2019-07-09 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                         9 JULY 2019


environmental values, the rural amenity and the agricultural productivity of the land. The location
of the proposed development with respect to convenience, accessibility and servicing is consistent
with other rural residential subdivisions.
It is also considered that the proposal is not consistent with Specific Outcome 16 of the Tewantin
and Doonan Locality Code which requires that:
There are no significant adverse effects on biodiversity, native vegetation, native fauna habitat,
landscaped quality, water quality or cultural heritage values, including those related to—
      a) changes to natural drainage;
      …..
      c) management of fire risk;
      d) erosion and the transport of sediments off site;
      e) unmanaged public access;
      f)    effluent disposal;
      g) changes to fauna habitat and behaviour; and
      h) disturbance of buildings and features, including natural features of cultural heritage
         significance
The development, if approved in its current form, will give rise to clearing of protected vegetation
for development in a rural zone.
The originally approved development results in dedication of open space. However, protection of
the sites ecological values are not reliant on the approvals requirement to dedicate open space as
the Biodiversity Overlay (Riparian Buffer and Environmental Protection Area) now applies to the
site.
The Planning Act 2016 and the Planning Regulations 2017 have come in to effect since the original
approval. The site is identified as being in a koala assessable development area and containing
bushland habitat. Provisions at Schedule 11 of the Planning Regulations 2017 require that
premises outside of the Urban Footprint do not remove non-juvenile koala habitat trees in areas
defined as bushland habitat and not designated for urban purposes.
The approved layout requires the removal of non-juvenile koala habitat trees in bushland habitat
in an area outside the urban footprint (refer lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13). In order to comply with
this provision these lots would require amendment.
The Riparian Buffer is located within a section of the site and some of the proposed lots are located
in this area. The establishment of new lots within the Riparian Buffer is not supported by the Noosa
Plan.
A considerable time has lapsed since the date of the ecological assessment reports, some of which
are more than a decade old. Therefore, the currency of the data has expired and cannot be relied
upon.
Bushfire
The current State Planning Provisions came into effect after the original approval. The current
bushfire hazard mapping assesses bushfire hazard differently to the previous bushfire mapping
used in the original assessment. When assessing the original application, the hazard assessment
concluded that areas of the site had medium bushfire hazard rating. The current mapping system
identifies that the site contains significant areas which are mapped as having high potential bushfire
intensity. As a result of the changes, setback/buffer areas may require an amended subdivision
layout. An updated bushfire management plan has not been provided with this application.




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