Draft Submission to Council 23 May 2011 (2) · MCU10/2127

The Chairperson
The Body Corporate for Viridian Residences Noosa CTS 34034
PO Box 1963
Noosa Heads Qld 4567

23rd May 2011
Attention Kerri Coyle

The Chief Executive Officer
Sunshine Coast Regional Council
Locked Bag 72
Sunshine Coast Regional Mail Centre

Dear Mr Knaggs

Re: Development Application for a Material Change of Use by Viridian Noosa Pty Ltd
Application Number MCU10/2127

Attached is a submission on behalf of the Body Corporate for Viridian Noosa Residences regarding a pending application by Viridian Noosa Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers Appointed) c/- Humphries Reynolds Perkins, hereafter referred to as “the applicant”.

The applicant is seeking a material change of use in the current terms of the development application over land at 5 Morwong Drive, Noosa Heads (Lot 900 on SP207311) from “Visitor Accommodation – Type 4 Conventional” to Multiple Housing – Type 4 Conventional and Visitor Accommodation – Type 4 Conventional over 38 specified dwelling units”.

The Body Corporate for Viridian Noosa Residences represent the owners of residents of 23 villas known as Viridian Noosa Residences that are located adjacent to the Viridian Noosa Resort and which were built as the second stage of a broader development on Noosa Hill, approved in 2001.

The owners represented by the Body Corporate for Viridian Residences do not support the application for a material change of use and our arguments for this objection are contained in the attached submission.

Yours Faithfully

Annette Schmiede
Chairperson

SUBMISSION OPPOSING THE MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE APPLICATION
APPLICATION NUMBER MCU10/2127

SITE:  5 Morwong Drive, Noosa Heads (Lot 900 on SP207311)

APPLICANT:   Viridian Noosa Pty Ltd (Receivers and Managers Appointed) c/- Humphries Reynolds Perkins

PROPOSAL: A material change of use in the current terms of the development application from “Visitor Accommodation – Type 4 Conventional” to “Multiple Housing – Type 4 Conventional and Visitor Accommodation – Type 4 Conventional” over 38 specified dwelling units

COMPLAINANT: The Body Corporate for Viridian Noosa Residences

BACKGROUND

The Viridian Noosa Resort and Spa are part of the broader development known as Viridian Noosa which incorporated three stages:-
Stage 1 – Eight (8) residences;
Stage 2 – Twenty-three (23) villas known as the Viridian Noosa Residences; and
Stage 3 – Viridian Noosa Resort and Spa

The originating approval was granted by a Consent Order of the Planning and Environment Court on 29 June 2001   The Consent Order is referred to in the documentation as the ‘Court Approved Scheme’ or CAS. The CAS provided for a staged development of the Viridian site with the following particular aspects of development:-
Bayview Road Houses – Group Housing Development of 6 Dwelling Units
Angler Street Houses – 2 Dwelling Houses
Morwong Drive Dwelling Units – 23 Multiple Dwelling Units comprising 13 x 3 bedroom and 10 x 2 bedroom
A Resort comprising of
Resort Residential Buildings - 130 Multiple Dwelling Units comprising:
44 x 2 bedroom units,
41 x 1 bedroom units, and
45 x 2 bedroom units each capable of being used as a one bedroom dwelling unit and a one bedroom accommodation unit;
Resort Central Facilities - Resort reception and administration centre, Function Room, Indoor Entertainment (Conference Centre but excluding a nightclub), Restaurant, Storage, Pool, Tennis Court, Health Spa, Bars and ancillary facilities;
Manager’s Residence - 1 Dwelling Unit used as a manager’s residence;
Poolside Villas - 5 x 3 bedroom Dwelling Units;
Forest Villas - 12 x 1 bedroom Dwelling Units;
Private Open Space - in accordance with the Site Rehabilitation Plan; and
Public Open Space

The clear intent was to provide for predominately longer term residential accommodation in the first two stages of the development and short term accommodation as part of the resort.  There is a physical separation of the first two stages from the third stage, thus avoiding a potential conflict of interest between permanent/semi permanent residents and holiday makers/visitors.

Since the completion of all of the development, there have been a number of applications for material changes of use relating to the Resort.

