Planning & Environment Committee Agenda - 11 March 2025
Date: Tuesday, 11 March 2025 at 9:30AM
Location: Noosa Shire Council Chambers , 9 Pelican Street , Tewantin , QLD 4565 , Australia
Organiser: Noosa Shire Council
Duration: 01:09:26
Synopsis: LGIP amendment endorsed, Climate resilience embedded, Charges cap leaves gap, Housing monitoring approved, Affordable housing expanded, STA cleanup, Stormwater reset, Performance reporting.
Meeting Attendees
Committee Members
Amelia Lorentson Brian Stockwell Tom Wegener Frank Wilkie
Non-Committee Members
Karen Finzel Jessica Phillips
Executive Officers
Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Strategy And Environment Kim Rawlings Director Development & Regulation Richard MacGillivray
AI-Generated Meeting Insight
Key Decisions & Discussions Amelia Lorentson opened and chaired; meeting confirmed Feb minutes; all items carried unanimously, including LGIP 5‑year review and Housing Strategy monitoring program (00:00; Minutes 4, 7.1, 7.2). LGIP 5‑Year Review endorsed to proceed as a formal planning scheme amendment under the Planning Act 2016 and Minister’s Guidelines and Rules, with CEO delegated to progress; state interest review and public notification flagged (02:48–04:06; Minutes 7.1). Anita advised LGIP amendment will embed updated planning assumptions, review Desired Standards of Service, and hard‑wire climate resilience across networks; draft targeted by year‑end (04:17–05:34; 14:33; Minutes 7.1). Brian Stockwell probed Olympics‑related training facilities; officer view indicates such district/shire‑wide sports infrastructure can qualify as trunk if within hierarchy (04:41–05:34; Minutes 7.1). Funding reality : Infrastructure charges capped by State cover ~10% of true trunk costs; balance must come from grants or general rates (05:55–06:55; Minutes 7.1). LGIP scope clarified: trunk includes shire/district parks, higher‑order roads/paths/bus stops, large‑catchment stormwater (≥650mm pipes), land for community facilities; Unitywater separately handles water/sewer (07:08–08:12; 15:32–15:56; Minutes 7.1). Stormwater policy discussion signalled potential policy reset to address river and inland diffuse impacts; current trunk threshold is 650mm (15:32–15:56; Minutes 7.1). Trails : Recreation trails generally not trunk; pathways/cycle network may be, with some works via grants or developer offsets (16:16–16:54; Minutes 7.1). Risk if no accurate LGIP : under‑standard or ad hoc infrastructure delivery; legislative duty to review every five years reiterated (17:16–18:31; Minutes 7.1). Housing Strategy Update endorsed a biennial monitoring program; noted staffing (Housing Partnerships Officer), grant pursuits, scheme amendments post‑consultation, and ID.com data subscription (20:56–23:09; Minutes 7.2). Planning Applications : 22 decided by delegation in January (quiet month); DA staffing improving with key hires (01:02:26–01:07:51; Minutes 8.1). Performance tracking : Council to consider annual or six‑monthly reporting aligning approvals with actual building completions, noting many houses/secondary dwellings are accepted development (01:03:12–01:05:41; Minutes 8.1). Contentious / Transparency Matters Amelia Lorentson raised fiscal sustainability concerns: with capped developer charges, Council may face rate/grant dependence to fund LGIP; linked to advocacy with State/Federal (06:55–09:09; Minutes 7.1). Community pushback on small‑dwelling incentives noted as a drag on delivery of diverse stock despite scheme levers (35:47–37:32; Minutes 7.2). STA numbers : Council revalidated suspected STA list; some ceased, some mis‑rated; about 1,200 exempt from registration remain; refined figures to be released (42:38–46:19; Minutes 7.2). Data clarity : Distinction emphasized between dwelling approvals vs building permits/completions; industry capacity and costs delaying delivery (50:13–51:53; Minutes 7.2, 8.1). Vacancy signals : Census shows ~18% unoccupied dwellings but requires unpacking; targeted owner outreach previously returned ~120 homes to long‑term rental (48:35–50:13; Minutes 7.2). Legal / Risk Statutory compliance : LGIP amendment to follow Planning Act 2016 and Minister’s Guidelines and Rules, including external review, State interest review, and public notification—mitigating challenge risk (02:48–04:06; Minutes 7.1). Charges cap constraint : State‑capped infrastructure charges materially below actual trunk costs elevates fiscal risk and intergenerational equity issues; aligns with QLD charging framework limits (05:55–06:55; Minutes 7.1). Climate resilience : Embedding flood/erosion/heat risk into LGIP and costing upgrades reduces future asset failure and negligence exposure; integrates with Shire‑wide Flood Study and network reviews (10:21–12:14; Minutes 7.1). Assessment pathway : Affordable/community housing on Community Facilities land may still be impact assessable at larger scales; alternative State pathways possible when delivering institutional affordable housing (28:58–29:51; Minutes 7.2). Monitoring commitments : Biennial housing monitoring with cross‑checks to STA datasets and rental bonds supports defensible policy adjustments and avoids arbitrary decision‑making (20:56–23:09; 46:19–47:12; Minutes 7.2). Planning Scheme and Community Facilities Housing Frank Wilkie confirmed scheme amendments enable affordable/community housing on Community Facilities land (beyond retirement villages), responding to church/YIMBY initiatives and pending State model code (23:22–25:16; Minutes 7.2). Rowena Skinner detailed Noosa’s “affordable rental premises” definition: max 100m² GFA, rent ≤30% household income, managed by registered provider/Govt, minimum 20‑year commitment (29:51–33:05; Minutes 7.2). Pipeline examples : Potential for relocatable/manufactured units; local churches exploring 10‑unit scales; State purchase in Tewantin CBD for social/affordable housing noted (24:16–28:58; 01:00:09–01:01:55; Minutes 7.2). Delivery bottlenecks : Despite approvals, construction costs/labour scarcity impede completions; Council focusing on enabling role, not direct development (29:11–29:51; 50:30–51:53; Minutes 7.2). Short-Stay Accommodation and Existing Stock Utilisation Policy lever : Strategy prioritises shifting dated resort units and spare rooms/granny flats to long‑term rental; most effective short‑term affordability gain (40:13–42:38; Minutes 7.2). Enforcement/ratings : Cleanup of STA records corrected mis‑applied transitory rates and identified cessations; further figures forthcoming; ~1,200 properties legally exempt remain (42:38–46:19; Minutes 7.2). Market cycles : Officers acknowledge STA–long‑term rentals ebb/flow with economic conditions; monitoring to track transitions (52:02–52:57; Minutes 7.2). Environmental and Infrastructure Resilience Climate risk integration : Asset vulnerability assessments (flood, wind, heat, erosion) to inform trunk upgrades and costings; supports resilient standards of service (10:21–12:14; Minutes 7.1). Biodiversity mapping : Vegetation/biodiversity mapping recently updated and State‑approved; infill within serviced urban areas preferred over expansion, given multiple constraints (53:33–54:43; Minutes 7.2). Stormwater strategy : Discussion of tidal gates/litter controls suggests need to align LGIP trunk criteria with emerging catchment strategies to address diffuse impacts (15:32–16:14; Minutes 7.1). Workforce and Demographics Demographic risk : Rising 65+ and falling under‑35 cohorts flagged; Council emphasis on retaining key workers and families via product mix and price points (~$600k–$900k) (35:14–40:13; 58:08–01:00:09; Minutes 7.2). Delivery data : Building approvals and vacancy patterns vary by locality (e.g., higher rents/higher vacancy in Noosa Heads vs tight markets inland), reinforcing targeted interventions (47:12–48:08; Minutes 7.2).
