MCU21/0194.01 – APPLICATION FOR AN OTHER CHANGE TO A DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL FOR A ROADSIDE STALL TO INCLUDE A FOOD AND DRINK OUTLET AT 201 MARY RIVER RD, COOROY · Report

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING                                            7 NOVEMBER 2023


  SEQRP Designation                 Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area

  Zone                              Rural

  Precinct                          Not applicable

  Local Plan Area                   Not applicable

  Overlays                          Agricultural Land Overlay
                                    Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay
                                        •   Area Subject to Biodiversity Overlay
                                    Bushfire Hazard Overlay
                                        •   Medium Potential Bushfire Intensity
                                        •   Potential Impact Buffer
                                    Flood Hazard Overlay
                                    Landslide Hazard Overlay
                                        •   Moderate Hazard Area

  Assessment Type                   Other Change to Approval – Impact Assessable

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This application seeks retrospective approval to operate a food and drink outlet in association with
a roadside stall approved at 201 Mary River Road, Cooroy. The applicant also seeks to expand the
approved range of goods sold on site, expand the roadside stall building, provide seating for up to
12 people, with onsite car parking to be increased to 4 spaces.

The site has an area of 2.67ha, is zoned Rural under the Noosa Plan 2020 and is located
approximately 2.1km from the Cooroy town centre. The roadside stall, bus and seating area are
located to the front of the site, in amongst the existing vegetation.

While the proposal will not compromise biodiversity values or rural productivity capacity, the
proposed food and drink outlet does not meet many of the Noosa Plan 2020 requirements. The
proposed food and drink outlet is not a rural activity or rural enterprise, rather, it is an urban activity
and such uses are intended to be located in business centres to contribute to their vibrancy. The
food and drink outlet also does not value add to the goods produced on site and is operating as the
primary use of the site, with the roadside stall a very minor component. The proposed food and drink
outlet also has only a limited tourism focus, largely catering to locals living in the area. As such there
is no overwhelming need for the use to locate on the site or particular circumstances relevant that
warrant the proposal.

The coffee shop is also adversely impacting on residents’ amenity who bought into the area for a
quiet, rural lifestyle, with a number of nearby residents submitting valid objections to the
application. There is also insufficient on-site car parking to meet the current parking demands of the
use, which has the potential to increase with the changes proposed by the applicant.

The request to include a food and drink outlet is therefore recommended for refusal, and the applicant
advised the food and drink outlet must cease operating from the site or relocate to a more suitably
zoned site should they wish to continue operating.

Additionally, the request also includes changes to and deletion of a number of the existing conditions