Noosa Council court cases

Council goes to court constantly, and almost always out of sight. Nearly every decision to fight, settle or fold is taken in a closed session, and council publishes no list of the matters it is running. This is one, assembled from the record council does publish.

Open, as far as the record shows

Matters with no resolution on the public record. Some are plainly live; others have simply gone quiet, and council never came back to an open session to say how they ended. The date each one was last named on an agenda is the honest measure of how current this is.

• Live 1576/2026 8 Witta Circuit Noosa Heads

  Appeal against council's review decision confirming added conditions (hours, outdoor areas, pool, lighting) on short stay letting approval SSL22/0340 after 2025 complaints — Van Wijk & Flynn v Noosa Shire Council (8 Witta Circuit short stay letting review)

  First local-law (short stay letting) review appeals in the register, with 1763/2026. Approval issued 24 Mar 2022; show cause notice then amended approval after complaints; delegate confirmed on review; approval holder appealed seeking removal of the conditions. Compliance file COM25/0394

  Last named on an agenda 2026-08-20 · Source

• Live 1763/2026 Unit 5/7 Peza Court Noosa Heads (Lot 5 BUP 4114)

  Appeal against council's review decision to issue a compliance notice; council says the unit has no short stay letting approval (SSL23/0755 lapsed), owners seek to set the notice aside — Broadhead v Noosa Shire Council (5/7 Peza Court short stay letting compliance notice)

  Short stay letting application SSL23/0755 lodged 15 Jun 2023, eTrack stage "Lapsed". Compliance file COM26/0110. GC vote unanimous (Stockwell absent)

  Last named on an agenda 2026-08-20 · Source

• Live 1842/2026 2/16 Grant Street Noosa Heads (SP 326085)

  MCU17/0559.05 — refusal (2 Jun 2026, delegated) of minor change to remove planter boxes imposed to offset gross floor area and plot ratio non-compliance on a duplex — MAAN Investments Pty Ltd v Noosa Shire Council (2/16 Grant St planter boxes)

  Original approval MCU17/0559 (Dec 2017, Candida Investments); four earlier changes .01-.04. GC vote unanimous (Stockwell absent)

  Last named on an agenda 2026-08-20 · Source

• Live D92/2025 58 Seaview Terrace Sunshine Beach

  MCU — dwelling house

  Third concurrent dwelling-house refusal appeal in Nov 2025 close session

  Last named on an agenda 2025-11-20

• Live 2420/2025 3 Allambi Rise Noosa Heads

  MCU — dwelling house

  Fourth concurrent dwelling-house refusal appeal in Nov 2025 — closed-session item 9.1

  Last named on an agenda 2025-11-20

• Live 1391/2025 658 Louis Bazzo Drive Ringtail Creek (Lot 4 RP 160124)

  MCU24/0084 — applicant's appeal against CONDITIONS of council's approval (OM 19 Dec 2024) of a function facility

  Council APPROVED the application 19 Dec 2024 with amended conditions moved by Cr Lorentson: functions 11am-7pm Mon-Thu and 11am-10pm Fri-Sat (and Sundays before a public holiday), at most 3 events a week and 96 a year, premises vacated by 8pm / 10.30pm. The applicant appealed (1391/2025); council resolved to defend 19 Jun 2025 (Wilkie, Finzel, Phillips, Lorentson, Stockwell, Wegener, Wilson for).…

  Last named on an agenda 2025-06-19 · Source

• Live 1219/2020 Multiple dwellings appeal

  Multiple dwellings application

  4+ year saga — status in the published record unclear; possibly resolved Dec 2024

  Last named on an agenda 2024-12-16

• Defended D96/2024 428 Cootharaba Road Cootharaba (Lot 1 RP 176808)

  STA — Short-term accommodation appeal — Judith Leanne Johannesen v Noosa SC

  Underlying DA MCU24/0003 refused. Council resolved to defend Aug 2024 — split vote: Lorentson/Finzel/Wegener/Wilkie/Wilson/Stockwell FOR; Phillips AGAINST. Consultant Pivotal Perspective

  Last named on an agenda 2024-08-12

• Defended D153/2023 55 & 70 Carpenters Road Cooroy (Lot 1 SP 248288)