In July 2009, the applicant has sought approval from Council for a material change of use of Condition 23 (the condition that covers the definition of accommodation).  This was refused on the following grounds:

“The proposed changes to allow for permanent residency are contrary to the Overall Outcomes of the Noosa Heads Locality Code, which seek that substantial key sites are protected for resort development, with the subject site identified as one of the key sites.
The proposed changes are not consistent with the intent of the planning scheme’s definition for Visitor Accommodation, which supports short term visitor accommodation.
The non-protection of sites for resort development will adversely impact upon sustainable population growth and a viable tourism economy.
The proposed changes are contrary to the Overall Outcomes of the Driveways and Car Parking Code as the proposed car parking demands are unlikely to meet on-site car parking provisions with the permanent occupation e.g. dwelling units requiring a higher demand for car parking than visitor accommodation.
The application does not constitute a change to a condition of a development approval pursuant to the Integrated Planning Act 1997 as it raises assessable development, which if publicly advertised, may cause a person to make a properly made submission objecting to the proposal"

The applicant has appealed against this decision to the Planning and Environment Court.  Following mediation, the applicant agreed to submit a further material change of use application whilst the appeal was in abeyance.  It is to this application that we make a submission.

THE BASIS OF OUR OBJECTION

Our objection is based on three grounds:
The original intent of the development approval
The economic impacts of any material change of use
The potential vehicular impacts

The original intent of the development approval

It is clear from the design of the development approved in 2001 that the total site would accommodate both short term and long term accommodation.  The design clearly separated out the intent of these two conflicting uses by the clear descriptors used in the original application (i.e. Stage One: Houses; Stage Two: Villas; and Stage Three: Resort), with appropriate definitions of use.  Only the Resort was approved for visitor accommodation.

The design of the development also endeavoured to separate the stages geographically as far as possible. Stage One comprising 8 dwelling units are sited on Bayview Road(6 dwelling units) and Angler Street (2 dwelling houses) is geographically the most separated from the Resort complex.  Stage Two (23 villas) shares the same access via Morwong Drive as does the Resort, but there is a physical barrier between these villas and the resort proper.

Further, the design of the villas and the dwelling units in Stages One and Two are more spacious, with two car garages, and limited shared facilities (i.e. the swimming pool in Viridian Residences), reflecting the intent for permanent and semi permanent occupation.

The original approvals clearly stated that the Resort Dwelling Buildings were for “Visitor accommodation – Type 4 conventional”.  Visitor accommodation is defined in the Noosa Plan as “meaning accommodation that is designed and predominately used for visitors to the Shire and where social, recreational and dining services may be provided for visitors by owners or staff.”   Type 4 – Conventional means “Two or more dwelling units or accommodation units, for the purpose of providing short-term visitor accommodation. The use may include common recreation or dining facilities and includes an ancillary dwelling unit for onsite manager. The use includes a guesthouse, visitor hostel, motel, resort and serviced rooms, but does not include Visitor accommodation Type 1 Home hosted or Type 3 Rural as separately defined”.

We would argue that this definition does not allow for permanent or semi permanent occupation of the dwelling units.

Our owners bought our units on the understanding that this definition applied to all of the resort residential buildings (with the obvious exception of the Managers on-site dwelling).

We would further argue that approval for the total development addressed both the need for resort provision on key sites as well as for the needs of long term or semi permanent residents and as such is consistent with the overall outcomes of the Noosa Heads Locality Code (i.e. protecting key sites for resort development in line with the overall vision for Noosa).

The applicant has not demonstrated in our view a compelling reason to expand the number of semi permanent and permanent residences.  We support the original intent of the development as it stands, that is a clear separation of the Resort from the other dwellings on the site and a defined use of Resort dwellings for visitor accommodation only.

The economic impacts of any material change of use

From our owner’s perspectives, changing the number of units within the Resort complex that can provide semi permanent or permanent accommodation, has a direct economic impact on the price of our own properties.  From a broader perspective it sets a dangerous precedence that could potentially alter the overall economy of Noosa.

