NOOSA PLAN 2020 PROPOSED AMENDMENT NO. 2 - POST PUBLIC NOTIFICATION FOR FINAL STATE GOVERNMENT MINISTERIAL APPROVAL · Attachment 1 Table of submissions

9. Growth generally
 Your Say    ECM         Submitter comments                                                                                          Response                                                                                                       Recommendation
 Reference   reference
             23108865    The Noosa Shire Residents and Ratepayers Association (NSRRA) has concerns these latest planning             Noosa Plan 2020 Proposed Amendment No. 2 is considered a balanced approach to increasing housing               That no change be made to
                         amendments will increase existing pressures on infrastructure and services and inevitably result in new     choice without expanding urban boundaries and with minimal alteration of zones or built form. The              proposed amendments as a
                         planning conflicts. The Noosa Shire is already facing the consequences of the 15% increase in projected     Proposed amendments are not a simplistic approach of increasing supply, expecting housing costs will           result of these submissions
                         population growth approved in the Noosa Plan 2020. (As confirmed by the State’s DILGP Land Supply           decrease.
                         Development and Monitoring Report 2021). It must be noted, despite impacts of the relatively new Noosa      Unlike other local government areas, Noosa does not have substantial growth opportunities with few
                         Plan’s urban infill provisions not yet being fully realised, Council is now proposing further planning      vacant sites. There is little growth yet to occur in a housing market dominated by large detached,
                         amendments which can only increase pressure on services and infrastructure and adversely affect             underoccupied low density houses. Therefore, it is important that the remaining underdeveloped sites
                         resident amenity. NSRRA considers the increased density of development outlined in Amendment                make the greatest contribution to housing choice, specifically that more small dwellings, affordable
                         Number 2. poses an additional threat to the Noosa Plan’s desired outcome of maintaining development         dwellings, and accessible dwellings are created and communal housing forms are available, thereby
                         levels compatible with the Shire’s sustainable ‘carrying capacity’. A planning strategy which has enjoyed   providing options for local people currently unable to access housing.
                         almost unanimous community support over many years of public consultation.
                                                                                                                                     Urban infill within established communities is the most logical and sustainable way of achieving housing
                         It now appears the Noosa community is being asked to support increased development pressure,                diversity. Public transport, water, sewerage, telecommunication cabling, are all less sustainable in a low
                         stretched services and loss of amenity to address a commercial tourism problem of the sector’s own          density dispersed population.
                         making.
                                                                                                                                     The carrying capacity philosophy of the planning scheme remains but is also continually reviewed against
                         NSRRA notes Council has publicly rejected the contention that these proposed amendments are a               trends in living and housing arrangements. For example the number of large dwellings housing just one
                         response to State pressure on local governments to intensify urban infill provisions. It appears vested     or two people, or not housing any residents at all is far greater than was anticipated in the 1990s when
                         interests of the tourism, real estate and development sectors have succeeded in pressuring Council to       the philosophy was first embedded in Noosa planning instruments.
                         relax development restrictions.
                                                                                                                                     The aging of the population and the fact that many residents are not engaged in the local workforce means
             23109184    Only a few years after approval of the Noosa Plan 2020, which increased our projected population            that many local workers cannot be accommodated here. That is not limited to the tourism sector staff but
                         capacity by 15% (mostly through urban infill), Council began a process which attempts to cram even          affects every sector including teachers, nurses, aged care workers, social service workers, emergency
                         more people into urban areas. Although Council’s consultation for the Noosa Plan 2020 failed to clearly     services and public servants. Much of the traffic on the road and the parked cars can be attributed to
                         outline the population growth impacts of the new plan, the 15% increase (approx 4000 dwellings) in          workers who have no option but to drive here from other places.
                         projected population capacity was confirmed in the State’s DILGP Land Supply Development and                Noosa Shire is indeed a special place and there is a desire to maintain what makes it special. It is however
                         Monitoring Report 2021: (The State) “has identified increased planned dwelling supply in both the           not appropriate to do nothing, and continue to see low to middle income families and individuals forced
                         consolidation and expansion areas. It is noted that the Noosa Plan 2020 adopted on 16 July 2020 has         out because there is no accommodation available.