Official Meeting Minutes
MINUTES Planning & Environment Committee Meeting Tuesday, 11 March 2025 9:30 AM Council Chambers, 9 Pelican Street, Tewantin Committee: Crs Amelia Lorentson (Chair), Brian Stockwell, Frank Wilkie, Tom Wegener “Noosa Shire – different by nature” PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 11 MARCH 2025 1. DECLARATION OF OPENING The meeting was declared open at 9.30am. 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY Noosa Council respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters of the Noosa area, the Kabi Kabi people, and pays respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. 3. ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Amelia Lorentson (Chair) Cr Brian Stockwell Cr Tom Wegener (via Microsoft Teams) Cr Frank Wilkie NON COMMITTEE MEMBERS Cr Karen Finzel (via Microsoft Teams) Cr Jessica Phillips (via Microsoft Teams) EXECUTIVE Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock Director Strategy and Environment Kim Rawlings Director Development & Regulation Richard MacGillivray APOLOGIES Nil 4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES Committee Resolution Moved: Cr Brian Stockwell Seconded: Cr Frank Wilkie The Minutes of the Planning & Environment Committee Meeting held on 11 February 2025 be received and confirmed. Carried unanimously. 5. PRESENTATIONS Nil. 6. DEPUTATIONS Nil. 7. REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 11 MARCH 2025 7.1. LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN - 5 YEAR REVIEW Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Frank Wilkie Seconded: Cr Brian Stockwell That Council A. Note the report by the Principal Strategic Planner to the Planning and Environment Committee dated 11 March 2025 regarding the Local Government Infrastructure Plan 5 Year Review; and B. Based on the review of the Local Government Infrastructure Plan, amend the Local Government Infrastructure Plan in accordance with the Planning Act 2016 and the Minister's Guidelines and Rules; and C. Delegate authority to the Chief Executive Officer to prepare and progress the proposed amendment of the Local Government Infrastructure Plan in accordance with the Planning Act 2016 and Minister's Guidelines and Rules. Carried unanimously. 7.2. NOOSA HOUSING STRATEGY - UPDATE Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Brian Stockwell Seconded: Cr Amelia Lorentson That Council A. Note the report by the Principal Strategic Planner to the Planning and Environment Committee dated 11 March 2025 regarding Noosa Housing Strategy actions and Housing Monitoring Program; and B. Approve the housing monitoring program set out in the report and provide a provide a Housing Monitoring Report back to Council. Carried unanimously. 8. REPORTS FOR NOTING BY THE COMMITTEE 8.1. PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED BY DELEGATED AUTHORITY - JANUARY 2025 Committee Recommendation Moved: Cr Tom Wegener Seconded: Cr Frank Wilkie That Council note the report by the Development Assessment Manager to the Planning and Environment Committee Meeting 11 March 2025 regarding applications that have been decided by delegated authority for January 2025 as per Attachment 1 to the Report. Carried unanimously. PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 11 MARCH 2025 9. CONFIDENTIAL SESSION Nil. 10. MEETING CLOSURE The meeting closed at 10.39am.
Meeting Transcript
Amelia Lorentson 00:00.000
To the Planning & Environment Committee Meeting. Today's the 11th of March and we're commencing at 9:30am. I'd like to begin by an Acknowledgement of Country. Noosa Council proudly acknowledges and respects Australia's First Nations people and their deep and abiding connection to this country. We pay respect to Kabi Kabi Elders who have come before us and we pay respect to current and emerging leaders and their enduring commitment in pursuing a strong and healthy future for First Nations people. Welcome Mayor Wilkie, Councillor Stockwell, CEO Larry and Kim and Anita and Rowena. Like to note that we have some Councillor observers online. Welcome Karen Finzel and welcome Tom I love this camera. Can I please request before the meeting commences that everyone have their phones switched off or on silent and I'd also like to remind councillors of their obligations under the council code of conduct to treat fellow councillors and council employees respectfully. I'll now go tom's a member of the committee. Oh, excuse me. Apologies. I'd like to note that Councillor Tom Wegener is not an observer. He's a member on the committee and I'd like to just note that he's attending online. Yes, I can capture thank you. So first now I'll go to confirmation of minutes. Can I have a mover and a seconder? Thank you. Brian, thank you Frank. All in favour? Carried unanimously. Now go to, there's no presentations, no deputations and we'll go to item 7, reports for consideration of the committee. We need to hear from Tom as well. Oh hello Tom, sorry you've got to be loud. Thank you Tom. You're in favour? No objections? Aye. Thank you Tom. We'll move to item 7, reports for consideration of the committee. Item 1 which is the local government infrastructure plan five-year review and again welcome Kim Rawlings, Anita. And Rowena and can I ask if we can just start with one of you giving us a summary or overview of the report that's in front of us.
Annina 02:48.028
I might just know that this report has been done by Glenn but he's away on leave so I'll present it for him. Thank you. Purpose of this report is to seek council's approval of starting the process to amend the local government infrastructure plan which is the LGIP. It forms part four of Noosa Plan 2020. We're required to undertake a review every five years of the LGIP. We've undertaken that review and we've noted that it does need an amendment to support the planning assumptions that council endorsed last year. As well we undertake a review of our desired standards of service to make sure they're more climate resilient and include climate change factors. We will undertake the amendment and we will bring that back to council, including-- we will have an external reviewer look at that and we'll bring that back following the preparation of the actual amendment. It will then go to the State for a state interest review and then it will go to public notification. So this report doesn't actually contain the amendments, it's just requesting council undertake-- council endorse us moving forward in undertaking the amendment process.
