Before the first item ¶
00:00:00 Councillor Lorentson: The Planning and Environment Committee meeting. It's now 9.30. I declare the meeting open and I'll start by an acknowledgement to country. Noosa Council proudly acknowledges and respects Australia's First Nations people and their deep and abiding connection to this country. We recognise the Kabi Kabi people as the traditional owners of the lands and waters of the Noosa area. We pay respect to Kabi Kabi elders who have come before us and acknowledge their enduring commitment in pursuing a healthy future to First Nations people. We pay respects to elders past, present and emerging. Attendance. I'd like to welcome to the desk Mayor Wilkie, Deputy Mayor Councillor Stockwell and Councillor Tom Wegener, Larry. And on line. Welcome Councillor Karen Finzel.
1 DECLARATION OF OPENING ¶
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2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY ¶
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3 ATTENDANCE & APOLOGIES ¶
00:01:00 And Jess. Oh and Jess. Welcome on line also Jess, Councillor Phillips. Can I please request before commencing the meeting that everyone have their phones on silent or turned off. And we'll start with item four, confirmation of minutes. Can I please have a mover and a seconder. Thank you Mayor Wilkie. Thank you. Councillor Tom Wegener. No discussion, all in favour? Great, thank you. Presentations, deputations, there are none. So we go straight to reports for consideration of the committee. Item 7.1, planning applications decided by delegated authority in July 2025. And welcome to the desk, Patrick Murphy. Thanks Patrick. If you want to give us an overview of the report in front of us. Thank you Councillor. Speaker 4: Yes, this is the monthly report of those decisions. These are decisions that were decided under delegated authority for the month of July, quite a busy month, 60 applications that were determined, so 60 applications that were approved and it's showing through that were refused.
4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES ¶
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4.1 PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DATED 12 AUGUST 2025 ¶
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5 PRESENTATIONS ¶
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7 REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE COMMITTEE ¶
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7.2 NOOSA PLAN 2020 - AMENDMENT NO. 2 - COUNCIL ADOPTION ¶
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7.1 PLANNING APPLICATIONS DECIDED BY DELEGATED AUTHORITY – JULY 2025 ¶
00:02:00 You'll note there was quite a lot of operational works approvals through that month, the team were very, very diligent and have done a great job in getting out a large number of decisions. So yeah, very productive month for the team. And I am aware that the report is for noting. But I'd like to point out there's one application, RAP250012, for 32 Park Crescent, Sunshine Beach, it was an early referral response, it was a combined application, there was also associated development permit for building works, both of those applications were refused, unfortunately the report shows the RAP, the early referral response being approved, but it was actually refused. Councillor Lorentson: Can I just clarify that's RAP250012? Speaker 4: That's correct. Councillor Lorentson: So there was four refusals, not three refusals in the 65?
00:03:00 Speaker 4: That's correct. That's correct. Thank you. So two combined applications, as a result they were both refused. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Is it appropriate to have a motion that amends the table before it's adopted? Speaker 4: It would be pertinent to do that, yes. Councillor Lorentson: I think so. So we might leave the amendment for general amendment? Yes, we can do that. That would be great. Thank you, Ms. So questions around the table? Councillors? Mayor Wilkie: Just noting it seems to have twice the amount of approvals or matters than previous months. Speaker 4: Often we're in the high 30s, and yes, this certainly was a very productive month for the team, again going back to the number of operational works approvals. 20 for the month is quite a lot. A large amount. The team were just incredibly productive through that month.
00:04:00 So, yes. Councillor Lorentson: Well done. In terms of the properties that were refused, all of them were coastal properties. Can I ask what specific planning scheme provisions or criteria led to the refusals? Speaker 4: Just mindful that both of those applications are now subject to appeal. They are? Yes. Okay. So one in the Planning Environment Court and the other with the Tribunal. Broadly speaking, one of the properties, there were issues with how they're demonstrating they will deal with coastal processes, being in an erosion prone area. And the other application related to an existing dwelling that's already over height and over site cover, for which they were seeking to extend and exacerbate both of those elements, and that was refused on those grounds. Councillor Lorentson: And is it standard process that those decisions are made under delegations?
00:05:00 Or in some instances, we've seen them in the past come to Council for a decision? Speaker 4: Yes. Being code-assessable and having timeframes associated with them, they are able to be made under delegated authority. The applications needed to be determined. The time was certainly getting to that point where they could have wanted to be made under Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Deemed Approval. Speaker 4: And we had had some issues with one of the applicants around the timeframes. And they're seeking potential of Deemed Approval. Councillor Lorentson: My last question, in terms of just past legal cases and planning appeals. Does Council actually have a database where we can access decisions made in the past and whether that can help us as part of the process? Is that information collated?
00:06:00 Speaker 4: We have, there's a monthly spreadsheet of cases that's provided to the Mayor. That includes historical cases as well. So it gives a summation of the cases, it gives some financial context to the cases as well. In terms of an actual database. We certainly record all the relevant matters associated with the appeal in our electronic records. And it's something that we, when we're making determinations, are certainly mindful of previous decisions. Noting that the decisions by the Tribunal are not, we're not bound by decisions of the Tribunal. They don't set a precedent. Decisions made by the Planning and Environment Court certainly are those that create a precedent. Councillor Lorentson: And in terms of estimated costs, mediation versus if it actually goes to Planning and Environment
00:07:00 Court. Can you give us an idea of what estimated costs are for Council? Speaker 4: So I suppose just to separate them out again, in terms of the Tribunal, if they go to the Tribunal, there's no legal representation. It'll be officers' time. So it's quite, quite minimal. Going to appeals, certainly we've had cases that have been quite significant. In terms of the cost that's been associated with them, there have been long cases that have maybe gone on for a number of years, many experts, and involve court time with barristers. So they'll be at certainly the higher end of the range. Some matters can be resolved quite quickly through mediation, still probably involving experts. And I've recently provided some data to the Director around decisions that were made in, I think, the last 14 months or so. And I'd say that 80 to 90 per cent of them were resolved through the mediation process, and generally with the applicant amending their proposal to align with Council's planning scheme and our intent for the site.
