Delegated Assessment Report MCU17/0073

DELEGATED REPORT
PLANNING

APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL

Application no:	MCU17/0073
	
Author:	Lisa Pienaar
	
Project Director:	Lisa Pienaar
	
	

SUMMARY:

APPLICATION DETAILS
Applicant:	Lutheran Church Of Australia Queensland District
Proposal:	Development Permit for Material Change of Use of Premises (Wellbeing Type 3 Worship)
Properly Made Date:	30/06/2017
Information Request Date:	28 July 2017
Info Response Received Date:	9 February 2018 (outstanding issues received 11 June 2018)
Date of Site Visit:	February 2018
Decision Due Date:	21 May 2018 (extended 17 July 2018)
Number of Submissions:	4

PROPERTY DETAILS
Property Address:	115 Eumundi Noosa Rd NOOSAVILLE  QLD  4566
RP Description:	Lot 1 SP 228052
Land Area:	56,800 Square Metres
Existing Use of Land:	School Campus and Church

STATUTORY DETAILS
SEQRP Designation:	Urban Footprint
Planning Scheme:	The Noosa Plan (28 October 2016)
Planning Area / Locality:	Noosaville Locality
Planning Precinct / Zone:	Community Services
Assessment Type:	Impact

PROPOSAL:

The application seeks approval for the redevelopment of the Place of Worship at the Good Shepard Lutheran College site. The existing church floor area is 560m2, which currently is also used as the school hall.  Presently, the church/hall spaces consists of a seating and stage area, store room, toilets, kitchen and office space.

The redevelopment of the church will result in an additional 672m2 of gross floor area. The existing worship component is currently 338m2, with the proposal increasing this area to 433m2 in size. The new Place of Worship will provide for a worship centre, offices, outdoor area, vestry, meeting rooms, both upper and lower levels, entry area, kitchen and toilets.  Refer Figure 1 – Proposed Church.

The extension to the church will enable the College Hall space to be utilised exclusively for school activities.

SITE DETAILS:
Background / Site History
The 5.68 hectare site is currently used by the Good Shepard Lutheran College which contains the existing church within the school hall, early learning centre, three sports fields, swimming pool and associated school buildings.  Refer Figure 2 – Subject site and Existing Church and College Hall.

Recently an application has been lodged with Council for a proposed car park on land located on the corner of Eumundi Noosa Road and Walter Hay Drive to provide for car parking for the Good Shepard site. This land is not on the same site as this proposal.

Under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA), a rezoning approval is not a continuing approval; however the subject land has use rights for the College and Church. A summary of the approval history relating more specifically to the church are listed as follows:

Application No.	Decision
R174	Rezoning to Special Facilities Church and School 4 June 1986
3B-223	Church Hall (dual purpose)
23134 DA	Educational Establishment, Place of Worship & Industrial Uses with Staged Lot Reconfiguration (preliminary approval)
Site Description
Site & Locality Description
Road Frontage	The site has a 70m frontage to Eumundi-Noosa Rd and a 160m frontage to Walter Hay Drive.
Existing Significant Vegetation	The site has a range of native vegetation species.
Topography:	The overall site has an approximate gradient of 5% from the north-west to the south-east aspects. The specific site area of the proposed development works has a natural ground level gradient of approximately 4%.
Surrounding Land Uses:	The site surroundings include Detached Housing in the North-East; Attached Housing, Open Space Conservation and Community Services in the North-West; Industry in the South-West; and Open Space Conservation in the South-East.

The Natural Hazards Bushfire and Acid Sulfate Soils Overlay – Low Acid Sulfate Soils 5-20m (AHD) applies to this site.

Figure 1 - Proposed Church

Figure 2 - Subject site and Existing Church and College Hall

STATUTORY ASSESSMENT:

The application has been assessed against the following statutory instruments, including:

the South East Queensland Regional Plan,
any applicable state planning policies,
the state planning regulatory provisions,
any applicable temporary local planning instrument

The application has also been assessed against the planning scheme, including the following applicable codes:

Noosaville Locality Code
Community Uses Code
Landscaping Code
Engineering Works Codes

The application has been found to generally comply with all applicable statutory instruments. The pertinent issues arising out of the assessment are discussed below.

Expansion of Use
The proposed development plans relating to the worship centre show an approximate possible seating availability of 243 seats over 433m2. The existing seating capacity in the hall is 216 seats currently utilised by the church. The proposal will result in additional seating for 27 people for church services. The church currently has 2 fulltime staff and 1 part time staff member. These numbers are no expected to change. Current student numbers associated with the school are not changing.

