Town Planning Report - Development Application 90 Beach Road, Noosa North Shore 28 June 2016

                                                                        15006 – North Shore Beach Houses June 2016




7.4    Impacts Upon Amenity


It is important to note that the existing dwellings are contained within existing allotments, which are
separated. While there is potential for some adverse amenity impacts to occur between visitors and
the dwellings being used for permeant residency, this is unlikely given the nature of the use and the
relative low density, the amount of separation between the dwellings as well as no other commercial
uses being located on the land that could cause land use conflict.

It is also noted that the current proposal does not remove or relinquish the existing visitor
accommodation approval on the land and will continue to apply to all dwellings. In effect the use of
the land will be for mixed use purpose and will be generally compatible with one another. It is
accepted that the absence of any adverse impacts is not necessarily a ground to allow the
development, but is nevertheless is a matter that should be considered.

7.5    Economic Benefit
It is accepted that the use of land for visitor accommodation purposes in the Noosa area has
economic benefits in terms of generally providing a higher daily spend from visitors than permanent
residents. This equates to making more use of restaurants, shops and other tourist facilities, which is
beneficial for the broader community.

In terms of the resort properties mentioned above, these developments also provide for significant
employment opportunities, which is accepted. Given the low occupancy rate for the subject site,
which is most likely due to the nature of the development being expensive dwellings and not cabins
on individual allotments, the isolated location on the North Shore having restricted access to other
urban areas and services, it is likely that there will economic benefit in allowing some the dwellings
to be occupied for longer periods for permanent residential living.

While the daily spend by residents is typically less than that of visitors to the area, the daily spend by
residents is sustained over a longer period of time. It is highly likely that in the long term this
provides greater economic benefit, at least until the market for visitor accommodation improves, if
at all for this type of development.

It is important to note that not all of the dwellings are intended to be used for the detached
housing, which means that the remainder of the dwellings could continue to take up the existing
visitor occupancy rate. Should the market change, the dwellings with the additional use rights for
detached housing, can also be used for visitor accommodation.

The current development is relatively expensive to maintain with the body corporate fees being
significant. If the current occupancy rate does not improve, then there could be some risk in that the
development may not be sustainable in the long term, which is an important consideration for the
development as a whole.

In my opinion, the current approval prevents flexibility to use some of the dwellings for permanent
occupancy, when the market forces should determine the highest and best use of the land. This is
the case for other unit developments in Noosaville and Noosa Heads localities, whether in the
Visitor Mixed Use Zone or not.




                                                                                     Page 26