00:08:00 And therefore, the cost of those was certainly at the lower end of the scale. Fantastic. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Just following on from that, mediation's always the first step? Yeah. Speaker 4: Yeah. That's correct. I think it's important to note that the cost of mediation is certainly at the lower end of the scale. Sometimes an appellant may seek to push on the matter, but the courts generally will seek that the mediation occur early in the process. That's right. Councillor Lorentson: Great. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So are we going to refer it? Councillor Lorentson: Refer it. Yep. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll talk to it first. I'd just like to support the staff's refusal of the two applications. I think we're seeing an increasing number of people trying to push the boundary of the nursing plan. By building excessively large monuments to themselves in their houses. I think it's an issue that we need to make it really loud and clear from this Council
00:09:00 that the Noosa plan is something that this community holds very close and very dearly. And that just because they can afford to take it to appeal, it's not the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to build a house in compliance with the planning scheme. And I think this community should make it really clear to all applicants and any planning consultants who are pushing the boundaries in this regard that the Noosa plan, our expectations on height and site cover are negotiable. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Question, Madam Chair. Mayor Wilkie: Thanks. Yep. Just a question about the height and setbacks for 32 Park Crescent. Could you explain what the issues are with the height and the setbacks for 32 Park Crescent? Speaker 4: There's height setbacks and there's site cover. So there's quite a large house that exists there at the moment and with the topography of the site, as the house extends to the rear of the site, the height issues are amplified.
00:10:00 They're seeking to extend the building further so that the height would get greater and that the site cover would be further increased. And we are not satisfied with that on the basis of potential impacts to adjoining property owners, the appearance of the built form to the surrounding area and not being in keeping with the desired built form outcomes. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Any further comments or questions before I refer this to the general meeting? Tom? Councillor Wegener: Yes. Good work there in planning. You guys had a big month. Keep it up. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. And I'd like to also acknowledge how many applications have gone through, how many approvals have gone through, and that takes a lot of work. So thank you very much.
00:11:00 Thank you. I'll move that the report is moved to the general meeting just to allow for some technical corrections. Speaker 6: We only have three. Councillor Lorentson: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Committee agenda item 7.1 be referred to the General Committee for further consideration. Can I have a seconder, please? Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. No discussion, no further discussion. All in favour, please? Thank you. And that brings us to the next item on the agenda, which is 7.2 Noosa Plan 2020, Amendment Number 2, Council Adoption. And I welcome to the desk Director of Environment and Strategy from New Orleans, Anita and Rowena to the desk. If I can
00:12:00 ask if you can just start with an overview of the report in front of us today. Sure. Director Rawlings: I might just start if that's okay. Councillors, today's report signifies a very significant milestone for Amendment Number 2, which has been in the making for well over three years. We are now at the point of the final step in the process, which is recommending to Council for the adoption of this amendment package. And Anita will go through a quick summary on what... the package contains. But what I just did want to say is, one, to acknowledge the significance of the milestone and the endurance of the team over those last three years, and the Council in many hours of workshops and processes and consultation, and the community for the significant amount of feedback we got on this package to refine it. But I also wanted to
00:13:00 say that, importantly, the State Government have signed off on this package on two occasions. So the first process is the State Interest Process, which gives Council the confidence that the State Interest are incorporated into the planning scheme and it complies with State Planning Policy. So the first tick is received. And as part of that process, the State Government also sign off on our Communication and Engagement Plan, which they did at the beginning of the year, and sign off as being compliant and appropriate. We then delivered our consultation in accordance with that endorsed communications plan, which was a very extensive consultation process. And then this step is the State Government also signing off with a number of conditions, which we will step through briefly. But it essentially says that, you know, subject to those conditions, Council is now able to adopt the scheme. It has met State requirements
00:14:00 again. So I just wanted to provide that context before we provide a little bit of summary of what's in the package. Sure. Thanks, Anita. Speaker 6: Council, you recall that at its meeting in December, well, over two meetings, the 5th and 12th of December last year, Council endorsed the amendments for the purpose of final State Interest Check and ministerial approval. And the key outcomes of the amendments were to implement the recommendations of the Housing Strategy, as well as the Short-Term Accommodation Monitoring Report. The Short-Term Accommodation Monitoring Report was a requirement to prepare that as a ministerial condition and implement those recommendations. The amendments seek to ensure sufficient land is available for permanent residential housing, and facilitates improved housing security, choice, diversity and affordability to meet the housing needs of Noosa Shire residents. It also establishes
00:15:00 a pathway for the delivery of affordable housing. It also establishes a pathway for the delivery of affordable housing and prioritises permanent residents in residential zones and key centre zones by restricting further short-term accommodation. All of those were recommendations of both the Short-Term Accommodation Monitoring Report and the Housing Strategy. So amongst a range of other things, other key elements of the amendments are that we are restricting future development in the medium and high density residential zones and most centre zones to permanent housing, which is the key purpose of those zones, excluding further short-term accommodation. We're also rezoning parts of the tourist accommodation zone to residential and centre zones to support permanent housing as opposed to more short-term accommodation because we have an extensive tourist accommodation zone which allows for development for visitor accommodation. We're increasing housing diversity and choice, particularly around small dwellings. We're allowing visitor accommodation such as cabins in the rural and rural residential zone to continue to be a priority in the short-term accommodation
00:16:00 zone. Provided the permanent resident remains on site in their dwellings so we don't lose further permanent housing to short-term accommodation, but they can still operate short-term accommodation whilst they're on site. Additionally, the amendment defines clear outcomes for Noosa Business Centre as an integrated village combining diverse housing and employment opportunities. This was a ministerial condition which we are now implementing. It also establishes guidelines for development within that innovation zone. It expands allowable trading hours for food and drink outlets in Noosa Junction Hospitality Precinct with a new definition of amplified music. And it supports the future of sports medicine through the creation of a health and wellbeing precinct within the Noosa District Sports Complex. It also improves the general operation and workability of the scheme by making improvements to its workability, interpretation and clarification. So the minister has now, following our submission,
00:17:00 of those amendments endorsed by Council, reviewed the amendments and approved it subject to eight conditions. Three of the conditions were at the request of Council staff. Two were to correct a couple of errors that we had picked up, and one was to facilitate the rezoning of three lots that we purchased under the voluntary buy-back scheme to Recreation Active Space, to be used for recreational use. The second was to correct a couple of errors that we purchased under the voluntary buy-back scheme to Recreation Active Space, to avoid having to do another amendment process. There were two conditions that the ministers directed us to revert back to the publicly notified version of the amendment, and that's around making dual occupancy inconsistent on lots equal to or greater than 600 square metres in the medium density residential zone, and applying the amplified music provision AO only to outdoor spaces. And the third was
00:18:00 also directed that we comply with requirements under the planning regulation around making dwelling houses accepted development in the community facilities zone, where it complies with the regulation. There's a capture all condition to make any changes arising from any of these amendments, and a condition that removes noise attenuation and privacy measures that we tried to implement post notification in the high density and residential zones which adjoin major centres. Thank you. So there are the eight conditions. It's a requirement as part of the minister's approval that we adopt all of those conditions. There's no picking and choosing, so it's a whole package, which we're recommending for adoption by Council. So following Council's formal adoption, we will place a public notice in the local paper.
