Response to Information Request - Final

 “Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”



seek compliance with the approval granted under the current planning scheme. This would
prevent these types of units from being used for visitor accommodation, unless another
approval is obtained.

In this case, both of the above uses are not allowed on the subject land under the planning
scheme, which includes Visitor accommodation – Type 4 Conventional. This is despite the land
being included in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone. This is at odds with the existing development
and approval on the land and suggests that this type of development should not have been
constructed at this location.

It is agreed that the remaining land included in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone on the Noosa North
Shore should provide primarily for budget visitor accommodation. Importantly, this type of
development should be purpose built, making it not desirable or suitable for permanent
residential living. Under the current scenario, the existing development is comprised of a
number of dwellings, which do not provide for budget accommodation and are not suited to
the location, but are not able to be used for permanent or semi-permanent living, which is an
odd situation.

Conclusion

From a town planning perspective, the encouragement of budget and visitor accommodation
on the Noosa North Shore is supported. This is because of the nature of the existing
development on the North Shore being primarily budget accommodation for families and also
for school groups.

Limited facilities are provided and access is restricted by the operating hours of the ferry. This
inhibits access to services and facilities within the more urban tourist areas of Noosa.
Consequently, people holidaying on the Noosa North Shore are seeking budget
accommodation and come prepared for this type of holiday experience.

The economic needs analysis has confirmed that budget visitor accommodation is best suited
to the Noosa North Shore. However, the existing Beach Road Holiday Homes do not provide
for budget accommodation and are not economically viable and therefore potentially not
sustainable in the long term. The current vacancy rate for the existing 22 Holiday Homes in the
rental pool is about 77%, which is considerable.

It is understood that a recent purchaser of one of the Holiday Homes was rejected by a number
of funding institutions. It is understood that this was due to the low occupancy rate and
because the Holiday Homes are not able to be lived in on a permanent basis. Consequently,
the existing development has effectively become a ‘white elephant’.

The economic needs analysis has revealed that there is some benefit in allowing the
development proposal to provide for some permanent and semi-permanent living, in
conjunction with the existing visitor accommodation use. In effect, the existing development
is not being used to its full potential and therefore represents a wasted opportunity.




 15006 – Response to Information Request , November 2016

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