MCU14/0106 & OPW15/0001 Appendix B - Retail Needs Response

1 Trade Area and Expenditure

4s TRADE AREA DEFINITION

Information request:

‘The extent of the southern boundary of the Secondary South Trade Area raises some
concern in relation to how the expanded Noosa Civic might interact with the Maroochydore
PRAC and, to a lesser extent, the Nambour MRAC’

‘...further discussion would reinforce the case for its inclusion’.

Response:

The issue, as noted above, refers to the Secondary South sector of the Noosa Civic trade area, although
the area including Coolum Beach (postcode 4573), which has been identified as the area of most interest,
is within the Secondary South-East sector.

In any event, it is notable that Noosa Civic currently captures market shares of 4.0% from the Secondary
South-East and 9.6% from the Secondary South. Both of these market shares indicate that the defined
areas are both solid, and justifiable, secondary sectors. They also indicate that more than 90% of
resident's retail spending is directed to other centres, including Maroochydore.

Given the strength of these areas as secondary sectors it is also apparent that the further expansion of
the Maroochydore PRAC, most notably Sunshine Plaza, would not diminish the relevance of these
sectors as secondary sectors for Noosa.

The proposed expansion of Noosa Civic is forecast to result in market shares from the Secondary South-
East increasing from 4.0% to 7.6%, or +3.6% (see Table 7.8 on page 106 of the DA report. In other
words, even after the proposed expansion of Noosa Civic, residents of the Coolum Beach area are still
expected to direct around 92% of their retail wallet to other centres such as the Maroochydore PRAC.

The Maroochydore PRAC serves a very broad trade area, and Coolum Beach would represent a
relatively low proportion of Maroochydore’s customer base. Consequently, in an overall sense, any
diversion of trade from the Maroochydore PRAC to Noosa by residents of the Secondary South-East, as
a consequence of the proposed development, would be much lower than -3.6% due to the relevance of
other parts of Maroochydore’s trade area.

The impact assessment indicates an expected impact on the Maroochydore PRAC of -0.9% in 2018,
which would not be discernible in the context of normal business fluctuations. More importantly, despite
the proposed expansion to Noosa Civic, the Maroochydore PRAC is forecast to achieve turnover growth
due to the extensive trade area, of +15.8%, prior to taking into account the approved development of
Sunshine Plaza.

Accounting for the Sunshine Plaza expansion, assuming it commences trading prior to 2018,
Maroochydore’s growth would be greater than indicated (see Table 8.5 on page 117) and the impact of
Noosa Civic would be lower.

Finally, a high level analysis of the implications of excluding Coolum Beach from the Noosa trade area
would not affect the findings of our assessment. Both the current and future business from this area
would be accounted for as ‘turnover from beyond’ the main trade area, which simply means that the
‘rogue’ element, or origin of trade from outside the trade area, would be greater. This would also weaken
the integrity of the impact analysis in so far as it relates to shoppers from outside the trade area.

URBIS
NOOSA RESPONSE REPORT - RETAIL ECONOMICS JUNE 2015 V2 TRADE ARES AND ESPENOITURE 3