00:19:00 We also will... update our website and put a notice in the Queensland Government Gazette. So we're proposing to commence the amendments on the 26th of September. Property owners affected by a zone change, previous submitters and key community industry groups will also be notified, and we'll have supporting package of explanatory information fact sheets to assist in the understanding of changes, and we'll all take inquiries on that. So as Kim has already mentioned, considerable time and resources have been expended. So we'll take a look at that as we move forward. And the adoption of these amendments represent a significant update to Noosa Plan 2020, delivering key actions from the Housing Strategy and Short-Term Accommodation Monitoring Report, particularly in relation to increasing outcomes for permanent housing to the most needy in our community. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you for the summary of the extensive range of changes that this package will bring in.
00:20:00 There was some changes to do with allowing tiny homes on church land, community facilities land. Could you just speak to that please? Speaker 1: Do you want to talk to that? Sure. The land use definition of relocatable home parks has been made a consistent use in the community facilities zone, just as the use of retirement village already is. So if a place of worship has spare capacity within their property, within their land holdings, and they want to put... Two, three, four, five tiny homes on their property, they can seek approval of council through an impact assessment application to do that.
00:21:00 Mayor Wilkie: And this was in response to churches asking for changes so that they could provide temporary accommodation for... Speaker 1: Well, we had drafted it even before then. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 1: But yes, it aligns with that policy. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. And there was some changes to limit the size of... We've got some feedback from residents in urban areas about two-storey sheds appearing on their boundary fences in urban areas. There were some changes that are protecting the amenity of residents in regards to impact of large sheds. Could you just explain what that change involves please? Speaker 1: So the planning scheme side and rear setback provisions, there were exclusions for carports and sheds. But we've tightened that so that if the shed exceeds four point... Three and a half. Three and a half metres, then they won't get that extension. Mayor Wilkie: Unless they're on a rural lot like that.
00:22:00 Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I'll ask a question. So the recommendation number three is notify property owners affected by the amendments who were notified during the public notification period. My understanding there was 1,000 letters sent to the property owners who were notified during Two property owners that were potentially being affected by either overlay or zone changes. The property owners that were affected by changes in the provision of the zones were not notified. Are we going to notify them of this change? And is that captured under the recommendation, the way it's worded at the moment, says those already notified? Can we expand that to include those that are impacted by provision changes?
00:23:00 And is that difficult in terms of resourcing and costs? Director Rawlings: Yeah. So as Anita just outlined, we will re-notify those who received letters last time that had a zone change. We will also notify those who submitted. So if people submitted, we'll notify them as well. And then there will be public notification of the changes. If there's been a provision change within a zone and they didn't submit, then currently we haven't got in here that we would write to them. Councillor Lorentson: Does a petition give any information? Only to the main petitioner. Only to the main petitioner. Yeah. Okay. Director Rawlings: Yeah. Okay. Councillor Lorentson: I might talk to you about that offline. Sure. Sure. Thank you very much. Yeah. Questions around the table?
00:24:00 Councillor Wegener: Councillor Wegener. Just the history of the planning scheme. So we had the 2020 planning scheme, which is quite an ordeal. Before that it was 2006. So between 2006 and 2016. It was 14 years. Before that, so there's big changes, you know, in over a 14-year period. When was the first planning scheme? Because it goes back to, it was before 2006. Speaker 1: Well, the previous one was 1985. But Councillor, it was amended quite a number of times between 1985 and 2006. Director Rawlings: So 1985 was a very significant planning scheme. It's quite a, it's a very significant planning scheme. It was a famous Noosa planning scheme, where it put in place a lot of the key elements of what we are the beneficiaries of today, Councillor Wegener. Yeah. That was a very significant strategic plan that was developed at the time.
00:25:00 But as Rowena mentioned, it was amended a number of times between 1985 and 2006. There was then a change in the planning legislation at the state level, which required quite a significant shift in how planning schemes were developed and drafted. It was called the Integrated Planning Act. So then there was Integrated IPA, Integrated Planning Act Planning Schemes, that came out, which the 2006 one was, and then we had the 2021 under the new Planning Act. Councillor Wegener: So there's, as times change, like we need to continue to evolve the planning scheme. Oh, absolutely. Because imagine if we were still in the 2006 era without that planning scheme. So it's been three and a half years of these amendments in the making. It usually doesn't take three and a half years, does it? Director Rawlings: No, that's, this has been a particularly long process. So no, you, it does take some time, but that is, I don't know, probably the longest I've
00:26:00 experienced. Yeah. Speaker 6: 21 months with the state. Yeah. Councillor Wegener: So that's, I'm just, the message is we have to continue to evolve our planning scheme. Yes. Because there's a lot, because, and us in the room have went through that entire process of years of, it's not, there's not, it's not a lot of big issues. There's like a thousand plus little changes, isn't there, that will make the whole scheme run smoother. Yeah. For example, with small businesses and people wanting to make food products in, they don't need huge applications to make a little product to take to the markets now under the planning scheme. Yeah. So that's, that's the way for a better, better working Noosav. Director Rawlings: Yeah. And this is Amendment Package 2. So even since 2020, we've done, this is the second round of amendments we've done. And there'll probably be a third. Councillor Wegener: Are you working on the third already? Director Rawlings: Before we start, the new planning scheme. Councillor Wegener: Yeah. Director Rawlings: Yes, we're starting on the third. It's like painting the harbour bridge.
00:27:00 Yeah. You finish it and then you start again. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: And go ahead, Councillor Stockwell. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I recall there was one condition before advertising that noted that these set of amendments weren't the response needed or foreshadowed in the review of the SDQ regional plan, but that hasn't shown up in the ministerial conditions. Is that because the new government's changed tact or they're likely to have a different approach going forward? Director Rawlings: There was an advisory comment in the first round of state interests that said, please note there might be some more requirements to make changes to implement the SDQ regional plan. Yes, that was a previous government. There is a review that's been announced for the SDQ regional plan that was developed, finalised last year. And that review will begin later this year under the new government. So that's been announced. So that review is absolutely prioritising housing and employment.
