2014-04-28 General Committee Meeting Agenda Pages 1-64

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                  28 APRIL 2014


2.   Background

A development approval for a Home Occupation (Bottling of Natural Spring Water) was granted
in September 1991 and since operated as Cooroy Mountain Spring Water. Over time, the
business expanded significantly.

In February 2006 an application was lodged for the Resource Based Spring Water Bottling Plant.
The use included on-site bottling and packaging of spring water from 3 bores and employed up to
60 people in peak periods. The associated factory on the site is approximately 3,000m2 in size.

During the public notification of the application 28 objections were received as well as 3 letters
and 1 petition with 264 signatures in support of the application. The objections were primarily
concerned with amenity impacts - that the use could be more appropriately located, lack of need,
excessive traffic and the use being inappropriate in a water supply catchment area.

Staff recommended the application be refused because the subject development was considered
likely to impact on the amenity of residents in the area and did not demonstrate sufficient
planning need to operate from the site to overcome the conflict with The Noosa Plan. Noosa
Council decided to approve the application and issued a development permit on 6 March 2008.
The applicant subsequently made representations to the development approval conditions.
Council agreed to some of the changes and issued a Negotiated Decision Notice.

On receipt of the decision, six submitters who objected to the development lodged an appeal to
the Planning and Environment Court (No. 314/08) that the application be refused. The applicant
(Cooroy Mountain Spring Water) also lodged a separate appeal to the Court seeking
amendments to Conditions 5 and 16 relating to hours of operation, vehicle movements and
roadworks contributions.

On 2 August 2010 the Court dismissed the submitters’ appeal after the applicant agreed to
include additional conditions on the approval and allowed in part the applicant’s appeal to amend
conditions of the approval. The decision, included as Attachment 2, represents the current
development approval.

Administrators were appointed for the Cooroy Mountain Spring Water companies in September
2011 and the operation ceased around August 2012. The new owner, who also owns Wimmers
Soft Drinks, purchased the company from the receivers in July 2013.

3.   Complaint History

The previous operation of Cooroy Mountain Spring Water had an extensive history of complaints
spanning almost 10 years. Generally speaking, the complaints began as the development
expanded from an approved home based business to a much more substantial commercial
operation and the majority related to traffic generation. The complaints resulted in various
breach actions by Council and also the lodgement of the application that led to the current
development approval.

4.   Statutory Process

The applicant advises it intends to request a permissible change to the development approval
under s369 of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and seeks Council’s pre-response prior to
making the application to the Court, as provided for under s368. A change to a development
approval can only be made where the change constitutes a ‘permissible change’ as defined in
s367.




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