Amelia Lorentson 04:05.652
Thank you. Questions from the floor. Questions from you, Tom. Councillor Stockwell.
Brian Stockwell 04:11.732
Have we got a ballpark time horizon for when it's likely to be completed or presented back to us?
Annina 04:19.812
Over last 12 months we've been working across the organisation with all of the infrastructure areas to undertake additional background studies and undertake the review. So we're a fair way into the process. So, we're hoping that actually drafting the amendments and pulling it all together we can bring something back by the end of the year.
Brian Stockwell 04:45.572
Like I'm thinking in parts sporting facilities, is a, and it has to be trunk, so therefore Shire-wide or district scale sort of infrastructure, is it going to be feasible or acceptable to include infrastructure that might be preparation in terms of training facilities for the 2032 Olympics in this review?
Annina 05:13.296
I believe that would be considered trunk infrastructure, so yes. We're up sorry we are the team forward are undertaking a full review of all of our sports parks, sports facilities, as well as the recreation parks and redetermining the hierarchy as well in terms of what is a Shire-wide, what is district level as well.
Amelia Lorentson 05:37.960
In terms of cost, future cost of providing the infrastructure or trunk infrastructure how will the predicted population growth impact those costs and costs and where we're going to get the money from
Annina 05:54.028
So the population really is demand so you know what out is our growth an LGIP is 15 years so what is our growth projected over the next 15 years so that'll determine or inform the demand that we'll need for the infrastructure so once we know what infrastructure we need that will be costed and using a you know a proper costing method and that's included in the LGIP so those costings in terms of how it's funded developer contributions that the LGIP's main purpose is to seek developer contributions but we know that the developer contributions are capped by the State so it's fairly limited in terms of the real cost of infrastructure so the ballpark is, from what I understand, about 10% trunk infrastructure is funded through developer contributions the rest will need to be through other funding sources such as grants or general rates
Amelia Lorentson 06:52.832
So developer contributions where um where does that money sort of geared lead to social infrastructure or essential infrastructure is it different to trunk infrastructure?
Annina 07:08.272
So trunk infrastructure includes in terms of the social side of things only land for the land component for community facilities not the actual built infrastructure it includes trunk recreation parks which have a Shire-wide hierarchy so service the whole of the Shire and then a district level so they're both regarded as trunk not local parks so not your pocket parks and then trunk road networks and bus again the main arterial network of the road infrastructure including the footpaths and pathways and bus stops and then there's stormwater infrastructure as well again that has a large catchment size it's so it's the larger pipes and the larger bio-retention basins so it's not the local stuff that we would expect a developer to provide.
Amelia Lorentson 08:06.320
Water and sewage separately because that's you. Water? Yes, water and sewage is provided by Unitywater. Impacts on our sustainability issues, is that considered as part of the revised plan? Do we look at what does this mean in terms of asset management? Sustainability ratio, our financial ratios, et cetera?
Annina 08:29.804
Yeah, so broader sustainability, yep, we want to encapsulate that in the review and that's a key difference from the current one. Um, so, um, looking at the longevity of our infrastructure and also, um, the, um, climate resilience of our infrastructure. So we're, planning to, meet the future forecast. There's a financial model that, um, happens, um, in the back end of this as well. So we look at what, um, the value of all of assets our existing and then the value of the future assets. So, um, kind of that kind of comes to a big picture about of the value of our current and future assets.
Amelia Lorentson 09:10.369
So we're off to ALGA really soon, um, and the ALGA is actually putting in advocacy piece on trying to get more money from Federal and state for specifically these sorts of purposes. Um, I think where I'm sort of sitting is I'm just concerned we're going to get the money. Um, it's developer costs, you know, we can't increase them. I think these make sense that they're capped, especially when the next report we're looking at is housing affordability. Further costs that we burden developers, we're going to see an impact on, you know, affordability of the product they're going to be able to produce. Um, but yeah, so that's really my concern. Um, who's going to pay, what are the impacts, um, in terms of our sustainability ratios? Um, and what do we need to do on an advocacy level to advocate for more funds for local governments to maintain these assets? Questions or comments around
Frank Wilkie 10:13.660
The table? Yeah, thank you, Mai. Um, question probably goes to both, um, questions that have already been asked by Councillor Stockwell and Councillor Lorentson. In your report, you mentioned that as part of the amendment process, the following background studies. And investigations will inform the LGIP amendment and revised schedule of works. It's quite extensive. You've mentioned not only population and growth forecasts, asset vulnerability, climate risk assessment. That would be about. Ensuring that the future assets that we provide are more robust, to be able to withstand impacts of climate change?
Annina 10:50.560
So, that's an assessment of our current. Like, the trunk infrastructure, to test how they would stand up to a variety of climate change factors. So, whether it be flood, wind, heat, a number of factors and then that will give us an idea about which of our assets are most vulnerable and that we might need to upgrade and prioritise as well. Yeah, we're that's what assessing our current network at the moment.
Frank Wilkie 11:26.360
So given that an application may be made, the developer may be asked to make a contribution for the provision of other assets, those assets would be more costed more robust and able to withstand climate change.
Annina 11:42.400
That's right. So if it's identified that we need to upgrade or replace that to a higher standard, it will be fully costed and included in the plan. Yeah. Would it be mainly flood? Probably likely for our stormwater network, yes. And probably for of the built infrastructure as well, even roads. So yeah, that's probably one of the greater impacts. What could be erosion for certain road networks or other infrastructure as well. So all the factors are being put into a model to work that out.
Frank Wilkie 12:14.508
I notice you've also taken into consideration the Shire-wide flood study, integrated traffic and land use study, recreational parks review and classification. Noosa Leisure Centre needs assessment and options analysis that will take into account the expansion of facilities in Wallace Park precinct. Correct. Noosa Aquatic Centre needs assessment and facility upgrade plan which people are having input into currently. Stormwater network review, Noosa Regional Gallery investigations. Because depending on where that, the new gallery goes, it's going to generate a need for more robust parkways. It's the land component only so it, you know, once a site's the actual land component, whether it's purchase or preparation, can be included in the LGIP, not the facility itself. But it would be the trunk infrastructure feeding that? Yes, oh sorry, as well as all the networks around supporting it, yeah. Lens sedentary lands review pathways reviewed bus stops pathways review, bus review. What about the multi-court stadium that we're doing a business case for? Yes, that would be included as well. It's not an exhaustive list? No, it's not exhaustive. It was just an example of. So it's an indication that's a fair body of work you're about to undertake. How will you be resourcing the work and what's the time frame for delivering that body of work? I think that's what Councillor Lorentson and Stockwell were asking as well.