00:28:00 So it's intended to be a fairly efficient process by the state government, based on current information. So then no doubt there'll be requirements for all local governments to look to how they integrate the new regional plan. And subsequent amendments to that, to local planning schemes as a result. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: In 2018, I think we made a decision to reflect the same name for medium density and high density residential zones as was in the 2006 to make it easy. Since that time, we've seen SDQ regional plans pushing more density into those two zones. Will our next review look at the potential to change the names to be more fitting to
00:29:00 what we aspire? It is low, medium and medium, rather than medium and high. Speaker 6: It's something that we will be looking at in terms of what outcomes we want to see in those zones that are specific to that overall state definition and whether they match. Councillor Lorentson: So yeah, we will do that as part of the review. Is that something that's happening already in New South Wales? Where they're referencing like low rise instead of medium density? Is that... Director Rawlings: So there are other zones that are available to utilise in the suite of the planning provisions in Queensland. So New South Wales has its own set of zones, operates under a different planning legislation. Planning legislation is state by state. Councillor Lorentson: But it's that definition that replaced medium density with low rise density zoning, which Director Rawlings: I think is... I think they've put multiple. So there's multiple descriptions. And we already have it. So we have a low medium rise zone that exists here in Brisbane, for example, at doing a
00:30:00 review of their low medium at the moment to look at the outcomes and potentially increase its density. So yeah, there are other... Councillor Lorentson: And that's what you're asking? Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It was a decision made basically saying so people would understand that their zone hasn't changed, but it's having ramifications down. If we looked at that review of the regional plan, what other councils do in high density residential is very different from what we do in high density residential, other councils called medium density. And then we haven't used the low medium, whereas probably a range of our medium density areas are really what we desire is more akin to what the low medium is up for. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask? Can you... Yeah. There were two changes that the ministers came back and imposed additional conditions. One was in terms of medium density that we reverted back to the maximum lot size from
00:31:00 100,000 square metres to 600 square metres. Can I start with that one and just ask, can you just clarify what was reverted back to 100,000 square metres in terms of dwelling houses and dual occupancy, what we presented, and what came back? And can we just get... Sure. ...sort of unpack that a little bit? Speaker 6: So following public notification... Yeah. ...we made some recommendations to make some changes to the lot sizes for houses, dwelling houses, and dual occupancies. One was to allow dwelling houses and dual occupancies to be reverted back to the maximum lot size. And the other was to allow dual occupancies up to less than 1,000 square metres. Director Rawlings: In the medium...
00:32:00 Speaker 6: In the medium density zone. Yeah. Dual occupancies are not consistent in the high density residential zone. Director Rawlings: That was in response to submission. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Okay. So the minister came back... Yes. ...and said... And said no to the 1,000 square metres and reverted back to the maximum lot size. Okay. ...to the original amendment, which was 600 square metres. Correct. That's right. Speaker 6: Okay. That was the only change the minister made. Councillor Lorentson: That was the only change. Okay. Relating to medium density. Did we... Did we, at the time, take the opportunity to try to discuss with the minister pros and cons and the reasons why we presented 1,000 square metres? What's... What... What is that pros and cons? What's the process? Is there... So... ...any communication or any discussion during that state interest, public interest test period? Director Rawlings: So after...
00:33:00 We need to resubmit to the state government. We provide them all the information and all the justification, including our council report and our submissions report and justification as to why we've recommended that change. It then gets considered. And there's a... There's a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing about issues. We were not consulted about this ministerial condition. Councillor Lorentson: So what recourse is available to council, given that we have a written... A written agreement or just a written statement from the deputy saying that he would work with local councils to help respect community expectations in terms of any changes in NUSA plan? Can we go back to him and ask... Can we go back to him and ask... Can we further discuss that change, given it's quite significant? Director Rawlings: At this stage of the process, council have two options, to adopt or to not adopt.
00:34:00 That's... The ministerial conditions aren't... Councillor Lorentson: Negotiable. Director Rawlings: Negotiable. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Director Rawlings: They are. They... They... Under the legislation, they're like... They... They... At this... At the final stage, you must... You can adopt your scheme, but you must incorporate the ministerial conditions. And then council, you decide whether you want to adopt that or not adopt that. So, yeah, that's... Councillor Lorentson: Do you get... Do we get another shot at it in the next future packages or amendments? Can we resubmit? How does that process work? Yeah. Director Rawlings: The next round of amendments, council can put on the table anything you want to look at that you want to amend. So, yes, a new... A new amendment process can re-look at things. Yes. For sure. I guess what... What the ministerial change says to us is that the minister, who is both the deputy premier, and has made that statement that he will support local governments, also the minister
00:35:00 of planning, both wears both very significant, important hats. Is that, council, you are to use your zones as they're intended. It's a medium density residential zone, and it should be used as intended, and to deliver outcomes. And I think it goes to the heart of what council Stockwell was saying, that the government are saying to us, utilize your zones appropriately. Councillor Lorentson: So, then, my next question sort of feeds into the next question, there are only two councils in Queensland that don't allow you to build a dwelling house in medium density zone. So, that conflicts with... Director Rawlings: So, in 2022, the state made a change to the regulations to allow councils to make dwelling houses inconsistent in medium and high density residential zones, because it was noted that,
00:36:00 what was happening was an underutilization of those zones. So, the state government made the change to allow councils to do that. So, it'll only be the councils who've made amendments to their planning schemes, or new planning schemes, in the last two years, that will have taken up that provision. I would suggest there will be many more. There will be many more. Councillor Lorentson: In the near future. Director Rawlings: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: But currently, Sunshine Coast Council and Noosa Council. Yeah. Director Rawlings: So, only councils who've done amendments to their schemes, or a new scheme. Now, that won't be all of the councils, you know, because you can see how, what the process takes. So, yeah, it's about that provision only being available in the last two years. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Did they give you any reason condition eight, remove noise attenuation and privacy measures in high density residential zones, did they give you any reasons why that got
00:37:00 knocked back? Yeah. Director Rawlings: That was, there's a provision in the Minister's guidelines and rules around amending planning schemes, that after a consultation process, if you make changes to your planning scheme that are considered significantly different, there is a requirement to re-advertise those changes. We made this change to noise attenuation measures in response to submissions around the noise issues around the junction. The noise attenuation measures already exist in the major centre zone to manage noise, and, you know, we considered it appropriate to expand that to the surrounding residential areas for medium and high density new residential development, you know, to try and mitigate future noise implications. The Department, State Government Department of Planning considered that was a significant change. Too significant change. At the final point, not previously, and said they reverted back to what was advertised.
00:38:00 Said that they thought it was a good provision, but that it was considered significantly different. So, have required us to change it back. We could, we will, and put that into another round of amendment processes. Councillor Lorentson: And you mentioned before, jokingly, but I wonder whether it was jokingly. We either sort of undertake another future set of amendments or a new planning scheme. Were you serious? And I'm thinking under a new planning scheme, then this wouldn't be a significant change. It would just be part of a new planning scheme. Is that right? Director Rawlings: Yeah, we would do it. We would look, start to look at the new planning scheme. New planning schemes are around 10 years. Okay. So, you know, as we lead into 10 years, we'll start to look at a new planning scheme potentially, or if there's major changes to state regulations or planning act.
