DEPUTATION - Planning Scheme Amendments Relating to Delorme St, Noosa Heads Applicant - Suzie McDonald Speakers - Suzie McDonald

Thank you for allowing me to speak today about the Delorme Street petition which was presented on our behalf by Councillor Lorentson at the Ordinary Meeting on July 18th, 2024. The opinions expressed today are my own. This is a deeply personal matter, not only for the community and our street, but also for the hundreds of residents who I have spoken to across the community over the past five weeks, who have supported and shared with me the same. They have in relation to their streets. The reason we submitted this petition was to say to Council that you can't just identify a street on the map that meets your objectives and with the stroke of a pen, our rights and our futures and our kids' futures. Is. Sorry. With the stroke of a pen changes our rights and our futures and our kids' futures. Proposed Amendment No. 2 to the Noosa Plan 2020 threatens not only our rights as landholders but also the very fabrics of our communities by making a single dwelling house or a duplex inconsistent in medium and high density residential zones. I want to be very clear the issues we have raised concern the diminution of rights, appropriate planning, maintaining socially cohesive fabrics within our communities, lack of community consultation and unknown economic consequences. The issues we have raised are not about affordable housing. We all recognise the importance of those issues and we commend Council and acknowledge your efforts towards finding solutions. Our concerns are certainly not to dismiss this vital work, rather to foster collaborations between Council and residents. If you know Delorme Street or have had the pleasure of meeting any of the residents, you would know we are a street of hard-working Australians, full of ordinary, down-to-earth people. Our beloved street has its own identity, one defined by safety, security and a strong sense of community, and one that we cherish and wish to preserve. We are not simply a collection. Of old houses on good-sized blocks which are ripe for renovation, to quote what I was told by the planning department. We are simply a tight-knit community, a mix of business owners, children and retirees, with deep roots and shared values, who are deeply concerned for our futures. Decades our street has been characterised by single dwelling homes with no holiday rentals or units until Council planning changed us to medium density when it rolled out the Noosa Plan 2020 in the middle of a pandemic when our focus was on survival, remote work and navigating overwhelming amounts of information and misinformation. With fear, social isolation, education disruption, difficulty accessing essentials, financial stress and emotional well-being, as well as being separated from our loved ones, is there any wonder the Noosa Plan 2020 went through with seemingly little objection? In my recent submission. I personally invited all the Councillors to our street to meet with the affected residents and listen to what we genuinely have to say and understand our real issue, which is potentially losing our fundamental rights to do what we want on our own land. Today, Councillor Lorentson is the only Councillor who has taken me up on that invitation and actually doorknocked our street. I learned from the planning department in a recent meeting that they identified Delorme Street to be changed to a medium density zone under the Noosa Plan 2020 because they looked at old houses which were on good-sized blocks which were ripe for renovation. I can't help but us? We only have 13 blocks over 600 square metres yet there are so many other streets directly around us, also easy walking distance to Noosa Junction, some with 25 to 50 blocks of land over meet 600 square metres in a single street that also. Meets lanning's objectives, yet those streets remain to this day low density residential. This inconsistency raises serious questions about fairness in the decision making process. Coincidentally joined the Noosa Chamber of commerce just days before their monthly meeting on the 25th of June during which Russell Green and Ralph Rogers raised these proposed amendments. This was the first time I had heard about them. This information should not have been a coincidence. It should've been communicated directly to every single resident of the Noosa Shire. To date, I have only spoken to one resident who told me he received from the Council about the proposed amendments. However, that letter did not mention any changes within the medium density zone, which is the information he needed regarding his property, which is in a medium density zone. I have spoken to hundreds of I people who did not receive a letter, and yet under the Minister's Guidelines and Rules, the State of Queensland, the department of housing, local government, planning and public works, July 2024 document, it says. Addition to the public notice requirements prescribed in the notice about the process given by the chief executive under section 18A or B of the act, or in part 4 of chapter 2, the local government must give notice to every property owner affected by the proposed planning change. Housing solutions were discussed by a Councillor during the election campaign who responded to the question about population growth by saying we can accommodate population growth in the current town planning settings because of changes to state government legislation around secondary dwellings. However, it's curious that the proposed amendments initiated in January 2023 and now viewed by Council as a solution to the housing crisis were not mentioned in that interview. Council fact sheet number three states that the medium density residential zone is for medium density development I.e. dual occupancies and multiple dwellings and zones development for a single dwelling house is inefficient and unsustainable. I take this opportunity to remind you that I have raised my three children in my