Church services occur every Sunday at 8.30am and 9.30am, attracting 15-25 and 80-250 persons respectively. Church services are also held for the students of the school during the week. A church playgroup operates from the existing building on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, which will continue within the larger meeting room at the lower ground level.

It is important that the hall space currently used by the Church is not continued to be used by the church once this proposal is constructed, as this increases numbers quite significantly from its existing capacity. If this scenario occurred, numbers able to be seated would increase from 216 to 459, meaning there would be significant impacts with regard to traffic, parking and noise. The applicant indicated that the hall space may be needed during the Easter and Christmas periods which is to be expected due to the increase of patrons. Therefore, appropriate conditions will be placed on the approval whereby the hall space is not continued to be used for church activities once the new congregation space is constructed, except during Christmas and Easter periods.

Similarly, if weddings or funerals were to be held while school pick up and drop off occurs, this will create parking and traffic issues.  Therefore, it is recommended that there be no overlap of these activities and the proposal be conditioned accordingly.

Where conditioned appropriately as discussed above, the expansion of the existing use is unlikely to increase impacts.

Built form and landscaping
The existing building marginally exceeds the 8 metre height limit due to the roof pitch. The existing and proposed building are predominately single storey in height when viewable externally from the site. A double storey component applies to new office, meeting room and amenities building and the existing proposed storeroom area on the southern end of the existing building.
Refer to Figure 3 – existing church viewed externally.

Figure 3 – existing church viewed externally

The extensions are no greater than 8 metres in height from the existing ground level. 
The proposal is setback 15 metres from Eumundi Noosa Road, 12.9 metres from the child care centre and 15.9 metre to the nearest residence. The proposal occupies the existing land area that the church hall currently occupies.

The proposal includes a 1 metre wide landscaping strip on the western side of the building and 0.5 metres along the north eastern face. A green wall will be added to the north eastern face to assist in softening the built form. Currently a 1.5 metre strip and a 1 metre strip exist in these areas. This consists mainly of hedges. A tree will need to be removed on the northern part of the site to facilitate the extension. Although the proposed landscaping seems minimal, the building is off an internal road within the site and meets the landscaping provisions under Noosa Plan with regard to the entire site. Further the proposed building is setback 15 metres from the boundary abutting Eumundi Noosa Road.

The proposed extension to the church includes a cross which protrudes 2 metres above the roof line. Currently, the existing church building has a small cross on the western wall face. While it is acknowledged the cross is a religious symbol, it is also considered a structure which is well above the allowable 8 metre height limit for the area. It would be quite visible to Eumundi Noosa Road and adjoining residences. It is recommended that the cross not protrude above the finished roof line and any lighting be switched off from 9pm each night. Illumination of the cross is not proposed.

Car parking and access
The proposed development plans relating to the worship centre show an approximate possible seating availability of 243 seats. The existing seating capacity in the hall is 216 seats. Under the existing approval 40 car spaces were required for this use.  The parking requirements under the Car parking Code is 1 space per 10 people capable of being seated. This equates to 24.3 car spaces required for the proposed use. The Good Shepard Lutheran College site currently provides for 220 car spaces, which are used in conjunction with the existing church. Two additional car spaces will be provided as part of the proposal to be positioned within the existing car park adjoining to the north east.

The applicant’s proposal advises the predominant usage of the church is to occur on Sunday mornings, and therefore users of the church will not be competing with users of the school. The use of the new church space aside from Sundays are to be school students and school employees and would not likely require additional car parking availability.

The proposed development does not compromise current onsite and parking access arrangements.

Noise
Submissions received during the submission period indicated that noise associated with church, day care, school activities and ground maintenance has been an issue for some residences. With respect to the church, which is the subject of this proposal, the building has a separation (at the closest point of the building) of 27 metres to the nearest residence. The subject site adjoins residential land which is located to the north and the extension to the church will result in the closest residence (at the closest point of the building) being 15.65 metres away.

With respect to the issue of noise generated in association with church activities only and nearby residences, the applicant provided an acoustic assessment addressing the potential noise sources. The report concludes that … noise from the church alterations may result in a reduction in noise from inside the church as the new building will be air conditioned to enable doors and windows to be kept closed. Air conditioning plant can be designed to meet the Environmental Protection Act and Environmental Protection Noise Policy criteria. Noise from the friendship terrace may exceed the noise criteria for larger groups using the terrace, particularly if used during the evening, however it is expected that the noise impact can be managed.