00:39:00 So, there'll be, there'll be another round of amendments before we start to look at a new planning scheme. We're, we're not, we're only halfway there. Okay. Mayor Wilkie: Question. Mayor Wilkie. One of the most pressing requests in terms of when the planning scheme amendments are going to be coming in. That you're receiving. What, what quarters of the community or industry are you receiving the most urgent requests or updates on the planning scheme amendments? Like, which groups are most urgently awaiting these changes? Director Rawlings: It's probably a combination of responses there. I don't know. I know we've got people in our centres zones that are waiting for these provisions because there are some incentive provisions in, in centre zones. So, there are quite a number of people in our centres zones that are waiting for these large sites in both our centres. We've definitely got our, our Shire Business Centre that is waiting for these provisions to come into place.
00:40:00 There's some, some efficiencies in the provisions and streamlining around dwelling houses. So, you know, that there's a, some red tape reduction elements of the amendments. Anyone else want to jump in? There's community housing in the community. Speaker 1: Oh, of course. For some of these zones. Councillor Finzel: Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Thank you. Yeah. So, like, the capacity to now allow tiny homes on community facilities land. Yes. Church land is certainly a huge game changer. Speaker 6: Yeah. And affordable housing. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: And affordable housing. Speaker 6: Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: What is, could you refresh my memory on what's proposed to happen at this civic? What's, this is, allows the innovation zone? Director Rawlings: Yes. So, this, you have to refresh my memory. Yeah. It's been a while. Yeah. Michelle, do you want to join in? Please. Speaker 2: So, these amendments will significantly streamline uses and what can go into the innovation zone precinct, reducing a lot of red tape, allowing for new innovative businesses to
00:41:00 happen there. There's some changes to some provisions around setbacks and things like that to cater for new enterprise models that don't traditionally sit in a normal industrial zone. So, it creates all those things for that innovation. So, it's a great way to create new opportunities for innovation and future employment. It's also was a response to a minister of condition in 2020 that we look at the different uses and the more detailed planning around the NUSA business centre. You know, kind of corrects the, you know, aligns with the new road and what's happened there with the subdivision, allows for the relocation of the transit hub to a more centralised site. So, there's a range of economic development opportunities sitting with these amendments that... Reduces levels of assessment. Reduces levels of assessment. Mayor Wilkie: Reduces red tape. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 6: Residential zoning as well. Yeah. Instead of it being a precinct. Yeah. So, it establishes that land use in that zone as opposed to currently it's under a major centre zone as a precinct.
00:42:00 Yeah. So, deliver that outcome for housing. Yeah. Director Rawlings: Provides for some more detailed design guidance around the development of the village centre precinct there. Yeah. So, we did quite much more finer grain master planning around that. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Thank you. It's just a reminder of how... Yeah. ...multi-layered this package of amendments really is. And thank you. It's an enormous amount of work that you've done. Indeed. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. So, in terms of going back to meeting density and the changes that were made. So, if you've got a property that's 600 square metres or greater, you're no longer allowed to build a dual occupancy house. In terms of existing use rights and formal request under a superseded planning scheme, can you go through what is available to... Yeah. ...residents at the moment? How can they retain their existing use rights?
00:43:00 And can you talk through the process? Yeah. Speaker 5: I'm happy to take that back. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Councillor. Yeah. Speaker 5: So, the Planning Act actually gives provisions to people to protect and gives them a 12-month period, essentially, to undertake what's called a superseded planning request. So, that can give them the ability to apply under a superseded planning scheme. So, they make a request through the described form, and we will assess that based on the merits of that proposal. In response to existing homes, particularly the medium density residential zone, so once they're established, they're protected as is. So, they don't have to get any changes. So, the changes don't affect them as such. If they... If there's... The situation... If there's a situation of, like, a fire or something, and their house burns down and they need to rebuild, they're able to do that. So, that doesn't constitute a material change of use. They can do minor alterations to their house, as they normally would, without triggering
00:44:00 the need for a material change of scale or intensity, as long as it meets the scheme provisions that are relevant at the time. So, they can do minor work, but if they... If it's either a vacant lot, or it's a complete knockdown and a significant increase in scale and intensity of a new dwelling, for example, that will trigger assessment, and they'll need to apply under the superseded planning scheme to do that. So, there's a 12-month period from the date that the scheme is endorsed. They have 12 months to lodge a request for a superseded application, and the council has 30 business days to assess that superseded request. And if we support that, then they've got a further six months to lodge that development application for that particular activity as well. So, there is a considerable period of time for people to apply to be accepted under the
00:45:00 former scheme, the superseded scheme. Councillor Lorentson: And if the development application is approved, the currency period is two years? Speaker 1: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: And they must substantially start the build within two years. Can you just speak to that, Richard? Speaker 5: So, there's different provisions in the Planning Act around the dwelling houses. So, where there's accepted development for, say, a building works or a dwelling, there's a requirement around a two-year to substantially commence the works. For an example, where there's a material change of use, it may be up to an order of six years under the currency periods under the Act. But council can specify a particular timeframe. But generally, it's a two-year period for dwelling houses or buildings that must substantially commence that work. Councillor Lorentson: Substantially commence. Okay. Thank you. Does that assist? Yeah. That helps a lot. Thank you. Jess? Just questions. Director Rawlings: Jess has got her hand up.
00:46:00 Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. I might finish some questions before I go online. Sure. So, in terms of monitoring and evaluation, is there going to be like a formal review process just assessing whether or not these recent planning scheme changes have actually achieved their intended outcome? I know that the housing monitoring report will be coming to council and is part of just even planning decisions made under delegation. That information will feed whether or not we've been successful. How often are we to expect like a report to come to council just to evaluate how successful these changes are? Director Rawlings: Yeah. So that is an ongoing process. So the process of amending a planning scheme is driven by a number of factors. One is that council may have endorsed new strategies or policies that need implementation
00:47:00 through the planning scheme. There are new state requirements, or there are changes happening in our community. You know, new trends, new things happening, you know, the rise of Airbnb, those sorts of things. So planning schemes need to respond to. But also a regular review of how the provisions are working. And that happens across both development assessment, you know, where they apply the provisions and often say to us, oh, this one doesn't quite work as we might have thought it did. And there's an, you know, ongoing process of capturing those things. And same with the team. You know, continuingly looking at whether or not how it was drafted, how it was intended is actually resulting in what's happening on the ground. So that's, that is ongoing all the time in how we maintain and monitor the planning scheme. But yes, you're right. Through things like the housing monitoring report, that will be a key report that will, you know, look at whether or not, you know, what was intended with the planning
00:48:00 scheme amendments is actually occurring. Now it does take a good 12 months to two years to see the outcomes of planning scheme changes for, for the reasons Richard's just outlined that, you know, sometimes you're still operating under a superseded planning scheme for a significant period of time. Sometimes people get approvals and don't act on them for a number of years. So there is a lag time between where you can actually see whether or not a change to a planning scheme is actually resulting on the, you know, in outcomes on the ground. You know, so it's, it is an ongoing and iterative process. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask, and this is just, you know, what, what I think about a lot is, have we actually really had a robust, robust, honest conversation about what is affordable? And I... Yeah. And should we have a proper legal or planning definition of affordable?
