings over time. That is, property management does not favour one dwelling over
another comparable one in the letting pool.
Figure 2.2: Occupancy Rates, Beach Road Holiday Homes in Letting Pool (Two Dwellings)
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16
Source: 2015-16 Occupancy records for two Beach Road Holiday Home properties.
An average occupancy rate of 22.8% is quite low, particularly after several years of
operation and, were the Beach Road Holiday Homes purely a commercial venture, it would
not be economically viable. However, as all 48 owners pay body corporate fees to maintain
common properties and facilities regardless of occupancy levels achieved (or even their
participation in the centrally managed letting pool – which most do not), the development is
not dependent upon achieving a “breakeven” occupancy level as might apply to other
resorts, hotels and motels for survival.
The indicative low occupancy level does not reflect owner use for holidays or use by friends
and relatives under private arrangement, which would probably increase the overall
occupancy of the Holiday Homes, but not (necessarily) the revenue generated.
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3. IMPACT ANALYSIS
The application to allow 19 of the 48 houses the option of permanent occupancy, if
approved, will have benefits and disbenefits with respect to Noosa North Shore’s
accommodation market.
The 19 houses (or even all 48 houses) are too small to have any material impact upon
Noosa’s broader visitor accommodation mix and markets.
3.1 Noosa North Shore Accommodation Market Mix Implications
Allowing the option of permanent occupancy in 19 of the 48 Beach Road Holiday Homes
could be seen as a potential disbenefit for Noosa North Shore’s collective pool of
accommodation. However, in our opinion, this would be of a minor nature with little or no
risk to the area’s overall visitor appeal and marketability for a number of reasons:
Allowing the option of permanent occupancy does not necessarily remove the
subject houses from the central letting pool or preclude private letting. The owners
of five houses forming part of the application currently participate in the centralised
letting pool and four let out their properties privately, and they may well continue to
do so for all or part of the year. Similarly, some of the ten properties that currently
are “private use only” could make their houses available in response to a better
leasing environment (in response to a reduction in supply).
The very low and uneconomic vacancy levels being achieved by properties available
for letting, especially after several years of operation, suggest that the Beach Road
Holiday Homes cater to a thin market in which supply significantly exceeds demand
in all but a few weeks or months of the year. A reduction in supply is likely to benefit
the majority of properties which remain available for short term letting, either in the
centralised letting pool or private lettings, by boosting their occupancy levels (and
returns).
The option of permanent occupancy could allow some owners, particularly retirees,
to split their time between homes, as occurs in several of Queensland’s coastal
areas. That is, they may spend winter months or some other part of the year in
Noosa North Shore and the rest of the time at their principal place of residence or
traveling (or vice versa). The house may be still be available for letting, but for only
part of the year or season. A limited number of Beach Road Holiday Homes owners
may already be living under this arrangement, which could explain the absence of
some properties from the rental pool.
Most of Noosa North Shore’s visitor accommodation is geared to the budget end of the
visitor market, being comprised of self-contained units and cottages, caravan sites
(powered and unpowered) and campsites. This accommodation appears to be consistently
well utilised, with full or near-full occupancy common during school and other holiday
periods.
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The Beach Road Holiday Homes cater to the higher end of the market and, for the majority
of Noosa North Shore’s holiday makers, are not an alternative for those seeking budget
accommodation. The potential loss of 19 houses from year round availability will have no
discernable impact implications for Noosa North Shore’s overall visitor market and its mix
of accommodation.
3.2 Economic and Other Implications
Noosa North Shore’s visitor accommodation, whether upscale or budget, services a niche
market by virtue of its geographical separation (ferry access only) from Noosa’s, and the
Sunshine Coast’s, major tourism precincts and shopping leisure/entertainment facilities.
Limited retail facilities serving the Noosa North Shore area, consisting of a pub which only
trades limited weekend hours and a very small general store, means that visitors must bring
all or most of their food, drink and other supplies with them.
Inconvenient access to Noosa’s shops and restaurants, and other leisure and entertainment
facilities and attractions, and the need to time the use of such activities with the ferry’s
operating hours, is probably a limiting factor in the appeal of Beach Road Holiday Homes
(as evident by its low occupancy rate). While this lack of local retail and
leisure/entertainment spending opportunities complements the budget and
caravan/camping market, the upscale nature of the Beach Road Holiday Homes
development would likely need a certain level of retail and hospitality facilities close by to
boost its longer term viability.
As opportunities for visitors to spend on retail/entertainment in Noosa North Shore are very
limited, a potential reduction in Beach Road Holiday Homes available for short stay visitors
is unlikely to have any discernible impact on the viability of its retail and
leisure/entertainment facilities.
Other Potential Benefits
The secluded nature and environmental setting of the Beach Road Holiday Homes is a large
part of its attraction. Although all owners have a strong vested interest in maintaining their
properties, common facilities and the bushland setting, not all guests are as considerate.
The presence of permanent residents should assist in maintaining the quality of both the
properties and the environmental setting through greater (passive) monitoring of changes,
fire danger or behavioural issues as they occur for the benefit of both visitors and residents.
The potential addition of 19 permanent households will also benefit Noosa North Shore’s
limited retail facilities, albeit modestly, through more local spending. The average
Queensland household spends approximately $33,400 per annum on retail goods and
services. While only a very small fraction of such an amount per household could be
captured by the general store and pub, it may nevertheless assist in expanding the range
of food and other convenience goods carried to the benefit of both Noosa North Shore’s
residents and visitors.
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