2019-10-28 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                            28 OCTOBER 2019


A development application for a major shopping centre expansion proposal was lodged with
Noosa Council in 2007 and ultimately decided by Sunshine Coast Council. The development was
referred to as Noosa Civic Stage 3 and involved a 41,050m2 expansion to the existing shopping
centre, comprising 35,850m2 of additional retail floor space and 5,200m2 of commercial office
space. The development’s location occupied most of SBC Precinct E1 and extended further to
the east toward Walter Hay Drive and occupied most of Precinct E6.
Sunshine Coast Council refused the application at its Ordinary Meeting of 4 June 2009. The
decision was appealed by the applicant (Planning & Environment Court appeal ref. 182/09) and a
number of parties elected to become co-respondents to defending the appeal. The case
proceeded to trial but the appellant subsequently discontinued the appeal in May 2011 partway
through the trial. The applicant and owner at the time subsequently sold the site to QIC early in
2012.
A further application for a major expansion of the shopping centre was lodged by QIC with
Council in January 2015. The application sought approval for a major expansion of the Noosa
Civic shopping centre involving 32,525m2 of additional floor area and 22,870m2 of gross
leasable area, 66 new commercial tenancies were proposed, comprising 2 supermarkets, a
discount department store, specialty stores, food outlets and restaurants. The expansion was
proposed at the eastern end of the existing shopping centre, where the existing food court is
located. Some reconfiguration of that end of the existing centre was also proposed. Notably the
application included contributions to offset the loss of koala habitat at the time as the proposed
development was of a greater intensity than that envisaged by MP2.
Noosa Council refused the application at its Ordinary Meeting on 24 September 2015 citing 10
reasons. An appeal was lodged with the Planning and Environment Court on 23 October 2015 by
the applicant. The Planning and Environment Court upheld Council’s refusal on 16 December
2016 with the judgement concluding that that the combination of conflicts outweighed the
grounds advanced by the appellant, including:
(i)     the negative traffic implications;
(ii)    the likely negative outcomes for the intended “Civic” area;
(iii)   the bulk and scale of the proposed development insofar as it could result in more intensive
        development and that it does not enhance or form an extension of OS7/ Covenant J;
(iv)    the likely overestimation of the need for and the extent and variety of speciality shops;
(v)     the likely negative impacts on the Noosa Junction Centre; and
(vi)    the substantive conflict between long term proposed use and mix of uses intended for the
        SBC, at its centre or core.
2.2. Infrastructure Agreement
The application material states the Infrastructure Agreement negates the need to provide any
additional contributions for nature conservation, which includes native habitat removal with
respect to koalas.
It is noted the Infrastructure Agreement was made in 2003 and the Environmental Offset Act
came into effect in 2014 with the Planning Regulations coming into effect in 2017. This was
raised with the applicant in the Information Request at which time the applicant was requested to
provide evidence to support the applicant’s position that under the Infrastructure Agreement no
further contributions, including provisions of offsets in accordance with the Environmental Offset
Act 2014, are required to be provided. Specifically it was requested that the applicant provide
written advice from the administrating body of the Environmental Offset Act 2014, Department of
Environment and Science, that the proposed development is not required to provide koala
offsets.




                                                                                       Page 10 of 44