Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan 2023 Update - Noosa Council Submission

Good afternoon everyone. I declare this Special Meeting open. I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting in traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi people, and I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and I hope that all councils remain in attendance and that Wilkie and Finzel have requested to attend via Microsoft Teams. I will move the motion to allow the councils to attend via zoom. They'll have a second, please. Thank you, Councillor Wegener. I won't speak to this. All in favour? Carried unanimously. I welcome the Councillors, Wilkie and Finzel. Today's meeting. Thank you. May. Today's Special Meeting is to consider draft South East Queensland Regional Plan 2023 update, Council submissions. We have Kim Rawlings, our Director of Environment Strategy here, and Rowena Skinner, our principal strategic planner, to present the report. Rowena, Kim, could we get an update on the report, please?

I'm going to move to staff recommendation. I'll be at your second. - The report before us outlines the draft ShapingSEQ 2023 update, which has been in community consultation from the 20th of August 2023, September 2023. Specifically, today's meeting relates Noosa Council's submission to the State government. The draft update is underpinned by a new population projection model which projects South East Queensland to be home to nearly six million people by 2046. Consequently, revised population and dwelling targets are assigned for each local government area. Key concerns which are raised. Council the submission to the State government in regard to the draft regional plan include: the short-term allocated population growth is not realistic and cannot be supported by either rapid delivery of housing or infrastructure. The assumptions of population modelling do not take into account nuances of each local government area and how many people. A place can support. Population and housing targets are exclusive of tourist and accommodation. Significantly, there is no state-funded infrastructure proposed to support requested growth. Language in the plan can be. Misleading and confusing, leading to genuine fears around buildings up to eight storeys in height. The iconic values of Noosa Shire once protected through legislation are at risk of being diminished, I.e. low-set buildings, absence of substantial areas of open space. Lack of recognition of the considerable work undertaken to date by Council preparing and endorsing a housing needs assessment, Housing Strategy and associated planning scheme amendments. Lack of transport infrastructure. That genuinely supports locals and residents. Similarly, residents have provided over 200 written submissions, as well as 150 residents who attended face-to consultations. There are five themes of the draft South East Queensland Regional Plan, which include: grow, prosper, connect, sustain and live, as Rowena has alluded to. With an additional 19,100 people, Noosa has been assigned the second lowest growth figure in SEQ, but as a percentage increase, Noosa has received the second highest proportional increase in the region of South East Queensland. The draft plan specifically requires greater housing diversity. Increase in attached low-rise dwellings, one to three storeys, and an increase, although less, in attached medium-rise apartments, four to eight storeys. There is absolutely no support in Noosa planning scheme for anything over four storeys, nor does it reflect the community sentiment received to date. Indeed, low-density and medium-density residential are typically limited to a two storey height maximum. The little expansion of the urban footprint across SEQ, which is proposed, is a welcome step. In regard to social and affordable housing, target of a 20 per cent. By this independent modelling. Prosper. There are relatively few changes. The concern is where are all the thousands of new people. We are supposed to accommodate going to find employment, opportunity, business or innovation? Connect. There's is positive talk around sustainable transport hierarchy, but new and improved infrastructure needs to be retrofitted in existing road reserves and corridors. The plan refers to proposed extensions of high-frequency public transport connections from Noosa to Maroochydore and beyond. This ignores any connection to noosa's major regional activity centre and future transit hub. And similarly, although the plan refers to the Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade, there is no commitment of track duplication or noticeable improvements north of Beerwah. Makes positive statements around sustainability where the details are lacking in terms of how strategies will be enacted, and who and will and when will they take responsibility for actions. Noosa Junction and Peregian beach village have been existing Hastings Street and macon street, Cooroy, as SEQ Great Places to live. The Gympie Terrace and Pomona are also addressed in the outcomes for live. There are no specific details as to the implications of being a listed great place. Placemaking is promoted places in rural towns and Noosa Council is already undertaking work in this space with our first placemaking project, pilot project in Pomona. Specifically, concerns as outlined on page 14 of the agenda state. In general, there is a lack of acknowledgement of the substantial and strategic work Noosa Council has been doing for the last five years in seeking to improve housing choice and affordability, including completing comprehensive housing needs analysis, monitoring the impact of short-term accommodation on permanent housing, adopting a Housing Strategy, preparing planning scheme amendments, and moreover, a lack of acknowledgement of the iconic values that set Noosa Shire apart from other more densely settled parts of South East Queensland. I want to thank, and lastly, similarly on page 17 of the agenda, which is very important, there is the expectation that by 2026, which is only three years away, our population will be 11,200 persons higher in the 2021 figure, which would rely on an average annual increase over 3.9% which has not been experienced by Noosa since the 90s and since the 90s Noosa has been experiencing just over a 1% growth rate since that time. So that's very significant and that clearly is not sustainable for us as a small Shire. I want to thank the planning staff for their diligence, their expertise and their advocacy in regard to this paper and their submission. I think it's a terrific submission. I think it outlines the concerns that have been raised, the concerns of and I think it's one that the State really needs to heed and take direction from. So thank you.