                         increased consolidation capacity by about 4000 dwellings and this is reflected in Noosa’s planned
                                                                                                                                     Council continues to work with the State government and with Unitywater on assessing projected
                         dwelling supply.”
                                                                                                                                     population and capacity. The amendments have been modelled for dwellings but total persons is an
                         Considering the full impact of Council’s 2020 urban infill policy is yet to flow through, it seems highly   element considerably harder to predict.
                         questionable that Noosa Council is now looking to facilitate even higher development density provisions.
                                                                                                                                     A traffic and land use study is currently being done to determine what if any upgrades to the road network
                         Its apparent Council’s housing strategy was motivated primarily by the tourism industry, who have been
                                                                                                                                     are necessary.
                         lobbying for Council to address the issue of worker accommodation. This is pretty rich given the tourism
                         sector has spent the last decade procuring thousands of Noosa’s residential dwellings for short term        Noosa has a Local Government Infrastructure Plan which anticipates the desired level of service for
                         accommodation, thereby removing many of them from the permanent rental market. It appears Council           different forms of infrastructure. Developers contribute to the infrastructure improvements necessitated
                         is asking the Noosa community to sacrifice its amenity to address a conflated tourism industry crisis of    for their development.
                         their own making.                                                                                           The Housing Strategy was not motivated by the tourism industry, and the Housing Stakeholder Reference
                         Council’s Amendment No 2. public consultation documents flatly reject the contention that these planning    Group generally consisted of experts in housing and social services including local residents.
                         amendments are related to State pressure on Council’s to fast-track urban infill development to absorb      It is a reality that Noosa has chosen to limit development including densities and heights. This has
                         population growth. Given it’s not the State mandating this development and residents haven’t exactly        contributed to the limited quantum of housing and the cost of it, to purchase or rent. However, abandoning
                         been pressuring Council to approve more units and raise building heights etc (which of course places        the philosophy of a sustainable population carrying capacity in favour of considerable growth is not the
                         further pressure on traffic, services and infrastructure) it’s reasonable to assume the previous Council    wish of the Noosa Community as evidenced by every election and community engagement exercise of
                         was disproportionately influenced by the stakeholder groups (vested interests) who were invited into        the last 30 years.
                         Council to design the Housing Strategy. I fail to see how Council could claim any mandate from the
                         community to disregard the ‘population cap’ strategy, which to this point has mostly protected Noosa’s
                         environmental integrity and ‘village style’ amenity, which ironically are our tourism industries greatest
                         assets.
                         I am therefore requesting Council reconsider or temper the urban infill provisions described in Amendment
                         No.2 to the Noosa Plan 2020 for the following reasons:
                         •   Further increasing development density inevitably places more pressure on infrastructure, services
                             and traffic congestion.
                         •   The desired outcome of providing key worker accommodation won’t necessarily be achieved by
                             Amendment No.2 to the Noosa Plan 2020.
                         •   Council has failed to provide updated population projections should these latest planning
                             amendments be adopted.
                         •   Council does not have a mandate to further undermine the Noosa Plan’s protections which were hard
                             won by the community over the last 20+ years.
             23109358    Infrastructure to cope with the added population ?
             23108603    Almost 30 years ago Noosa’s former mayor Noel Playford introduced a “Population Cap” of 56,000.
                         Although many Noosa residents naively believed the Population Cap was real, it was always
                         meaningless. There is obviously no mechanism for doing it and there would be all sorts of constitutional
                         problems if one tried, and certainly, unenforceable. In 2022 the Population for Noosa Shire Council was
                         57,397, with a population density of 65.82 persons per square km. In an area of 872 km 2, (one of the
                         lowest population densities in Australia). Noosaville population was 8769, with a population density of

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Table of Submissions made regarding Noosa Plan 2020 Proposed Amendment No. 2, 2024