Annina 13:52.980
So we started this process about 12 months ago knowing there was a whole heap of work and updating of background studies to be done or commenced over that time so we're well advanced on a lot of these elements. So it's about together across the organisation so we facilitate that across the different networks so we've been working with the various offices to get these studies done and start to review the current LGIP and pull out what the future networks are going look like so as I said we're fairly well advanced and it's now about pulling that together and actually drafting which is a fairly big body of work in itself
Kim Rawlings 14:32.860
Yes for council's consideration by the end of the year
Brian Stockwell 14:35.820
Right
Amelia Lorentson 14:36.580
Thank you Councillor Stockwell just one that triggered my thinking is
Brian Stockwell 14:45.320
What is the criteria benchmark or a stormwater system to be considered trunk rather than local and I'm thinking feeding into the river is a whole lot of individual pipes but within our strategies and forward planning we're looking at a system of tidal gates and the draft the draft Noosa River Plan as a system of trying to keep plastic and in other rivers. Rubbish out which is diffuse, you know, trying to stop diffuse impacts. Do they trigger, you know, if we have this as a overarching strategy that we want to get all this, does that trigger that being trunked or are they all still considered because they're small pipes being local?
Annina 15:31.650
Yeah, so there is a pipe size. That determines whether it's trunk or not. I guess that's up to us whether we wanted to want to change that. I guess doing this exercise won't just look at trunk network and obviously we'll look at the whole network as well and what future upgrades might be needed to stuff that isn't trunk as well but the pipe for trunk is 650 mil.
Brian Stockwell 15:55.596
So I'm thinking that perhaps there is a discussion around
Annina 16:00.096
The policy approach to stormwater because it's a really significant issue
Amelia Lorentson 16:04.877
Not just on the river A but bit also of a bit of a in bit of a bit also the inland interlane. Blaine. Hi Tom, question please, thank you. Councillor Wegener, with the- Yeah.
Tom Wegener 16:19.242
Trail network, with those trails that we're building for walking and cycling, is that trunk infrastructure? Or if it's on. Council land? Not the trail network, not that recreation trail, but the pathway network and the cycle network, yes. Okay. Yeah, let's put it. It's growing up there, and it's, you know, it's valuable, but there's not a lot of how it's paid for. Are they?
Annina 16:54.313
Well, maybe through the development process that might build some of the network as an offset to their infrastructure charges. But I know we've got a lot of grants to actually construct that network. Is was that your question? Yeah.
Tom Wegener 17:12.984
Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 17:15.671
In terms of risk, you mentioned in the report there's a few risks. Can you elaborate the risk that financing for interest infrastructure falls below design standards and/or new infrastructure is delivered in an ad hoc, inefficient way? That's if we don't provide-- an accurate revise. We have to, under legislation, it's mandatory that we have to revise the legis every five years, is the risk if the update is not accurate.
Annina 18:00.580
Yeah, if we don't undertake the exercise and respond to changes in, like, future projections of growth infrastructure isn't planned to support that growth, then that's a risk to council that, you know, we'll have growth and we won't have the right network or we're then, without having a comprehensive plan across the organisation, doing. Ad-hoc works as they arise rather than having a planned approach.
Amelia Lorentson 18:29.959
Thank you. Any further questions? Councillor Finzel, if you have any questions? Yes,
Karen Finzel 18:39.739
Thank you Madam Chair. In regards to the attachment one in the report, there's a few questions in the list that have been in the checklist that have been marked no. How are the gaps to be addressed moving forward because in relation to the outdated DMAT information on that checklist?
Annina 19:10.428
So with regard to DMAT, you'll recall council endorsed the revised planning assumptions last year from Unitywater which we adopt for the purposes of our forward planning. So those changed projections will be incorporated into the plan and amended and our demand for future infrastructure will reflect that in what infrastructure. Identified. So there's a section in the LGIP that actually has all those population forecasts and demand calculations based on that so that'll all be amended based on the new projections.
Amelia Lorentson 19:50.348
Thank you. I'm happy to move it, Madam Chair. Thank you. Can I have a second? I'm Councillor Stockwell. Would you like to speak?
Frank Wilkie 19:59.167
Thank you, Madam Chair. Look, it's very important as work is done it's critical for capital works and asset planning. Thank you, I wish the team well. You've got a huge body of work ahead of you. I'm really pleased to hear you've already over the past year getting a head start on it. So well done and look forward to the final report.
Amelia Lorentson 20:18.225
Thank you. Any further comments? No? Thank you. For the and we're looking forward to the revised report coming back to council. Thank you very much. No further questions? All in favour? Supported unanimously. Thank you. Councillor Tom aye. You Tom. Them in sleep. We'll now go to item 7.2, Noosa Housing Strategy, and welcome to the desk, Rowena Skinner. Thank you, Rowena.
Rowena Skinner 20:58.219
Report basically is an update to the Housing Strategy that council adopted in December 2022. Council was unanimous in their prioritising a strategy to sort of assist with the housing crisis that NIST has been experiencing. As part of that Housing Strategy, one of the commitments was ongoing monitoring and updating on the situation. So this report provides an update on where council's at with all the actions within the strategy, and it also specifically looks at a monitoring program that will commence to sort of create a benchmark that can then be reported. Every two years going forward. Over the last year, council has appointed a housing partnerships officer who's advancing housing projects on council-owned land. He's working with not accommodation providers and government agencies with an interest in housing. He's been applying for grant funding and has been successful in some of that. The planning scheme amendments that were prepared went through. Community consultation were altered and then went back to the State for final sign-off and we've. Purchased a subscription to ID.com housing profile. Which gives us data driven information that we can complement with our own more regular monitoring as well. So all of that feeds into the monitoring process that we're. Suggesting going forward. This report's just looking for council endorsement of that monitoring program.
Amelia Lorentson 23:09.120
Thank you Rowena. I'll throw it to the floor. Questions, Councillor Wegener, Wilkie or Councillor Stockwell?
Frank Wilkie 23:19.950
I've got one. Yeah, thank you for the report. We're, Noosa Council's putting a lot of levers to play its part in the national housing availability and affordability shortage. We've got the planning scheme amendments which have been out for consultation with the State currently. One of the responses has been to do a change to what is capable of being delivered on community facilities land. Currently the zoning allows retirement villages but we've made a change to allow affordable housing and that was in response to requests as I understand correctly from church groups. Could you talk a bit about what churches are looking to provide on land that they own, zoned community facilities?
