Attachment 2 - Noosaville Med EIA Review · MCU15/0122

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A representative from UE undertook site inspections in July, 2015 (page 9). At that time, only
one premise of approximately 130m² was vacant in the Noosaville Medical and Professional
Centre (page 28).
Adamson Town Planning, which is acting on behalf of Noosaville Medical and Professional
Centre, advises us that:
   •   there is currently about 350m2 of floorspace available within the centre; and
   •   there is potential availability of an additional 720m2 of floorspace in the centre.


Forecast Demand
The UE report forecasts that between 2015 and 2031, the catchment area population will grow
by a relatively modest 0.8% (463 persons) per annum (pages 17-18).
The UE report says that there are three main sources of medical services demand in the trade
area:
   •   General Practitioners: UE concludes that the current supply of GPs in the trade area
       is appropriate, and forecasts need for an additional seven GPs serving trade area
       residents between 2016 and 2031 (page 24). As general practitioners are typically in
       locations that are convenient to the residents they serve, we conclude that demand for
       additional GPs will be in locations of significant population growth, and not in the area
       of the subject site, which is forecast to experience minimal growth over the next 15
       years.
   •   Specialists: The UE report concludes that there is a current (2016) shortfall of 47 full
       time equivalent (FTE) specialist practitioners in the trade area, and there will be
       demand for an additional 10 FTE specialists to serve the trade area by 2031. In our
       opinion, the current “shortfall” indicated by UE is mainly because many of the
       specialists serving trade area residents cater to a much larger regional market such as
       the Sunshine Coast or Brisbane and consequently they are located in larger centres
       outside of the local area.
       Moreover, those specialists who are located in the trade area have a choice of
       potential locations. Accordingly, we conclude that the demand for floorspace in the
       subject development by specialist practitioners would be substantially less than
       suggested in the UE report.
   •   Radiology: We understand that to facilitate its expansion, Noosa Radiology seeks to
       relocate from its existing 700m² premise in the Noosaville Medical and Professional
       Centre to an approximate 1,000m² premise in the proposed centre at 52-58 Goodchap
       Street. Securing an additional 300m² of contiguous floorspace appears to be a primary
       reason for the subject proposal. At the time of inspection by UE in mid-2015 there was
       insufficient additional space available in the centre in which Noosa Radiology is
       currently located. As there now appears to be sufficient available space in the existing
       centre, there is no longer need for a new development to meet the expansion
       requirements of Noosa Radiology. In any event, expansion of Noosa Radiology by
       some 300m² within the existing centre would clearly be a more practical alternative to a
       new out-of-centre development.
For the reasons noted above, we conclude that while the UE report identifies demand for GP
and specialist practitioners for trade area residents generally, it does not identify the extent of
need for additional medical services floorspace in the vicinity of Noosa Hospital. With regard
to radiology services, there is now sufficient available floorspace to accommodate the
expansion of Noosa Radiology at its existing location.


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Summary
We conclude that there is not a need for the proposed medical centre, for the following
reasons:
   1. The identified need for the proposal is based in part on an assessment one year ago
      (in July, 2015), which found that there was insufficient floorspace in the existing
      Noosaville Medical and Professional Centre to accommodate a 300m2 expansion of
      Noosa Radiology. Since that assessment was conducted, sufficient additional
      floorspace has become available in the existing centre to accommodate the expansion
      of Noosa Radiology.
   2. Other than Noosa Radiology, the Economic Needs Analysis by Urban Economics has
      not identified any specific medical practitioners that are seeking additional floorspace
      in the vicinity of Noosa Hospital.
   3. While over the next 15 years there will modest growth in demand for medical services
      in the trade area generally, there is no demonstrated need for additional GP and
      specialist medical services in the vicinity of Noosa Hospital, which already hosts a
      variety of specialist medical services.
Please contact the undersigned if we can be of further assistance in this matter.


Yours sincerely,




Geoff Coghlin
Director




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