The report makes recommendations and amongst other things that noise control measures be investigated further to minimise potential impacts at the nearest residences and the mechanical plant be designed to meet the criteria. In this regard the report refers to the existing paling fence between the church and the residences and suggests an acoustic fence.  This will be conditioned accordingly and will be required to be constructed prior to building works commencing.  The timing is largely due to the fact that residents in their submissions referred to construction works associated with the day care being disruptive.

The applicant amended the original design to address noise concerns raised, removing the louvres on the north eastern side closest to the residential properties and replacing these with fixed glass panels. This will also be conditioned accordingly.

Council’s Environmental Health Co-ordinator assessed this report and has recommended a number of conditions that address the activities as a whole and the use of the friendship terrace, with regard to hours and level of noise.

CONSULTATION:

Referral Agencies

The application was referred to the following Referral agency.

Advice

Energex

The department is an advice agency as the site is within 100 metres of a sub-station site.  The department responded by letter dated 19 July 2017 recommending approval for the proposal.  Given they are an advice agency, this advice is interpreted as they have no objections to the proposal.
Other Referrals
The application was forwarded to the following internal council specialists:

Development Engineer, Engineering and Environment Assessment Branch
Landscape Officer, Engineering and Environment Assessment Branch

Their assessment forms part of this report.

Public Notification

The application was publicly notified for 15 days in accordance with the requirements of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.  Four properly made submissions were received.

The following table provides a summary and assessment of the issues raised by submitters.

Issues	Comments
Noise generated by the use of the church including the use of the ‘Friendship Terrace’ by church patrons and community groups.	The new church and existing hall will be air-conditioned. An acoustic report was submitted in response to the submissions and made a number of recommendations which will be conditioned accordingly with regard to noise levels and hours.
Noise generated from the use of the existing College hall including music practice, the stacking and assembling of chairs, music concerts and use of the PA System.	The use of the College hall for associated school activities including music practice and concerts is not relevant to this proposal. Because the new church is being constructed there will not be a need to constantly rearrange furniture in the College hall given the dual use of the hall and church will no longer occur.
The design of the building with louvers and door openings and outdoor common areas near residential properties will increase noise levels.	The applicant has amended the proposed design to remove the louvres on the north eastern side closest to the residential properties and replace these with fixed glass panels, while maintaining the sliding glass doors. The building will be air-conditioning removing the need for windows/doors to be open frequently.
Use of the church for other commercial activities. The use of the church outside business hours by non-worship groups.	The church facilities will continue to be used by community groups as is currently the case. Further, the church will be used for holding wedding ceremonies and funerals.  Conditions of approval will address the overlap of uses on the site to ensure noise, traffic and parking impacts are kept to a minimum.
Changes in security lighting. Prefer the chapel internal lights are no left on all night.	The applicant is not proposing new security lighting and is not intending to change the existing lighting. A condition will be placed on the approval to only allow internal lighting to be dim and not brightly lit.
Retention of trees and further landscaping.	The proposed landscaping meets the requirements of the Noosa Plan. The existing trees near the carpark area on the north eastern side of the building are being retained and landscaping strips are provided at the frontage of the new church space as shown on the site plan, which include a 1 metre wide landscaping strip along the western face and 0.5m along the north western face of the building. A green wall will soften the built form on the northern eastern face of the building.  These elements will be conditioned.
Concerned with the height (16 metres) and illumination of the cross. Concerned with it being dominant and request it start at ground level.	It is proposed that the cross be a height of over 9 metres from existing ground level. It is not illuminated, but will have spotlights which will turn off at 10pm each night. To address the impacts on nearby residences, the cross will be conditioned to not protrude above roof height (no greater than 8 metres from ground level and the spot lights be switched off by 9pm each night.
Concerned with land values being affected with the expansion of the church.	The site currently has a church and there is no evidence that supports expansion to this use will affect property values.
Concerned that new office/meeting rooms will be used as a child care centre	There are no plans to utilise the proposed office space for child care purposes.  There is an existing child care on the site.
Request that construction work be restricted to week days only and no work starting before 7am.	Construction hours are in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act and are not regulated by planning legislation.  The hours of construction allowable under this Act are: Monday to Saturday 6.30am-6.30pm.

CONCLUSION:

The proposed development generally complies with the requirements of the planning scheme and does not raise any significant issues that cannot be addressed by reasonable and relevant conditions.  The application is therefore recommended for approval.

RECOMMENDATION

APPROVE WITH CONDITIONS Application No. MCU17/0073 for a Development Permit for Material Change of Use of Premises (Wellbeing Type 3 Worship) situated at 115 Eumundi Noosa Rd NOOSAVILLE  QLD  4566 as identified in the attached details recommended for the Decision Notice.