Rowena Skinner 24:15.784
Councillor since the last the previous government was approached by I guess a bunch of church groups that and as well as the Gympie association so Gympie is yes in my backyard association and these this group along with the churches are sort of trying to find areas where means of affordable housing, emergency housing, transitional housing, social housing can be can be constructed on land that's being underutilised by whether that's church groups or other groups that might have spare land within the community facilities zone that they're not needing for their own purpose. So we started reaching out under Claire Stewart, we started reaching out to some of the religious organisations locally and sort of suggested that they might look at some of their land assets and see if there's anything that's surplus their requirements and we have had traction with some of the churches there's a lot for them to work through in terms of their own forward planning and whether they're going to need that land in the future relocatable buildings were particularly of interest terms it doesn't alienate the land if they do have a future need you know well down the track like tiny homes exactly so one of the local churches for instance was looking at similar to that. Another had capacity for anywhere up to 10 small units that they sort of thought could be something like pensioning units or similar. So we are sort of seeing them put to what they can use the spare land for. In parallel there is a process that the state's going through where the current premier has an undertaking. To those groups of churches in the YIMBY Association where they have reached out to the local government association to create a model code for this purpose. So a model code for affordable and social housing outcomes or community housing outcomes particularly on community facilities, zoned land, predominantly zoned by religious groups but not necessarily limited to religious groups. The model code is currently being drafted by a consultant and then if that's accepted by the State it would be available for councils to adopt in their planning scheme but we're sort of ahead of that game, we're sort of contributing to the process. But already through our amendments have provisions that if signed off by the minister will serve the same purpose
Frank Wilkie 27:40.401
Thank you so it also means that community facility, land zone community facilities around the Shire which would already house retirement villages can house, yeah,
Rowena Skinner 27:54.279
So community housing which can obviously take various forms. It can be in apartments, it could be in detached housing, it could be in relocatable or manufactured structures, it could be in a boarding house situation, yeah. And the land on McKinnon Drive owned by, is it sundale? Yeah. They've had an approval for a retirement village for some time now.
Frank Wilkie 28:22.390
Under the planning scheme amendments if they so chose to do so they could provide affordable community housing on that land with a new development application?
Rowena Skinner 28:34.030
They would need a new development application and at type of scale it would still need to go through impact assessment but that there are other avenues as well as you know for them to sort of if affordable and social housing is part what they would deliver on that there's other avenues they can go through with the State
Frank Wilkie 28:57.676
And the council isn't directly providing affordable housing it's creating opportunities for it through planning scheme amendments yes um the State and partnering with community that's right as a council
Rowena Skinner 29:12.571
Yeah through the process of the Housing Strategy council was quite clear they didn't want to be developers they weren't in the game to be a community housing provider itself but there are organisers organisations that do a very good job in that space and partnering with those community housing providers who have access to all the government grants would make the most sense and there's local private developers who are interested in partnering with this community, housing providers provided as
Frank Wilkie 29:50.670
Well. One confusing aspect of the whole debate is the difference between a strict definition of affordable housing and providing units or dwellings which are for a wider range of budgets and therefore affordable to a greater range of people. Could you just talk to how we seek you to achieve both those outcomes?
Rowena Skinner 30:18.891
So the State council with the whole half-polar legislative amendments that came in last year the State created a definition of affordable housing component which while which while obviously helpful in terms of the bigger picture of bringing in legislation that supported affordable housing we found that it it's a little bit broad for our immediate needs so with the proposed amendments which we came up with our own definition of affordable rental premises which specifically ties it to being small dwellings so no more than 100 square metres of GFA they had to they be affordable for basically low to medium income earners so the household would pay no more than 30% of their income in rent they had to be owned or leased by a community registered community housing provider or the government itself it could include social housing but it's unlikely to so social or community housing through a community housing provider and it and had it has to be committed to that purpose for at least 20 years so well while large growth areas are producing affordable housing which is affordable for say first home buyers to purchase that's. Not part of that affordable rental premises definition so we're specifically looking for housing which is rental long-term affordable rental and managed for that purpose so that it is committed
Annina 32:27.641
Long-term but the other episode in addition to the range of affordability the planning scheme amendments still look to provide bonus provisions for small dwellings in a range of sizes to provide to provide and housing provide housing diversity and housing choice for around which I guess does somewhat provide for a range of affordabilities we wouldn't necessarily say it's affordable and it's once it's on the open market obviously there's no control the definition was about controlling that it was rental only and up to 20 years- Thank you.
Amelia Lorentson 33:05.267
Council we've got you've got a question
Tom Wegener 33:08.387
Yeah I was looking at action number three which says to monitor other Australian local governments and relevant overseas examples as innovative approaches to similar problems is there any good stories that you can tell us about you know similar governments dealing with the same problem?
Rowena Skinner 33:28.662
Well, Councillor, most other local governments have different sets of circumstances so we would find that there are areas that share some similarities with Noosa Shire but then they're different in other aspects so we find areas that are obviously in tourist you know things places like ski resorts places like beach resorts but there they have a different set of circumstances in other aspects to Noosa Shire, they might be more remote, they might be on island islands. Communities they might be isolated not considered part of a high-growth South East Queensland corner like ours so there's lots of learnings from different places but I can't suggest there's any one silver bullet certainly you know even through the through council SEQ of mayors with we've sort of started seeing what some of the western canadian ski resort areas and places like that are doing but the you know they may have they've got a different set of legislation framework they've got it you know everybody's got different circumstances to a degree so there's lots of interesting ideas but not one silver bullet we can pick up and apply here.
Amelia Lorentson 35:14.544
I'm in to do it. In terms of dwelling targets and housing diversity outcomes that's outlined in the South East Queensland ShapingSEQ 2023 are we meeting our targets and how many dwellings per annum do we actually need to build to meet this demand I'm sort of asking you know where we up to?
Rowena Skinner 35:48.931
I can't tell you the yeah, off the top of my head. We monitor the dwellings that are being delivered every month through building approvals and we are tracking lower than I'd like us to be tracking. We've sort of done everything we can to try and encourage a higher number of smaller number dwellings and clearly we went through community consultation and there was some community pushback on that. We're still seeing dwellings, detached houses and large duplex dwellings being the favoured product and so yeah on a monthly basis we we're certainly not seeing high delivery see we particularly because we see so many houses being demolished with another house replacing it or at the most a duplex replacing it. The number of apartments independent living units for retirees any other form you know even community residences all of those they're not as high as we would like it to be but in pure numbers.
