Attachment 7- Economic Impact Statement

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3.5 Noosa Shire   The Noosa Shire Retail Plan was prepared by Location IQ in February 2018 on behalf of
Retail Plan       Noosa Shire Council to provide an independent assessment of the recommended
                  appropriate provision of retail floorspace throughout Noosa Shire over the period until
                  2041.

                  The report was commissioned following refusal of a previous planned expansion at
                  Noosa Civic within what is now called the VMU precinct by a decision of the Planning &
                  Environment Court delivered on 16 December 2016. That proposal was for a retail
                  floorspace expansion of +22,230 sqm, which was found to be excessive (among other
                  reasons for refusal). It is noted that the Court favoured economic evidence that was led
                  on behalf of Noosa Shire, that a smaller development of up to around 15,000-16,000 sqm
                  of retail floorspace would be more appropriate.
                  The Location IQ report examines retail development opportunity within Noosa Shire and
                  includes the following components and analysis:
                  1.   An overview of the region including the planning scheme applicable at the time
                       (Noosa Plan 2006).
                  2.   A review of retail industry trends and structural changes underway.
                  3.   Catchment area analysis, comprising:
                       a. Identification of a relevant geographic region served by retail facilities within
                           Noosa Shire, which was considered to generally comprise Noosa Shire and
                           extend south to Maroochy River ; and
                       b. Examination of population trends and expenditure patterns within the catchment,
                           and consideration of the size of the tourism component.
                  4.   Description of the existing retail floorspace provision within the region and
                       examination of the extent to which people direct their purchases outside the region.
                  5.   Analysis of future retail floorspace potential for both traditional (shopfront) retailing
                       and for large format (LFR) type development, as well as for other types of uses such
                       as cinemas and entertainment, based on supportable provision rate analysis.

                  This is an appropriate method by which to examine need for retail floorspace, and has
                  been adopted (with some modification) as the basis for the need assessment presented in
                  Chapter 5 of this report.
                  Using the above approach, the Noosa Shire Retail Plan provides support for the following
                  development outcomes:
                  •    Within NBC:
                       • An increase of up to 17,500 sqm of traditional retail by 2026 including a DDS, a
                          new full-line supermarket and possibly another smaller format supermarket, plus
                          other specialty retail
                       • Up to another 5,000 sqm of traditional retail by 2036
                       • Up to 10,000 sqm of large format retail (LFR) in the short-term (by 2021) with
                          another 10,000 sqm in increments by 2041
                       • Up to 10,000 sqm of entertainment uses such as cinemas, and other facilities
                          including trampoline park, rock climbing, and kids soft play
                       • The report makes the point that while expansion at Noosa Civic was “refused
                          because it represented ‘more of the same’ which might impact on other

                  Noosa Village Mixed Use Development – Economic Impact Statement for Development Application   Deep End Services