PM Submission - John Cochrane - MCU21/0110

“Adamson Town Planning, specialising in providing higher order town planning advice”



              •    the Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay Code;
              •    the Bushfire Hazard Overlay Code; and
              •    the Landslide Hazard Area Code.

         These codes are addressed below, along with the advice provided by other experts about the
         impacts on ecology and the risk from bushfire.

         Landslide Hazard Overlay Code

         The subject land is partly affected by the Landslip Overlay Mapping, containing a Moderate
         Hazard Area over the developable part of the site (refer Table 1, above). It is suggested that if
         there is any concern about land instability, this is a matter that could be conditioned to require a
         geotechnical assessment to be completed prior to the issue of a development permit for
         operational works, as acknowledged in the Engineer Report prepared by Walsh Engineering (refer
         Appendix D). The Engineering Report has also addressed the performance outcomes from the
         Landslide Hazard Overlay Code (refer Table 3 in Appendix E). The site has a moderate landslide
         risk and compliance with the Landslide Hazard Overlay Code can be achieved by the imposition
         of reasonable conditions.

         Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay Code

         Under the Noosa Plan 2020, the subject site is partly mapped as having environmental value,
         including being identified as an “Area of Biodiversity Significance” (green shading – refer Table 1,
         above). These include areas in the north and along the eastern boundary. The patch in the very
         north is mapped as “MSES Environmental Values” (stippling), which denotes the State koala
         habitat area/remnant vegetation).

         The applicant has engaged Gondwana Ecology to prepare a Terrestrial Ecology Assessment (TEA)
         which is provided in Appendix B. Gondwana Ecology has advised the vegetation and individual
         trees generally along the northern and eastern boundary will be retained. The proposed
         development has the potential to result in some direct and indirect impacts. The direct impacts
         relate to the loss of individual trees, vegetation, and fauna habitat, while indirect impacts include
         edge effects including weed invasion, fragmentation, etc., which compromise of fauna movement
         opportunities5.

         With respect to loss of individual trees, this includes some Non-Juvenile Koala Habitat Trees
         (NJKHTs) as shown in the tree survey (below) as taken from the Terrestrial Ecology Assessment
         Report (Appendix B):

         Summary of tree survey and proposed retention within the potential Koala Habitat Area (KHA):

                                                         Total                  Remove
          Tree Surveyed                                  96 (85 in KHA)         50
          NJKHTs                                         44 (41 in KHA)         19


         5 Terrestrial Ecology Report, part 4, page 16




         Noosa Springs Boutique Hotel – GH Australia Pty Ltd                               Page 42