Annina 37:15.460
About 200 dwellings a year we're required to deliver to meet the target which is 5,000 2046.
Frank Wilkie 37:25.480
If I can just join in now, looking at the economy.id it was saying that from the 23-24 year there were 155 separate detached dwellings built and 209 medium and high-density dwellings built. Sorry, where are you quoting that from? A link in the report to explore the housing story for Noosa Shire and that's the figures that I thought would be helpful to this conversation.
Amelia Lorentson 37:59.599
So it's a knock down and replacement. How is that counted? Is that a new dwelling? It's just it's not additional.
Frank Wilkie 38:07.759
There's a new dwelling approval. Separate houses, 155, medium and high density, time written on.
Amelia Lorentson 38:14.540
Approvals? Dwelling yes. It's not yet built. Okay. Not yet built. So we're lagging a little bit behind. Yeah. The report notes that stats are showing a rising population over 65 and declining numbers under 35. That was like a really big red flag for me because I think of our under 35 year olds, our essential workforce, our Noosa's, our teachers, paramedics, hospitality staff, our retail workers. In terms of affordability, do we have a number? What is the median price for affordable housing? So we talk about the providing and bonus provisions for developers to develop small products hundred square metres etc and we're going car parking spaces but in terms of product will that product that is affordable to our workforce and that's what I'm sort of focusing a lot of my questions are around what are we doing is it our median house price I think in Noosa is about 1.2 million and is median the house price with I've got two kids one's 20 one's 21 both actually have savings for a deposit their price bracket I would guess 600 to 1 million 600 to 900,000 so my question is what are we doing help incentivize developers to build a product in that price bracket so that we can keep our workforce here in Noosa and that they don't you know cross the border and go somewhere that's affordable?
Rowena Skinner 40:13.099
So in the scheme amendments or the scheme right now we give them a greater GFA plot ratio, we give a greater site cover, we require less landscaping and we require less car parking. And in the amendments in certain areas they can also get an additional story of height so that they were designed to be incentives to try and make it easier to stack up. That development on the site. I think in terms of affordability because construction is very high with incoming rounds we'll be looking at of the other financial in terms of development application fees, rates, infrastructure charges, et cetera, to see if there's anywhere there that we can explore incentivising as well. I think. The most affordable options are using the existing housing stock better. So spare bedrooms, but the die-to- resort units that are transitioning to permanent housing that are, you know, they've become. They're no longer favoured by tourists but are in excellent locations for key workers. So the new housing stock is probably always going to be more expensive. Anything new, the construction cost is going to make it more expensive. The standard of construction these days in terms of what goes into a house or a unit is different to what was built in the so I think our best chance of affordable housing is probably in our existing housing stock.
Amelia Lorentson 42:37.909
Is there opportunity with our newly appointed housing partnership officer to include. Maybe prioritise. Looking for the affordable housing options for our workforce, whether it's private /public partnerships, whether it's like what you mentioned, incentivising resort owners to. But can we expand their scope of work to include, you know, consideration. Opportunities to help with our, what I call, our essential workforce crisis, housing crisis. Yeah, so he's doing that. Yeah, he's doing that. It's already within the scope. Stock I'm going to ask just a couple of questions in terms of short stay local laws. I've heard so many numbers. How many unregistered STAs do we currently have? And I've heard numbers from 1500 50. And more. Oh, not relevant? Which is with a different department. OK. Oh, OK. Okay, sorry. Richard, it's. I think actually it is relevant, because one of our of our actions is introduction of short-stay open Noosa, so transitory raiding categories was going to help address. We've identified, you know, STAs as one of the. Is it's one of the courses, or I think it's school now, that rentals stop.
Richard MacGillivray 44:26.552
So, you know, throw that question out there. I was going to say, the council staff have gone through our entire database of the properties that we suspect were STAs, so we've actually gone through that entire list. I'll continue are continuing to follow up on any leads from the community and doing audits and proactively monitoring data in our community and data scanning as well, so it's safe to say we've done a very extensive search to identify a Shire. Is a number of properties that we suspected were STA originally. In some cases, we've found that they've actually either ceased using the premises for a short stay, or in some cases, we're actually paying transitory rates when they're actually permanently occupying the premises. So we've found of that cases in a number of cases that was actually happening, which is why the assumptions originally were probably higher than what we've actually found in terms of random compare investigations, so we'll have some other numbers that we'll release shortly following the completion of this recent piece is what we've been doing, certainly. That number has come down from what was originally envisaged in terms of the total number of STAs, noting that we have a number that are also exempt, around 1,200 properties that are not required to be registered under the STA that still ability to operate. And obviously not required to be approved under the local law itself.
Amelia Lorentson 45:52.486
It would be great to understand those numbers maybe at a later stage Richard, but just to in terms of our local laws, in terms of our Housing Strategy. It's actually working to produce the desired outcomes which is providing housing diversity and affordability and more permanent rental stock yes. In the market.
Annina 46:18.519
Thank I might just add to that. We are doing an extensive Housing Monitoring Program which looks at the rental premises coming onto the market and we cross-check that back to the STA, I guess, master list that we originally identified. Understand what the shifts are, it's difficult to know what then goes back into the STA market, but that will happen through the STA monitoring process. But it is a moving feast of around that, I would suspect, 1,000-odd properties that move in and out. So that we're trying to get a handle on and monitor.
Amelia Lorentson 46:58.472
And rental bonds, do you access that information as well? And how are we going to increase and de-increase in terms of rental ready to blow and spell it all out to you now.
Rowena Skinner 47:10.087
Yeah, they're not increasing. They've been fairly static. In some areas they will go I don't know. Okay. Each part of Noosa Shire is quite different as well. I think we spoke about areas such as Noosa Heads where rents are quite high. They will have a higher vacancy rate and their vacancy rate could be 4% at Noosa Heads, but their rents are high. And so many people can't afford it, whereas Cooroy and Pomona might have 0.01% vacancy rate because, you know, there's less of them. They're snapped quickly and they might be more affordable to people.
Amelia Lorentson 48:09.797
Thank you. Any further questions?
Frank Wilkie 48:13.797
Yes, what is your sense of how many vacant places, residences or. Properties. There are in relation to short-term accommodation? Is there any thinking around how we can encourage owners of non-principal place of residence or investment properties to long-term that?