  MCU22/0039 — refusal (OM 17 Aug 2023) of relocatable home park, 32 dwellings, community and affordable housing — Heidi Meyer v Noosa Shire Council (Carpenters Rd relocatable home park)

  Appellant named in council's own report index ("Case/ D153/2023/ Heidi Meyer"); DA applicant Eco Cottages Pty Ltd. Same appellant as the Picture Point matters (N/A-D130-2023, N/A-Skyfall-2026). eTrack stage for MCU22/0039 still reads "Refused" (checked 19 Sep 2026). No settlement or judgment located in the published record

  Last named on an agenda 2023-10-10 · Source

• Defended D133/2023 60 Seaview Terrace Sunshine Beach (Lot 66 RP 81810)

  DBW21/0216 — refusal (OM 20 Jul 2023) of dwelling house for height, site cover, setbacks and overlooking from a roof terrace — EVJ Holdings Pty Ltd v Noosa Shire Council (60 Seaview Tce dwelling)

  Appellant per council report index "EVJ Holdings Pty Ltd"; DA applicant GW Holdings P/L TTE. eTrack stage for DBW21/0216 reads "Refused" (checked 19 Sep 2026). Next door to 66 Seaview Tce (ETRACK-MCU21/0212) and 58 Seaview Tce (N/A-D92-2025), all Pivotal Perspective

  Last named on an agenda 2023-10-10 · Source

• Live 39-41 Picture Point Crescent Noosa Heads (proposed Lots 50 & 51)

  Applicant-commenced proceeding over council action notices on two dwelling-house DAs (proposed Lots 50 & 51): council says impact-assessable dual occupancy, applicants say code-assessable dwelling houses — Skyfall Noosa Pty Ltd (Heidi Meyer & Kim Carroll) v Noosa Shire Council

  DAs lodged 19 Sep 2025; council action notices 3 Oct 2025; applicants missed the 23 Apr 2026 response deadline and began P&E Court proceedings 5 May 2026. On 11 Jun 2026 the court allowed the missed deadline to be corrected and gave the parties until 18 Jun 2026 to agree a further response period. eTrack (eTrack checked 19 Sep 2026): MCU25/0106 "Stop Current Period", MCU25/0107 and MCU25/0108…

  Not named on an agenda since council's published feed begins in April 2023 · Source

• Live 39-41 Picture Point Crescent Noosa Heads

  Council allegations about vegetation clearing and revegetation on the same land — Noosa Shire Council v Meyer & another

  Listed for review 24 Jul 2026 per the article; outcome of that review not yet located. Second respondent not named in the article. Filing date unknown

  Not named on an agenda since council's published feed begins in April 2023 · Source

• Live Noosa Airfield

  Declarations under s.11(1)(c) PECA + enforcement orders s.180(3) Planning Act — 1975 consent alleged lapsed + 1994 rezoning alleged ineffective

  Substantive enforcement proceeding still pending; (No 2) was procedural disclosure application dismissed

  Not named on an agenda since council's published feed begins in April 2023 · Source

Every appeal we can trace

Planning & Environment Court appeals against council decisions, newest activity first. Before council counts the times the matter appeared on a published agenda since April 2023, and how many of those went into closed session — a matter listed twice in a fortnight is the committee and then the ordinary meeting ratifying it. Blank means the matter predates council's current published meeting feed. Where we hold no register entry for an appeal, the description is council's own agenda heading, verbatim — typos and all.

Reported judgments

Matters that produced written reasons, so anyone can read what the court actually said. 27 of them, 1993 to 2024.

Council wins when it is defending

Who council pays to run these

Instructing solicitors named in the judgments, by the matters they appeared in. Counsel are listed against each judgment above. This counts appearances, not fees — council does not break out legal spend by matter.

Council's planning work sat with Wakefield Sykes of Tewantin for most of the two decades after de-amalgamation — the same firm that had acted against the shire in the Kettering and Cameron appeals before it acted for it. From 2021 the work moved to the Brisbane firms, split between Thynne + Macartney and McCullough Robertson. On the other side, one firm recurs more than any other: P&E Law has appeared against council in 7 of the reported matters.

Not in a courtroom

Three matters that belong on a legal register without being court cases: two councillor-conduct findings, and one in which council was the victim.

