DEPUTATION - MCU21/0110 - Noosa Springs Proposed Development Applicant: Rhett Duncan on behalf of Northern SEQ Distributor-Retailer Authority trading as Unitywater Speakers: Rhett Duncan

Good morning Mayor Wilkie, Councillors Finzel, Lorentson, Phillips, Stockwell, Wegener and Wilson. Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. Unitywater is the and wastewater services provider in the Noosa region. My name is Rhett Duncan and in my role as executive manager customer delivery, the operation and the maintenance of our network is my responsibility. This is our third deputation relation to the proposed development at Noosa Springs and we remain firm in our opposition to this proposed location of the new hotel development. This deputation is based on the current application however we understand that a further extension of the decision period to the 24th of December 2024 was granted to the applicant on the 18th of October to and I quote "make minor changes to the application and provide updated advice from a number of experts with respect to ecology, odour, noise, visual amenity and bushfire". Unitywater has no visibility of these proposed changes or the potential impact that these may have on planned operations. Once we have an understanding of the impact of these minor changes, we would welcome an opportunity to brief Council on the impacts to operation of the plant prior to the decision being made on this application. Unitywater is an essential services provider, lawfully operating water and wastewater services for the Noosa community. The Noosa sewage treatment plant has been in operation on the current site since the 1970s where it was operated by Council. The Noosa sewage entire network consists of 418 kilometres of sewer mains, 10,319 maintenance holes and 114 pump stations all configured to transport sewage to this specific location. Has been operating successfully for over 50 years. The plant can't be picked up and relocated without enormous cost and years of disruption to all sewage services for the Noosa residents, the community and its hundreds of thousands of annual visitors. When to help. The plant needed upgrading in 1995, Council made a conscious decision to shift the plant closer to the southern and the western property boundaries, maximising the distance to the existing residential developments. This is consistent with the recommendations in the environmental impact assessment commissioned by Noosa Council to keep sensitive receptors more than 400 metres away from the treatment plant. There doesn't seem to be any reason to change this and increase the risk of odour impact by introducing more sensitive receptors within the 400 metre distance from the plant. However, the current development locates the swimming pool and the outdoor amenities approximately 150 metres from the sewage treatment plant site boundary and approximately 200 metres from existing odour generating processes. Plant operations haven't changed. In fact, there's greater treatment occurring today as the Noosa community population grows and visitor numbers continue to increase year on The Noosa treatment plant operates within its licensed capacity however is subject to significant peak loading during holiday periods meaning the highest risk of odour is during peak holiday occupancy at the proposed development. Approval of the proposed Noosa Springs development could also put Council in direct conflict with the State planning policy July 2017 which seeks to protect STPs from encroachment by incompatible development. So what's this 2.50 unit five odour unit contour line and what does it actually mean? Well there's been a lot of discussion and a lot of focus on this 2.5 odour unit contour line modelling. Much of it being with our proper context and understanding of what it actually means. Firstly the applicant would like you to think that the 2.5 odour unit contour is a hard and fast line beyond which there are no odour issues. This is not the case. The odour modelling exercise and the 2.5 odour unit contour are simply scientific means of assessing the risk. It's not the law and it does not release Unitywater from its obligations under the law. The Environmental Protection Act and the June 2024 legislative changes specifically focus on odour, meaning odour is now treated as an environmental nuisance and may constitute. Serious or material environmental harm. This is the law and it carries both financial penalties and potential imprisonment, but I'll come back to the law in a bit more detail shortly. Secondly, a crucial point to note is the 2.5 odour unit contour line modelling is a modelling estimate based on a point in time when data was captured nine years ago in 2016. It's not a single hard line it's not a single hard line where people experience odour on one side of the line and no odour on the other side. In fact, think of the contour like a windsock, not an impenetrable barrier. The modelling outcome will shift with prevailing weather conditions like wind direction and velocity.