Kim Rawlings 48:37.620
Are doing some work around getting a better sense of vacancy rates. At last census it tells us that there's 18% vacancy rate. Now that needs to be unpacked because as you know, people, yeah, anyway, that it needs to be unpacked are looking at a range of sort of data inputs to try and get a more accurate sense of what our vacancy rate is and then, you know, explore opportunities to. Encourage, you know, homeowners to either, you know, put them back on the permanent rental, even for a period of time over peak periods or whatever. We will look to do things like that, you know, similar to what we did a couple of years ago in, you in, know, writing to short stories. Stay owners to, you know, see if we can incentivise or encourage them to put their properties back on into the rental market and, you know, at that time we tracked it and, you know, we sort of got about 120 swapped back into permanent rental for a variety of reasons, but it was a around the time that sort of campaign that the council did. So, you know, we'll continue to do those sorts of things. I think, you know, even if they, you know, if you get a hundred properties back onto existing properties, it would take, you know, a year plus to build a hundred properties, so like Rowena talked about before, better utilisation of our existing stock best bet in terms of affordability and supply in the short-term.
Frank Wilkie 50:13.740
And just to go back to the dwelling approvals, 155 homes, 209 units the last financial year. Dwelling approvals only, I think you're making the point that they haven't been built yet?
Rowena Skinner 50:30.280
Some may have started potentially. I'm not sure where those figures come from. So the figures I look at Frank is every month I get the actual building approvals. So people don't get a building permit unless they're they building. A so I look at the building permits on a monthly basis as does Luke and Sara and so we have a pretty good understanding on a monthly basis of what's actually being built.
Frank Wilkie 51:05.138
Yeah, so this is from the length ID, community and demographic resources.com dwelling approvals, new dwelling approvals. But you've touched on a point that is also critical to the housing shortage. It's not that local governments aren't giving approvals, it's that industry is also having challenges in delivering. And constructing the dwellings that have been approved. Figures that were reported in the Brisbane times were 60,000 pre-approved lots in South East Queensland that still lay vacant because the development industry are struggling to deliver. It's a complicated situation. Issue. It's not just local government lagging, local governments playing its part, but industry needs help to deliver as well.
SPEAKER_06 51:53.915
Yeah, construction costs and labour costs are two major constraints to support.
Amelia Lorentson 52:00.955
Tom. Can I say one more thing?
Tom Wegener 52:04.340
Yeah, an oddball question, typical of me. Our assumption is that the economy is gonna stay relatively the same for a long time, but if there is a crash in the economy, say a recession, would that lead to a larger housing stock, do you think, where the tourism would go down and the STAs in residential neighborhoods would much more easily revert back to long-term rentals?
Annina 52:35.180
I'd say it's hard to predict, but it's a possibility, and I think that is the nature of our housing stock, that it does go in and out between STA and permanent, depending on the market and the supply and how much they're getting. So I it's guess I guess it's possible a possibility
Amelia Lorentson 52:57.679
This was suggested to me by just I'll throw it back to you. And I think it's good that maybe you've already done it. But has the review of our biodiversity mapping ever been undertaken more recently? Have we got land that may not necessarily have any environmental, high environmental value that could be used for our biodiversity mapping and then maybe developed for housing? Have we done a review of that, annina?
Kim Rawlings 53:33.582
We've just updated our vegetation biodiversity overlay, so the very current review has happened, and it's just been approved by the State government. It's very current. But as part of the process, I mean, we do it as part of this South East Queensland Regional Plan process, and as strategic planners, we are regularly looking at our Shire and looking at our constraints. Because biodiversity is only one of them. We have a lot of others. We have bushfire, we have good quality agricultural land, you know, we have landslip, we have a raft of flood, you know, a raft of constraints. In terms land use. And yeah, so we're always looking at land suitability. You know, you also need to consider our own boundary and what's within. But you know, as SEQ regional planning process and our regular strategic reviews, we look at all the land to see, you know, what might be, have some capability, you know, for future. It is something that's done regularly.
Annina 54:34.634
Also look we at opportunities within the urban area to utilise, you know, existing services and infrastructure as well. Yeah. So not just about expansion. It's more about an infill kind of policy that we look at as well.
Amelia Lorentson 54:49.236
And in terms of what such have delivered a few projects, do we get provided with a report from state to be doing their own strategic reviews and looking at maximising opportunities on state land? Does that get back into our data? In terms of where the work is going? Yes, it does, yes. Thank you, I'm having second.
Brian Stockwell 55:30.202
It's a really interesting report in that when you get to the point of setting a strategy and trying to evaluate it and needing to monitor progress against targets, for the first time I think it's really clear how complex achieving improvement is. When this debate first started I know the ministers of the times office were saying all we need to do is increase land supply and that completely will be useless in Noosa if our aim is what I think is one of the more important targets in this report and the target is that Noosa remains home to a healthy cross-section of society including young people. Families and key workers. I think that's at the heart of why it is Noosa Council business to be into housing. I think what the data that we have seen in this report indicated we're moving away from that. What it says is that we've seen a loss of low-income families. Now, that would be great if it was low-income families who are benefiting from economic diversification and getting higher income jobs. But what we know is it's people who've called Noosa home for decades moving out because they can't afford to live here. It talks about, you know, what we need is a population that maintains a healthy workforce between 18 and 65, but what we find is we have these large gaps. We find that people who are here, traditionally those in housing stress have been in low-income so what we're finding is middle-income families are increasingly in housing stress as well. Some people criticise our initiatives to increase housing affordability and increase availability of small dwellings suitable for key workers and small households as being going against population cap. I argue it's exactly the opposite. The population cap in essence is about how do we create a sustainable community and in you the can't economy. Create a sustainable community if you don't have a healthy cross-section of society, young people, families and key workers. So to me this monitoring activity is really important to reduce a whole system that is at the moment failing so we understand where the best levers are to approach from a policy and planning perspective so that it may be decades, maybe more, before we start regressing the styles but we have to take these steps gradually and progressively.
Amelia Lorentson 58:08.871
I probably just want to add to that. I agree with your comments, Councillor Stockwell, but just add that. To we really to consider what housing product that we need to prioritise, and that's that price bracket. I think that's really important. We need to refine exactly. Need the housing price. The housing product. And I think we need also to collaborate with private entities to make this a reality. We lose our workforce and this town doesn't function. I mean, the divide between the haves and the have-nots becomes greater and greater. And if my kids move out of town, I'm going to move out of town. And I just think there's just unintended consequences when we lose a younger workforce of those younger people. And it's not just about buying homes, as Councillor Stockwell mentioned. We have rental housing stress as well as mortgage housing stress, and my numbers say that 35% of people that are renting are actually having housing stress, which means they're spending over 30% of their rent compared to about 12.9 enduring mortgage stress. So it's also about that, like, you know, the old boys that I serve with, this is their home, and they have never had another home other than Noosa, and we have a responsibility both ethically and. It's great, and it's. And as a council to, you know, do what we can to provide rentals and affordable housing products in that bracket of $6,000 to $900,000 to keep this community functioning and healthy. We need to address this cross-section of people living here.