00:49:00 You know, concerns that I have, you know, whether it's a hundred square metres, it's got to be a win-win situation. It's got to be something for a developer for him to step into the space, totally agree. But in ascertaining whether, you know, we are successfully achieving the outcomes, which is affordable housing on top of development. I think we need to have a definition of what affordable is and again, take offline, but is that something you consider key? Yeah. Director Rawlings: Look, we're, we're always up for discussions about what is affordable housing and in the context of Noosa, but it is important to note that there are very clear definitions of what's affordable that exist both at the state level and at the local level and in the industry that are well understood in terms of what's considered affordable. Yeah. So affordable is used in a number of ways though, you know, sometimes it's affordable by design.
00:50:00 So the inference that if it's smaller, it's affordable or more affordable or less expensive as one of the councillors might've said yesterday, as opposed to affordable. And in the Noosa context, that's not always the case. We know that. Whereas, you know, the same dwelling in somewhere other, another location might actually be affordable by design. By definition, it is a wicked problem for us in a reality to get truly affordable housing in Noosa, it requires government support and government subsidy to get affordable housing outcomes. Councillor Lorentson: Or alternatively, secondary dwellings or tiny houses where by the nature of their size, you know, you can only rent them out for $400. That's right. That's right. Director Rawlings: Exactly. And we know this year we've made some changes in the state of allowed secondary dwellings
00:51:00 to be easier on properties for permanent rental or for family, not for short stay letting. And council have also removed the infrastructure charges requirements on secondary dwellings, again, making them, you know, more affordable. To, as an option. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: But there is a, to take the Chair's point, there is a technical definition of affordable that we operate on. Yes. It's been clear in the housing strategy and the paintings. That's correct. Could you explain what that is? Speaker 1: Rowena, can you explain that definition? Mayor Wilkie: Something to do with 30% of household income? Speaker 1: Yes. So it's the lower 30% of income households don't pay more than 30% of their income. That's right. Mayor Wilkie: So truly affordable housing is that, that is subsidised by community housing providers or the state?
00:52:00 Director Rawlings: Yeah, or the state. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: And affordable is also location. If it's located near a business district where you don't have to get in a car. That's right. Director Rawlings: You don't have to commute. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. You can walk. Director Rawlings: Yeah. So there's affordable living also. Affordable living. You know, and that relates to location and access, easy access to, you know, low cost of transport. Services. You know, climate responsive, so electricity bills are low. All of those sorts of things also contribute to affordable living. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Yeah. Thank you. I think the conversation about how we've now zoned a lot in the Noosa Business Centre for residential and the Innovation Precinct. There's a lot of, you know, the content there is people working and living. People are living in close proximity. It probably raises a very big challenge for this council in that the Noosa Business Centre will be the biggest greenfield development site over the next decade. And we've already got a road network that is over capacity.
00:53:00 So the big challenge of approving that is, is to improve the public and active transport needs. So there's excellent active transport to the beach. But trying to get across the coast. You know, you can't get across the coast to your Bundy Road is, you know, you take your life in your hands. Speaker 1: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: The public transport is all focused around Hastings Street and the Junction where if, you know, we need to advocate continually and strongly for TransLink, that emerging, that the Noosa Business Centre should be the core hub for all our local and inter-regional transport. Because the whole concept of doing what we did in the planning scheme there is about transport-oriented data development. And at the moment, it's one of the worst-connected shopping centres on the Sunshine Coast, I reckon. So to me, that's the challenge we're raising by, by focusing our, our medium-density type
00:54:00 developments around existing employment opportunities, existing opportunities in terms of retail, is we need to then follow that with infrastructure planning. And it will come at a cost base of the state and to ourselves. Councillor Lorentson: In terms of Noosa City. Again, a conversation we've had a lot over probably the last five years. To spare our residential zones and these discussions that, you know, state might target our residential zones and put pressure on us to, you know, build up. Can we go to state and say, let's, let's make Noosa City six storeys? Is that, that's a conversation we need to have. That's a conversation we as a council have had for some time. Has that, I don't know, has that conversation started with state or is, are we still at just discussion and thought bubbles? But it's appropriate development in an appropriate location.
00:55:00 And I think Noosa Civic is appropriate location for densification. Keep it out, out of our, our villages, basically. Director Rawlings: Mm. So the, the planning scheme already says that our major centres are the areas for growth and densification. And this round of amendments does, does, does address that. You know, if council want to re, re-look at that and, and increase densities and increase height limits, that's up to council to drive that. So Councillor Lorentson: It's part of It's part of Next set of Set of amendments. Exactly. But would that offset any conversation? Offset any densification in our villages and our suburbs? Director Rawlings: Ultimately, we have dwelling targets that we need to meet under the regional plan. And to date, the state have, we've been able to demonstrate that within our planning scheme
00:56:00 and these amendments, we can meet those dwelling targets. That's what we'll need to continue to do, to demonstrate how we can meet dwelling targets, not just in terms of ultimately the dwelling targets, but in increments, you know, how they're actually seeing some of that supply come on board. How we do that, we will continue to try to do that in a way that is most appropriate to Noosa and putting that forward. But we'll need to continue to demonstrate how we meet our dwelling targets, and that might be increasing in and around centres. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Excellent. Just to clarify, I think a date was made that wasn't made. So I'm not saying that it was intended. But we haven't previously gone to the state about six storeys in the new... Oh no, excuse me. Councillor Lorentson: We have not. Can I thank you? I really appreciate that Councillor Stockwell. But my conversation is, again, appropriate densification in appropriate areas. And I would love just to have some further discussion about Noosa Civic as one of those
00:57:00 appropriate locations for densification. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Sure. A treat, right. Mayor Wilkie: Four storeys then. Councillor Lorentson: Four storeys. Four storeys. Four storeys currently. Four storeys currently. Yeah. Speaker 6: Yeah. Only if you deliver a affordable housing. Only if you deliver a affordable housing. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Just through the CEO, questions around the table first, and then I'll go online. Yeah, sure. Thank you. Last question in terms of the other change that was made in terms of amplified music. Can we have just that explained also, again, what we brought to state and what was actually approved? Sure. Thank you. Speaker 6: Following public notification and in response to submissions... Sorry, I'm just going to go to it. Ah, here we go.