home spent years working for local businesses and in recent years running my own business contributing to the local economy by shopping here putting my children through local dining in the local restaurants supporting the local sports clubs paying rates to Noosa Council for 23 years now my children their partners and my five grandchildren get to come home on weekends and holidays to enjoy what they still call their family home so I certainly don't call myself single dwelling house inefficient or unsustainable you cannot stop changing their lives and there are hundreds of scenarios I suggest Council hasn't even begun to consider where these proposed amendments may significantly and financially impact people one of which I raised in. Recent meetings was if a house burns down and a growing family needs to increase the scale and intensity of their home would they be able to do that under existing use rights or would it trigger a multiple change of use which could potentially risk their application being declined what would happen to the residents then I urge the Council this the to people who with our sit at this table, situation and grasp the gravity of this table to empathise with our what's at stake for many residents are confused and concerned the proposed amendments and instilled fear and uncertainty in us all this is why residents are seeking greater transparency and meaningful consultation and engagement with the Council these issues are not just about property they are about people in our futures I stand here today not only to represent the support I have received from the community on our street but also the support I have received from the hundreds of residents I've spoken to or engaged with over the past five weeks and the hundreds of people who have signed out online petitions. Those petitions were started because my neighbour and I recognised that many others just like us were unaware of these proposed amendments. We believe this would be the quickest way to raise awareness within the wider community. Those petitions have gathered 950 signatures in three weeks, which clearly shows, despite limited exposure, many people have taken the opportunity to oppose these amendments. Imagine how many more residents might have voiced their objections to the increased community consultation. We would have given them more to learn, reflect, understand and provide their feedback. The State of Queensland department of state development infrastructure local government planning December 2020 community engagement toolkit for planning emphasises the importance of community engagement which involves involving people in the decisions that affect them. It highlights key. Elements of accessibility, timing and transparency, noting that engaging communities early in the policy or project life cycle can lead to better outcomes by allowing for diverse community input and understanding of trade-offs. Additionally, the toolkit references. A 2015 framework by consult Australia and IAP2 Australasia, the international association for public participation, that quantifies the value of stakeholder engagement in infrastructure projects. The six core principles outlined in community engagement tool kit for planning are: engagement focuses on the best outcome of the community, engagement is open, honest and meaningful, approaches to engagement are inclusive and appropriate, information is timely and relevant, information is accurate, easy to understand and accessible, decision making is transparent. Councillors, the economic consequences of these proposed amendments must be understood and quantified before these regulations are submitted to the State government for consideration. Urge you to consider these principles and the following points. There needs to be an independent economic analysis of the impacts of all the proposed amendments to ensure no harm is done to the economy, including a full economic assessment of proposed amendments. 1 to 12. Ensure all proposed amendments consider and support the development plans, including the endorsed economic development plan, the endorsed Housing Strategy and the outcomes adhere to the principles of the Council-endorsed small business charter. Reject proposed Amendment No. 2 to the Noosa plan 2020 and determine what will work in reality and what will not. Engage with our communities before making final decisions so you can better understand the day-to experiences of people in communities. Take adequate time to consult with all stakeholders across the Noosa Shire. This process does not have to be rushed. Allow sufficient time for the community to consider information and then make a meaningful contribution to the plan making or development assessment process. Facilitate open forums communities and community spaces and facilitate open, clear, easy to understand dialogue with residents to inform the public of the potential impacts. Make sure the approach to engagement is inclusive and appropriate and engagement is open, honest and meaningful. Fairly published and easy to understand language assessments detailing what outcomes these amendments will achieve as the public have the right to know. Encourage the community to be involved in discussing planning and development issues that affect their lives, making sure to seek out diverse voices and perspectives. Closing, it is my belief that the residents of Delorme Street want to retain our rights to build a single dwelling house or duplex on our own land, as do many of the residents I have spoken with in the medium and high density areas across the Noosa Shire. We want the status quo to remain. I urge Council to reconsider the implications of Amendment No. 2 and to engage with the residents transparently and collaboratively. There are some incredible minds across the Noosa Shire, so let us work together to protect the essence of our communities and ensure that our future is. Determined by the voices of those who truly call this place home. Thank you for your time and your consideration.