In regard to the immediate impact on the value of Viridian Residences, adding to the market place a further 38 units including penthouse units on the same site would mean a substantive additional supply in an already significantly depressed market place.  Our residences are marketed as a place for permanent or semi permanent living and this is a unique feature which attracts a higher selling price.  This price would be diluted if more dwellings are added to the mix.

We consider that the mix of visitor and permanent accommodation is appropriate and would request that Council take into consideration the impact on existing owners if a material change of use was to be allowed.

Moving from a NIMBY approach to taking a wider perspective, the Viridian Noosa residents have a commitment to keeping the vibrancy and feel of Noosa which is what has attracted us to invest and live here.  We consider that the vision that is set within the Noosa Plan to support a viable tourism industry is of critical importance and should not be set aside.  There is a serious potential for a dangerous precedent to be set, which could have far reaching ramifications for the area.

We note that the applicant has used a very selective number of resorts to support a case of a change to the mix of use, and would urge Council to consider the impact across all the resorts in the area.

We also note that the applicant has used a report from Urbis which analyses the likely economic impact of converting 38 units to semi permanent or permanent living.  Urbis put forward a number of scenarios based on a set of assumptions regarding potential owner and visitor occupancy of these 38 units.  They do note that if their assumptions are not substantiated, and there are lower than expected occupancy rates, then the overall economic impact is negative, rather than neutral or positive.  The experience of the Viridian residences, where a number of owner occupiers maintain their villas for occasional or rare visits, would suggest that the assumptions in the Urbis report may be overly optimistic. Given that their report can only present scenarios, rather than evidence based information, we consider that the applicant’s argument that the change proposed would have a negligible or even a positive economic impact, may not necessarily be proved valid and is therefore not a basis for making a decision.

We consider the longer term economic impacts would be far more of an issue when the market place recovers from the current downturn, if the precedent of allowing a mixed use in the resort flows through to other resorts.  We therefore strongly urge the Council to reject the proposal on economic grounds.

The potential vehicular impacts

One key feature of visitor versus semi permanent and permanent occupation is the impact on car parking and vehicular movement.  It is a widely held planning assumption that a higher percentage of permanent and semi permanent residents will arrive by car and use their car versus visitors who may arrive by a variety of other means and not necessarily have a need for car parking or use cars to move in and out of the resort.

Although the owners of Viridian Residences have not been able to undertake a study to verify this assumption, nevertheless we do have a concern that such a change in use will result in increased vehicular traffic along Little Hasting Street into Morwong Drive, creating additional potential traffic noise and disruption.

The issue of access for resort users (as designated in the current DA) has been a matter of ongoing discussion between the Resort Managers and Viridian Residence’s Body Corporate and this change has the potential to compound what is already a complex problem.  Our preference is for this not to be exacerbated. Indeed it is a high priority for the Body Corporate for Viridian Noosa Residences to have the vehicular and pedestrian traffic movements on the whole site reassessed in light of the completion, occupation and operation of the Resort.

Until such times as the applicant can demonstrate to our satisfaction that there will be no additional traffic impact or no major additional car usage, we would request that the application be denied.

SUMMARY:

In summary, the Body Corporate for Viridian Noosa Residences, representing the owners of the 23 Viridian Villas object to the material change of use for 38 specified dwelling units in Viridian Resort and Spa to become Multiple Housing – Type 4 Conventional, thus permitting semi permanent and permanent occupancy of those 38 specified dwellings.

The grounds for our objections are three fold.  We argue that the current mix of visitor and resident occupancy in the original proposal is consistent with the vision of the Noosa Plan and protective of this vision.  We further argue that there are potential negative economic impacts of approving such a change , not only on the value of our dwellings, but more widely in setting a dangerous precedent that could affect the local tourism Industry.  Finally, we are concerned that the changes will result in increased vehicular traffic, which will compound an already difficult set of vehicular access issues via Morwong Drive.

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SUBMISSION TO SUNSHINE COAST REGIONAL COUNCIL	1

[word/footnotes.xml]
The Noosa Plan (Including amendments up to May 2009), p 16
 This advice was provided by the Estate Agent who was originally involved in the marketing of the Viridian Residences.

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The BODY CORPORATE FOR VIRIDIAN RESIDENCES CTS 34034
c/- [email protected]