00:58:00 Yeah. So the minister's condition is that... So the minister's condition is that we revert to the publicly notified version, which refers to amplified music occurring in outdoor spaces only. What we were proposing post notification was that we clarify that it applies to both indoor and outdoor spaces, and that where attenuation is included, that there might be scope to operate outside the specified hours of operation. So the minister's condition is that we go back to what was publicly notified that only referred to outdoor spaces, and there was no option to actually have attenuation which might allow for music outside those specified hours. Is that clear? Director Rawlings: It's a bit tricky. It's a bit of a double negative provision.
00:59:00 Speaker 6: Yeah. Yeah. Director Rawlings: Yeah. Speaker 6: Yeah. Because it is an AO, it means that there's still scope somewhat for an application to come forward and propose hours outside of what that AO says, which could be considered where it meets the PO outcomes around amenity and the like. Director Rawlings: We were looking to provide some flexibility, but yeah, the state for some reason has gone no. Bring it back to being really clear about where it applies and where it doesn't apply, whereas the AO was giving it a bit more flexibility that if you can put in place these measures to manage the impacts of noise, then potentially we'll consider the hours of operation. Councillor Lorentson: So now they're saying council just operate the hours and leave office of liquor and gaming
01:00:00 regulations to manage the noise, stay in your lane pretty much. Mayor Wilkie: And how do those hours relate to the hours that OLGR has set? They don't normally adopt the council hours? Speaker 2: Yes, they're consistent with the planning scheme. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Speaker 2: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Further questions around the table? Speaker 2: No? Councillor Lorentson: I'll now move to questions online. Observer. Oh, hello, Councillor Jess. Can you tell us your question, please? Speaker 3: Good morning. Thank you. Just a quick question back to, it'll probably be to Richard, around sub-seeded planning application. Wondering if there was one about the application under the sub-seeded planning scheme. Would that be a decision under delegation or would it be council? Speaker 5: Yeah, thanks, Jess. Yeah, so the decisions will be made under delegation.
01:01:00 There's a 30 business day turnaround for us to make those decisions, and if we don't make them within the prescribed time frame, they become deemed approved, so similar to our code assessment provisions, we need to be quite diligent and efficient around making those decisions. We will, however, update councils on a very regular and frequent basis regarding the number and the types of sub-seeded requests coming through, so that councils are fully informed and across the details. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Jess? Councillor Jess? Have you got a follow-up question? Councillor Jess? Speaker 3: I do. Yeah, so does that mean, Richard, just to clarify, maybe, if anyone watching, if it came to the delegation and then we wanted it to come to council, can you talk me through that process? Speaker 5: Yes. So if there was a call-up, we would need a written, I guess, agreement for the time frames to be extended to allow for that decision to be made, otherwise there would be a risk of a deemed sub-seeded approved if we did make the decision within time frame.
01:02:00 So there are risks, I guess, with that approach, you would have to get confirmation and extension to that time frame to happen. Director Rawlings: From the applicant? Speaker 5: From the applicant. Councillor Lorentson: Council, Jess, any further questions? Speaker 3: No, that's great. Thank you for that. Councillor Lorentson: Just a follow-up. So, Council have the discretion to approve an application under a superseded planning scheme. If Council refuses the application to retain existing use rights, at that point, then an applicant may or may not want to make an application for compensation for adverse changes made to a planning scheme.
01:03:00 Is that correct? Speaker 5: Yes. So, the process has a couple of steps to it. So, the first step is, as you highlighted, around the superseded planning request. So, actually, an application to a request cannot be considered under a superseded scheme, and Council makes a decision those 30 days to say, approve or refuse. In the event that we don't, we refuse that request, the applicant has the ability to lodge a further application, develop an application, and if that is refused or approved in part or approved with condition, then the person may file a claim, and that is basically for the loss of value and interest with the former scheme to compete with the new scheme. So, there's a series of steps that have to go through, and the first step really is, is considering that superseded request, and can they be assessed under the superseded, within that 12-month window,
01:04:00 and then you've got a further six months to lodge an application to be considered. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. That was really clear. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie, yeah. Mayor Wilkie: What is the likelihood of an approval if the applicant lodges a request to build a house that complies with the superseded planning scheme? Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah, under the superseded planning scheme. Mayor Wilkie: Complies with the conditions and provisions of the superseded planning scheme? Speaker 5: Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: What's the likelihood of the applicant gaining approval for that? Speaker 5: Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, are you talking about the superseded planning request or actually a development approval, subsequent to the superseded request? Mayor Wilkie: If someone wants to build a duplex on a property that's, say, 700 square metres. Yeah. Which they can under the current planning scheme. If they make these planning scheme changes come in, they make an application on the superseded planning scheme, what's the likelihood of them gaining approval? Speaker 5: Yeah, so, we always assess.
01:05:00 Mayor Wilkie: If they comply with the provisions of the superseded planning scheme. Speaker 5: Yeah, so they have a 12-month window to lodge that request with us, and we'll consider that, based on the individual merits of each proposal, and if supportable, then they'll be able to lodge that development application within six months of that decision. Yeah. So, they still have consideration of using those existing provisions to be assessed under the former scheme. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. And I'm just expressing a personal view here. Unless it's over height or over scale or ridiculously beyond the provisions of the planning scheme, it's likely to be approved. Speaker 5: That's just my observation. Yeah. No, absolutely. And look, there's a range of factors we consider. There's obviously the legislative elements. There's the potential risk of a claim for compensation. We'll evaluate that. There's also the public interest test around is it in the public interest to allow or consider that, and we've got other relevant matters we consider. So, we've got a broad range of assessment, but the general situation, if someone's prepared and they're ready to, say, build a duplex like you've highlighted, and they've just
01:06:00 about got all their ducks in a row, it's highly likely we would support their request on that basis, given they've got only a six-month window to lodge that development application for consideration. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Further questions around the table or online? Councillor Karen, you've got your hand up. What question would you like to ask? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair, through to the staff. Thank you for the report and the questions around the table being well-answered today. I'm just seeking further closing comments. Can you give some further clarification around the process to accept or not adopt completely the plan? Can you give some further clarifications if Council was not to adopt the plan in its entirety at this point in time? Please. Director Rawlings: Sure. Councillor Finzel. So, as mentioned, we are at the final step of the process of amending a planning scheme,
01:07:00 as guided by the Minister's guidelines and rules. So, as mentioned, we are at the final step of the process of amending a planning scheme, which is a state sort of rule book for how you amend a planning scheme. So, we're at the final step. And the final step of the process is for the local government to decide whether or not they wish to adopt the amendments or not adopt the amendments. If you adopt, then there is one more stage where you have to gazette the final amendments, which Anita outlined would be on the 26th of September, and advise the local government and the department and submitters and everything. So, your options at this point are to adopt or to not adopt. If you do decide not to adopt, then we continue to operate under the current Noosa plan as it currently stands, with no changes, and the whole package of amendments is set aside.
