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

                                                                      15006 – North Shore Beach Houses June 2016




the use. Further, if some flexibility is not provided with the existing use on the land, some of the
existing dwellings and infrastructure could be at risk in the long term, which is not a desirable
planning outcome.


9. Conclusion

The proposed development seeks to allow 19 of the existing dwellings (eco-cabins) on the land to
be used for Detached Housing; however this would not prevent the dwellings from also being used
for visitor accommodation under the current approval, as a mixed use development. Even if the
proposal is allowed, the majority of the dwellings on the land (29 off) will continue to be used purely
for visitor accommodation purposes and meet current and likely future demand.

While the land is included in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone, there are no specific provisions that seek to
protect the site for a resort development. It is acknowledged that a specific outcome seeks to limit
residential uses to a selected number of visitor accommodation uses, which are suitable for the
Noosa North Shore Locality; however none of these uses can now be achieved on the subject land.

In other areas of the Noosa area, the Visitor Mixed Use Zone seeks to provide a healthy mix of uses
that provide for multiple housing, visitor accommodation and some business uses in the same
location. In my opinion, the intended mix of uses for the Visitor Mixed Use Zone should be
consistent across the planning scheme area. Further, if Council seeks to maintain particular uses at
certain sites, as it has done for some resort developments, then specific provisions should be
provided to meet those intended outcomes.

In this case the existing development is not budget accommodation for visitors and is essentially a
group housing development, which is being restricted for visitor accommodation use only. Because
of the condition imposed, the existing use would be defined as Visitor Accommodation Type 4
Conventional, which is not consistent use in the Visitor Mixed Use Zone. In my opinion, the
development as constructed is akin to a multiple housing development (Type 4 Conventional) and
does not meet the intent of the planning scheme or community expectations for the locality.

The existing visitor accommodation use has a significantly low occupancy rate in the order of 15 –
20%, with only about 22 of the 48 dwellings being in the rental pool, with about 6 other dwellings
being rented privately. According to a number of the property owners the existing development is
not currently viable or economically sustainable in the long term, without more flexibility being
provided.

This proposal will not cause adverse amenity impacts and within or off the site given the amount of
separation between the dwellings and that there are no other associated business uses on the land.
Further, allowing for some of the dwellings to be used for detached housing, would improve the
long term economic sustainability of the site and provide additional economic benefits to the Noosa
North Shore Locality. This is in terms of the cost of providing the necessary infrastructure and
upkeep of the land as a whole and improving the local economy generally.

It was intended that the subject and adjoining land be developed as an integrated development for
visitor accommodation under the Noosa North Shore Eco-Tourism Portal under a preliminary




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