Frank Wilkie 01:00:08.720
Yes, I think. And every one of you because you've been on this journey for a long time. Prior to the Noosa Plan 2020 coming in you were flagging and working on the housing needs assessment. You knew where the stress points were. We worked together to put together Noosa Plan 2020 which sought to restrict further spread of STAs in residential neighbourhoods. Plan has given amendments to do so, but more than the medium density and high density, all residential neighbourhoods. And as Councillor Lorentson and Mr Stockwell have said, it's a multi-faceted problem. We have to work in partnership with the State private industry and use our planning scheme to the best of our ability to provide the opportunities for a diverse range of housing to suit a range of budgets and also that special end of the market where the housing needs to be subsidised and managed by a community housing provider or the State and I note in the report that the State has already taken up an opportunity to purchase land in Tewantin to provide social or affordable housing in the Tewantin CBD. So it is good to monitor our progress on this. Perhaps there's no more important piece of work that this council will ever do than work to play our part with other levels of government in addressing this matter. National shortage of reliable and affordable housing. Thank you for your report.
Amelia Lorentson 01:01:54.032
Aye. Thank you very much. Thank you. And I welcome to the desk and Richard. And we move to item number eight. I will ask you guys if you can give us a simple overview of the delegation report in front of us.
Patrick Murphy 01:02:35.020
Our monthly report, each on applications that have been decided by delegated authority for the month of January, noting the applications that we are able to decide under the delegation. A bit of a quieter month, January, knowing number of public holidays, staff on leave, so the number of applications decided was a bit down on the norm, with 22 applications decided. Looking at the list, significance within the
Frank Wilkie 01:03:14.446
I'm just curious, about the one at production street, changed to Sara conditions, include mud crabs. What's going on there? Aquaculture, there's an aquaculture. Tank and they're growing micro-tankers.
Patrick Murphy 01:03:35.670
You've caught me on the run, to be honest. I'm not sure of the actual detail of the application, but I would assume that would be the content of the application.
Brian Stockwell 01:03:45.910
Thank you. Do have trouble with this.
Amelia Lorentson 01:03:49.887
When we just spoke about developing targets and approvals, is there an opportunity or opinion that you would consider as part of the delegated report to have what our targets are and how we're going? Is that something that should be, shouldn't be included, but be encouraged to have just a running report to understand how close we are to our targets as. You know, dictated under the shaping of the 2020-2023 plan.
Patrick Murphy 01:04:22.256
Yeah, we can do, I think probably monthly is probably not overly helpful, but certainly on an annual basis around how we're tracking. As Kim rollins mentioned earlier, there's a difference between approvals issued and then actually delivered product as well. So that's closely monitored on a monthly basis in terms of what's actually approved, but then what's actually finalised and actually for occupation. And so those are the two elements we need to monitor closely. But certainly, I think, you know, doing at least an annual or six monthly report is a good idea and helpful in terms of how we're tracking with approval. Approvals and also delivery deliverables. As well. I just think importantly to note that the decisions that are made by through planning will not affect all the dwelling approvals and the secondary dwelling redrawing approvals are that issued, so it's more relevant, I think, in terms of what Richard said around building approvals. Yeah, because a number of homes and secondary dwellings won't require any planning approval. It's all accepted development under the so scheme so a large volume of the housing what doesn't actually get assessed by council. It's deemed to comply and certifies or will approve those without any approvals from council as part of that.
Amelia Lorentson 01:05:37.487
And that'll be catched under a different report? Yeah, we could look to I'm looking to do that on a new basis. I think it would be a good idea to average out the ups and downs throughout the year. Thank you very much. Questions?
Frank Wilkie 01:05:52.106
The report shows there's 22 approvals given in the month of January, so it's a slow month. Can you refresh my memory? What's the typical number of approvals in an average month?
Patrick Murphy 01:06:03.322
A lot of mid-thirties is generally the trend that we're seeing. Yes. Was December slow in January? Was that a busy month? December's usually relatively busy. I believe we were over 30, maybe mid-thirties in the lead up to Christmas. A lot of applicants, and you can imagine clients, are interested for receiving approvals and decisions before the noting a lot of consultants and industry take a good break over the Christmas period. So that's usually a higher period Patrick might be able to pull up in the report. Yeah, it is it generally a busier month for those reasons that Richard has identified. Generally, again, a lot of consultants away, staff away, quite a month. And then you often see a little bit of a "did" dip going into the end it. Of financial year, and then picking up after that period. And may I ask, how are the staffing levels in DA? They're good. We have a vacant plan arrived, which has been recently filled, and that'll be starting in the next number of few weeks. That'll complete the number of planners. We had a new compliance officer yesterday. There's been a vacant compliance officer role for a period of time, so that's great that we've got someone now on the ground. Development engineering has got a number of roles that have been filled as well. They'll be starting, one officer starts next week and then the second officer starts a couple of weeks after that. So there's some good resources coming through the team at the moment. Really good. Given how difficult planning know planners and engineering roles are across the State at the moment so good to have access to some really good candidates for those roles.
Amelia Lorentson 01:07:51.739
Thank you.
Brian Stockwell 01:07:54.459
Just four to six hay street. Was the extension to the currency is only mentioned for the operational work so the change in terms of the amount of I just remember that application being a little bit tricky I think from memory in terms of lot buyouts and mango trees and things like that. Can you just tell me what. I might have to come back to you on that one Councillor just to give you details. I had a look on the mapping and it is the site I think it is but it only talks about two lots where the original approval was second or third stage being combined.
Amelia Lorentson 01:08:40.940
Any further questions Councillor Stockwell? Sorry, werther? No, I'm good, thank you. Fantastic. No further questions? All those in favour? Can I have a mover and a seconder? Tom, do you want to move? I'll move it. Thank you and a seconder please. Thank you Mayor Wilkie. All in favour? Fantastic. Thank you. Patrick, thank you Richard. There are no confidential sessions and I now declare the meeting closed at 9.42am. Thank you everyone for your attendance.
Related Noosa Council Meetings
← Browse all Noosa Shire Council meeting transcripts