Development Application Number MCU17/0073

1.	APPLICATION DETAILS

Application No:	MCU17/0073
Street Address:	115 Eumundi Noosa Rd NOOSAVILLE  QLD  4566
Real Property Description:	Lot 1 SP 228052
Planning Scheme:	The Noosa Plan (28 October 2016)

2.	DECISION DETAILS

The following type of approval has been issued:

Development Permit for Material Change of Use of Premises (Wellbeing Type 3 Worship)

3.	RELEVANT PERIOD OF APPROVAL

The relevant period for this development approval is 4 years starting the day that this development approval takes effect.

4.	ASSESSMENT MANAGER CONDITIONS

PLANNING
When Conditions must be Complied With
Unless otherwise stated, all conditions of this Decision Notice must be complied with prior to the use commencing, and then compliance maintained at all times while the use continues.
Approved Plans
Development undertaken in accordance with this approval must generally comply with the approved plans of development. The approved plans are listed in the following table unless otherwise amended by these conditions.
Plan No.	Plan/Document Name	Date
160012_A-D-A- 01-00_1	Site Plan – Overall, drawn by Ken Down Architects	30 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 01-00_2	Site and Location Plan, drawn by Ken Down Architects	30 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 02-01_2	Existing Floor Plan, drawn by Ken Down Architects	No date
160012_A-D-A- 02-03_4	Lower Ground Level, drawn by Ken Down Architects l	21 March 2017
160012_A-D-A- 02-02_5	Ground Floor Plan, drawn by Ken Down Architects	21 March 2017
160012_A-D-A- 02-04_2	Roof Plan, drawn by Ken Down Architects	March 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-01_3	External Elevations, drawn by Ken Down Architects (as annotated by Council)	30 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-50_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects (as annotated by Council)	29 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-51_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects (as annotated by Council)	29 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-55_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects	29 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 05-01_2	Sections, drawn by Ken Down Architects (as annotated by Council)	30 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 05-02_2	Sections, drawn by Ken Down Architects	30 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 05-03_2	Sections, drawn by Ken Down Architects	31 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-52_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects	29 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-53_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects	29 May 2017
160012_A-D-A- 04-54_1	Perspectives, drawn by Ken Down Architects	29 May 2017

Nature and Extent of Approved Use
The total seating capacity of the approved use must not exceed 243 as shown on the approved plans for general church services, with the exception of school services and significant religious events held during the Easter and Christmas periods.
The school hall space must not be used for general church services but can be used for school services and significant religious events held during the Easter and Christmas periods.
The development must be undertaken and operated in a manner that causes no detrimental effect upon the amenity of the neighbourhood by reason of the creation of excessive noise, lighting nuisance or other emissions.
Building Height
The maximum height of the development must not exceed 8 metres above the finished ground level and the natural ground level.
Performance Bond
Security in the form of a cash bond or trading bank guarantee to the sum of $5,000 must be submitted to Council, to secure performance of conditions of this approval, prior to the issue of a Development Permit for Building Works. The cash bond or trading bank guarantee will be returned on performance of the conditions of approval less any costs incurred by Council in respect of enforcing performance of this permit. Council reserves the right to call upon the bond or guaranteed sum to effect compliance with conditions.
Building Appearance
All air conditioning units or other mechanical equipment must be located at ground level, or otherwise fully enclosed or screened such that they are not visible from the street frontages nor adjoining properties.
Roof materials must be non-reflective and designed with colours and styles to minimise the visual impact of the development.
The cross associated with the church must not protrude above the roof line.
The church cross must not be illuminated in any way and where spot lights are used, must be switched off from 9pm each night.
The north eastern side of the congregation area should not have louvres or windows capable of being opened.
Church hours
The church must not operate outside the hours of:
7am to 10pm Monday to Thursday
7am to 11pm Friday and Saturday
8am to 10pm Sunday or any public holiday.
A dawn service is allowed on an infrequent basis not exceeding one or two services per year.
Wedding ceremonies and funerals are not to be scheduled at the same time as when school pick up and drop off times occur.
Landscaping
Landscaping must be provided within the development site in accordance with the approved plans.
Stormwater Drainage
Stormwater runoff from the development must be connected to the existing site stormwater system and must not cause scour or damage to the subject site or any adjoining property.
Damage to Services and Assets
Any damage caused to existing services and assets as a result of the development works must be repaired at no cost to the asset owner at the following times:
where the damage would cause a hazard to pedestrian or vehicle safety, immediately; or
where otherwise, upon completion of the works associated with the development.
Any repair work which proposes to alter the alignment or level of existing services and assets must first be referred to the relevant service authority for approval.
Acoustic requirements
A suitable and purposely constructed acoustic fence must be constructed between the church and the neighbouring residences prior to the commencement of building works in accordance with the recommendations of the Acoustics Noise Vibration report dated 17 May 2018.
Written certification is required from a suitably qualified person confirming that sound pressure levels measured at the nearest residential place comply with the following:
Air-conditioning
7am to 10pm: Maximum level allowable = background + 5dB(A)
10pm to 7am: Maximum level allowable = background + 3dB(A)