Well, the process that's been undertaken is the correct process. Thank you. So there's no. This is absolutely the correct process. It's been a state government-led process. The draft South East Queensland Regional Plan is a state government document. They ran the public consultation process. So, submissions have been made directly to the State government. That's the correct process. When we've been asked by the public how to have an input, we've directed them to the State government to the process. Absolutely correct process. The State are now reviewing those submissions and anything of relevance to Noosa, they're coming back to us saying. We've received these submissions, Noosa Council, what do you think about these issues? So from our perspective, that process is absolutely the right process.

Karen Finzel28:56

And I would like to raise. Oh, sorry. You go, Councillor Finzel. Thank you. I'd like to raise an additional amendment. Yeah. I'm seeking an additional recommendation following the submission process to the South East Queensland Regional Plan for Council to consider any submission made regarding extension to the urban boundary from landowners and provide its position on these back to the State government. The reason I raise this additional recommendation-- hang on, can you tell me how to be seconded?

Karen Finzel33:46

Yes, thank you Councillor Joe. Yes, it is to just show transparency and show the due process given that yes Council has a position but it's to be transparent and provide good governance back to community um members that put in a submission. Um into the South East Queensland draft plan and as the staff member just alluded to that state will be approaching Council in relation to the matters with those submissions that were made.

I think it's all being said. Again, I want to thank staff for Kim and rowena's great submission. I think this Noosa Council submission says two things. The draft South East Queensland plan is not acceptable to Noosa and we're not negotiable. What is in there, we will not negotiate on, as has been reiterated around the table time and again. The values that have been fought for so long to keep Noosa the way it is to put our environment first, to put our people first, to put our residents, community. Our amenity. It's not negotiable and we'll continue to fight if we have to on that. But this submission says very firmly and strongly, states our position. It's a position that is, as Councillor Wilkie said, we're united on and it. We're united and we stand with our community on it. So thank you again for your staff. I will put the recommendation to a vote. All in favour? That is unanimous. Councillor Finzel, thank you. I can see your hand. Thank you very much. You, Kim. You, Rowena. That brings us to the end of the meeting. It is 1:42. Thank you very much. Thanks, everyone. Holiday, Fran. See you. Bye, Karen.

Unfortunate in that it leaves the door open to sort of fears of three stories development in the low density residential zone through its ambiguity however it can't in itself change the height limit that's allowed in Noosa at the moment. It does mean that any planning scheme amendments we do in the future obviously when we do a state interest review and they are cross-checking our proposed amendments against state interests including the South East Queensland Regional Plan they will ask us the question as to whether we should be looking at three-storey height limits within that zone. Noosa, Tewantin,

Yes, Council. This report basically outlines the drive to secure regional plan. The update, the 2023 update that the State released in August this year, it's been through community consultation from that stage up until the 20th of September where, um, the State government presented the draft as an update to the 2017 shaping SEQ plan, um, specifically. Not a new plan but an update to the existing one and based around the same five themes that the current one is, um, which is grow, prosper, connect, sustain and live. It does however revise some of the aspirations and actions within each of these themes. One of the primary drivers underpinning the 2023 update of ShapingSEQ is to ensure that the land and housing supply settings are responsive to current growth and the process is in place to accelerate delivery of more housing. The draft update is underpinned by a new population projection model which projects SEQ to be home to nearly 6 million people by 2046. Accordingly, revised population forecasts have been assigned to each local government area in the South East Queensland region and therefore new dwelling targets as well. There's now an emphasis on consolidation or infill rather than expansion or greenfield development. Make sure and of also central to the plan is housing diversity and housing affordability within each type of development. So this report brings forward details on that 2023 update with the recommendation that Council make a submission before the 9th of October which is the deadline for local governments to make their submission.