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

                                                                      15006 – North Shore Beach Houses June 2016




The Judgement also provided that another ground, which might have been relevant in this case is
that had there been evidence that the planning scheme’s vision for the site was not being realised
and is incapable of being realised and the accommodation, which would plainly be highly favourable
for permanent residential use, was simply going to waste because the tourism market was such that
it couldn’t be used, then the community’s abhorrence of such waste would mean that a ground, in
terms of public interest in avoiding it, might be established as opposed to matters dependent on
the personal circumstances of an applicant owner or interested party.1

In this case, the above ground is relevant for a number of reasons, including:

   •   the existing development on the land was established under a preliminary approval that
       allowed for the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal Development Code as an integrated
       development, which has now lapsed and can’t be realised;
   •   the existing Visitor Mixed Use Zone allows for limited residential uses those being Visitor
       Accommodation Type 2 Caravan Park, Type 3 Rural or Open Space Type 2 Camp Ground, all
       of which could not now occur on the subject land and are now likely to occur on the
       adjoining land;
   •   the existing use on the land, which would be defined as Visitor Accommodation Type 4, is
       not a consistent use within the Visitor Mixed Use Zone in this locality and other uses are not
       available in this zone;
   •   the existing development has never been an appropriate for visitor accommodation because
       of the nature of the development, with a limited number of the existing dwellings currently
       being used for this purpose;
   •   the existing development is essentially a group housing development comprised of relatively
       large dwellings on individual allotments, which are not budget accommodation and are
       generally not suited for visitor accommodation on the Noosa North Shore;
   •   the existing development provides little community benefit because it is not a resort, has no
       other associated business uses and has low occupancy rates;
   •   while the development has some existing communal facilities that can be used by patrons,
       the development has no typical resort style facilities such as a restaurant or conference
       centre that would be normally expected and would provide substantial community benefit
       and encourage higher occupancy rates; and
   •   while the site has been used previously for a limited number of weddings and functions,
       there is no development approval for this use on the land, which would require body
       corporate consent and there are limited on site facilities to cater for this type of use.

In summary, the existing development on the land occurred under a preliminary approval that was
to provide for an integrated development over all of the land included in the Visitor Mixed Use
Zone; however this approval has lapsed. While the land is currently used for visitor accommodation,
this use is also not consistent with the planning scheme. It is evident that the use of the land for
visitor accommodation has not been constructed for this purpose and consequently has not
operated as expected.

In my opinion, the existing development on the land has not operated in accordance with
community expectations and this will not change significantly in the long term given the nature of


1 Viridian Noosa Pty Ltd v SCRC (2013) QPEC 54, Clause 40




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