• Upheld in part Stockwell inappropriate conduct matter (Cr Brian Stockwell)

  Office of the Independent Assessor / Council reprimand · 2023-10-26

  One count of inappropriate conduct upheld (other unsubstantiated) — failing courtesy to council staffer

  Reprimand + mandatory training/counselling at councillor expense within 3 months. Motion by Cr Lorentson carried unanimously

  Source

• Misconduct found Glasgow misconduct matter (former Cr Jess Glasgow)

  Councillor Conduct Tribunal · 2021-03-18

  Two misconduct offences under Local Government Act 2009 — offensive comments about women + disrespectful behaviour on The Bachelorette + misleading media

  $4000 fine. CCT said had Glasgow still been a councillor he would be sacked. Generated 130 complaints

  Source

• Council defrauded $2.3M AI-imitation cyber fraud against Noosa Council

  QPS / AFP / Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre / Interpol · 2024-12

  International criminal-gang fraud using social-engineering AI techniques — Council defrauded of ~$2.3M ratepayer funds

  About $640,000 had been recovered by December 2025, leaving a net loss near $1.66M. Council staff were cleared of fault, no system was breached and no data was stolen; council says it has implemented all Queensland Audit Office recommendations

  Source

What this page cannot show you

• What the fighting costs. Council's financial statements disclose legal spend in aggregate at best, never by matter. There is no public figure for what any appeal on this page cost ratepayers.
• The reasons for settling. Every settlement here was agreed in closed session on legal advice the public never sees. The open-session resolution records that council settled, not why it stopped defending.
• Council's own prosecutions. Council prosecutes local-law and development offences in the Magistrates Court. None of that appears in a judgments database or on a council agenda, so none of it is here.
• Matters that never reach an agenda. Advice, threatened proceedings, debt recovery and anything settled under delegation leave no trace we can find.

Outcomes marked not established mean exactly that: council listed the appeal, and we have not found a published resolution or judgment saying how it ended. If you know how one of them finished, tell us.

On the agenda

The 8 most recent of 160 agenda items and minuted decisions about court cases since 2016, found by their titles. All of them →

1. 20 Aug 2026 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1576 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 8 WITTA CIRCUIT, NOOSA HEADS Ordinary Meeting, item 11.1.9 Local lawswatch
2. 20 Aug 2026 MCU17/0559.05 - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1842 OF 2026 - FOR MINOR CHANGE TO A DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR A DUPLEX DWELLING AT 2/16 GRANT STREET, NOOSA HEADS Ordinary Meeting, item 11.1.11 Grants & fundingDevelopmentwatch
3. 20 Aug 2026 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1763 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 5/7 PEZA COURT, NOOSA HEADS Ordinary Meeting, item 11.1.10 Local lawswatch
4. 11 Aug 2026 MCU17/0559.05 - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1842 OF 2026 - FOR MINOR CHANGE TO A DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR A DUPLEX DWELLING AT 2/16 GRANT STREET, NOOSA HEADS General Committee, item 7.2.6 Grants & fundingDevelopmentwatch
5. 11 Aug 2026 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1763 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 5/7 PEZA COURT, NOOSA HEADS General Committee, item 7.2.5 Local lawswatch
6. 11 Aug 2026 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 1576 OF 2026 - SHORT STAY LETTING LOCAL LAW REVIEW DECISION - 8 WITTA CIRCUIT, NOOSA HEADS General Committee, item 7.2.4 Local lawswatch
7. 16 Jul 2026 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL D927 OF 2025 - APPLICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR BUILDING WORKS (DWELLING HOUSE) AND REFERRAL AGENCY PLANNING (BUILDING HEIGHT, GROSS FLOOR AREA, SETBACKS, AND CUT) AT 58 SEAVIEW TERRACE, SUNSHINE BEACH Ordinary Meeting, item 14.2 Closed doorswatch
8. 21 May 2026 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE - PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COURT APPEAL 2611 OF 2024 - APPLICATION FOR A MATERIAL CHANGE OF USE FOR MULTIPLE DWELLINGS (4 X SMALL DWELLINGS) AND FOOD AND DRINK OUTLETS (2 X TENANCIES) AND OFFICE AT 2 BOTTLEBRUSH AVENUE, NOOSA HEADS (Referred from General Committee Meeting dated 12 May 2026 Item 9.3) Ordinary Meeting, item 12.1 Closed doorsDevelopmentwatch