Noise nuisance beyond the boundary of the site shall not exceed the following levels:
Worship Centre, Offices and Meeting Room
7am – 10pm:                 Background noise level plus 5 dB(A)
10pm – Midnight:           Background noise level plus 3 dB(A)
12pm – 7am:                 Inaudible
Friendship Terrace
7am – 9pm:                  Background noise level plus 5 dB(A)
Hours of use:               7am – 9pm

Lighting Devices
Lighting associated with the use must be designed, sited, installed and tested to comply with Table 2.1 & 2.2 of Australian Standard AS4282-1997 “Control of the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting” using a control level of 1.
Certification must be submitted to Council from a qualified person* which certifies that all outdoor lighting devices comply with the requirements of this Decision Notice. * See advisory note.

5.	REFERRAL AGENCIES

The referral agencies applicable to this application are:

Referral Status	Referral Agency and Address	Referral Trigger	Response
Advice	Energex Limited Town Planning GPO Box 1461 BRISBANE  QLD  4001	Within 100m of a substation site	The agency provided its response on 19 July 2017 (Reference No. HBD 5752340)

A copy of any referral agency conditions is attached.

7.	REFERENCED DOCUMENTS

Not Applicable.

8.	ADVISORY NOTES

The following notes are included for guidance and information purposes only and do not form part of the assessment manager conditions:

Equitable Access and Facilities
The plans for the proposed building work have NOT been assessed for compliance with the requirements of the National Construction Code - Building Code of Australia (Volume 1) as they relate to people with disabilities.  Your attention is also directed to the fact that in addition to the requirements of the National Construction Code as they relate to people with disabilities, one or more of the following may impact on the proposed building work:
the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Commonwealth);
the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Queensland); and
the Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards.
Infrastructure Charges
This Development Permit will trigger an “Infrastructure Charge Notice” to be issued in accordance with Council’s “Charges Resolution” made pursuant to the planning legislation and regulations current at the time of issue.
Sustainability
In line with Noosa Council’s Corporate Plan, Council seeks to encourage sustainable building design for residential and commercial development. Council encourages the use of sustainable building materials, energy efficient fittings, solar hot water, photovoltaic systems (including the use of inverter/charges), water saving devices and rainwater harvesting. For further information go to http://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/sustainable-homes
Certified Person
For the purpose of certifying Australian Standard AS4282-1997 “Control of the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting” using a control level of 1, a qualified person is considered to be a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland.
For the purpose of certifying acoustic barrier construction for the development, a qualified person is considered to be a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland.

9.	PROPERTY NOTES

Not Applicable.

10.	PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OVERRIDING PLANNING SCHEME

Not Applicable.

11.	FURTHER DEVELOPMENT PERMITS REQUIRED

Development Permit for Building Work (Private Certification)

12.	SELF ASSESSABLE CODES

The following codes for self-assessable development related to the development approval issued under this Decision Notice must be complied with.

Advertising Devices Code

13.	SUBMISSIONS

There were 4 properly made submissions about the application.  In accordance with Sustainable Planning Act 2009, the name and address of the principal submitter for each properly made submission is provided and attached.

14.	REASONS / GROUNDS FOR APPROVAL DESPITE CONFLICT WITH SCHEME

Not Applicable.

15.	RIGHTS OF APPEAL

You are entitled to appeal against this decision.  A copy of the relevant appeal provisions from the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 is attached.

During the appeal period, you as the applicant may suspend your appeal period and make written representations to Council about the conditions contained within the development approval.  If Council agrees or agrees in part with the representations, a “negotiated decision notice” will be issued.  Only one “negotiated decision notice” may be given.  Taking this step will defer your appeal period, which will commence again from the start the day after you receive a “negotiated decision notice”.

16.	OTHER DETAILS

If you wish to obtain more information about Council’s decision, electronic copies are available on line at xxxx or at Council Offices.

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DELEGATED AUTHORITY REPORT

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