01:08:00 Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Finzel. Any further questions? Councillor Finzel: Thank you. Yes. I just have another question around heritage and character areas and the maps. The work that's being done in that space, how does that affect future planning applications for people, especially in the hinterland around Curran Village, Pomona Village, Cooroy, et Speaker 1: cetera? So, they are matters that we will be looking at at the next council meeting. So, the second round of amendments, so the third round of amendment to this planning scheme would include those heritage and character considerations. Director Rawlings: So, still to come, Councillor Finzel? Thank you. Councillor Finzel: So, that will go out as a normal process to community engagement. Engagement. Yes. Absolutely. Yes.
01:09:00 Thank you for the clarification. That's all. Councillor Lorentson: Mayor Wilkie? Would you like to move? Mayor Wilkie: I'm happy to move to the recommendation, Madam Chair. Councillor Lorentson: Can I have a seconder, please? Thank you, Councillor Stockwell. And Mayor Wilkie, would you like to speak to the report? Mayor Wilkie: Thank you, Madam Chair. Look, as has already been said, this has been a long time coming. The community and industry are awaiting the changes contained in this. For me, personally, perhaps the most significant change is the provision that allows tiny homes, or relocatable homes, on community facilities land, which will allow tiny homes to provide temporary or crisis accommodation on church land. There is a great need for that. Also, the changes around short-term accommodation in response to the short-term accommodation monitoring report. This will make new developments in medium density, high density, rural res and rural
01:10:00 and business centres. This will also allow for permanent residential housing, which is for permanent residents only. Further, limiting the loss of dwellings to short-term accommodation. There are also other provisions for the Innovation Centre and residential zones out at Noosa Civic, which will allow greater economic development and residential dwellings in that area as well. The Noosa District Sports Complex and their members are looking forward to the new development and the new provision which will now allow allied health services to set up out there and support their members. I think they're the main ones, but they just illustrate how significant a package of amendments these are. There are, as always with the introduction of new amendments, provisions for property
01:11:00 owners to make application under superannuation. So I just want to commend councillors, I want to commend the staff and the community for their patience and hard work in giving this package of amendments to where they are. They were delayed at state levels for reasons beyond the control of planning staff and councillors. So there have been some time in coming and there is opportunity through a fast-tracked, what we understand has now been described as a fast-tracked, planning amendment process under the new state government for future amendments to come before the council to make further refinements to the NUSA plan 2020. Councillor Lorentson: I'd like to move this report to general due to the significance of the matter.
01:12:00 It's already been moved and seconded. It's already been moved and seconded. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: There will be a process. Councillor Lorentson: You can pull it out. We can still... You can pull it out. You can pull it out on the press, don't worry about it. No worries. Mayor Wilkie referenced the fast-tracked planning. Can I ask a question? Can you speak to that? And I'm just thinking the state government, I'm trying to think of the legislation, where they're discussing fast-tracking planning amendments. Is that... Director Rawlings: Yeah, yeah, sure. So the state have already announced a process for fast-track? So it's more than discussing. They've actually put it in place. They have. I provided that information to the councillors yesterday. It's called a tailored amendment process under section 18 of the Act. And it still steps through the same steps in the process, essentially.
01:13:00 But it does provide much tighter timeframes. And it does allow potentially... Depending on the scope of the amendment, it does provide much tighter timeframes. It does allow for some of those steps to happen in parallel, which would mean, you know, the process would be shorter. So, yeah, they're particularly keen to do those processes when they... When it relates to housing. Councillor Lorentson: Yep. Director Rawlings: And enabling housing outcomes. So, yeah, it would be interesting to test that process. And I'm not aware yet of any... How that process has been activated by any local... Of our local government. ...government counterparts. Councillor Lorentson: No. Director Rawlings: So it would be interesting to see how that process goes. But, yeah, it is in place. Councillor Lorentson: So that's the right plan for Queensland's future. And their target is delivering one million homes over 20 years. Speaker 3: Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Wow. So probably the only concern I have is, in terms of public consultation and state interest review, how flexible this plan is going to be in talking to us...
01:14:00 Yeah. ...and consulting with our people. And what's right for us. Director Rawlings: Yeah. Yeah. So the process allows for early engagement with the state, which we do as a matter of course. Yep. Out of interest, we engage with the state for 18 months on these amendments before we actually formally submitted them. Speaker 6: Wow. Director Rawlings: So, in theory, that should have streamlined the process. This process does encourage early engagement with the state. And if we do that, then potentially they would do state interest review and community engagement happening at the same time. Now, that sounds great in theory because there's an efficiency, but we know we have first-hand experience that at every step in the state process, we get changes from the state required for us to do. Yeah. So, you know, I'm a little concerned about the risks of that, that we go out to our community with a package of amendments.
01:15:00 We go to the state at the same time with a package of amendments, assuming we've got them on board beforehand. And that happens in parallel. Well, what if the state changes it? Do we then have to go back out to our community? Councillor Lorentson: Not efficient. Director Rawlings: So, we do need to test these processes. I think on smaller amendments, more confined amendments, more contained amendments around one particular issue, it probably would be effective. We tend to have a package of amendments. You know, like Rowena's just mentioned, we've got the heritage and character amendments ready to go on the next round. So, we tend to have a more complex set of amendments, and particularly because it's been more than three years, you know, we've got a list of things we already need to amend. Yeah. So, yeah, we probably just need to step into the process and test it. Yes. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Just a technical question, Madam Chair. Sure. If you wanted to go to general, if we approve this here, it can be pulled out. Absolutely.
01:16:00 At the general. Councillor Lorentson: So, the discussion is for ordinary meeting. Yes. Yes. Okay. Any further comments? Yeah. We'll talk to it. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It's a big deal. The key thing here is this plan is a little testament to the tenacity of our staff in negotiating up to three years ago with a sweep of initiatives to improve housing and housing affordability and housing security. We were two years in advance of the state in providing incentives for developers to produce a component of every development in our major centre zones to be affordable managed by a housing cooperative. It took quite a long time to get them to agree to advertise because they were worried the hours would conflict with theirs.
01:17:00 So, it is great to have an organisation like this. It is one of the frustrations of being in local government that we are an entity subordinate to the state and that hopefully new processes will facilitate it because some of these initiatives are very important for people trying to get a roof over their head or people who work in an organisation that have funds to spend to put roofs over people's heads that can be afforded. Some of them are about winding back the existing infrastructure. That affected our community as much or more than any other community in Noosa in terms of the initial foray of the online booking systems into our suburbs. Now we do know over the course of 2020 that we're probably somewhere near up to 20% lower than what was thought to be in the case back in 2018-2019.
01:18:00 But this suite of amendments is probably the most significant wind back of that use right in Queensland. Because now what we say, if you're in a residential zone or a rural zone, you can still use your online booking, provided it's what it was initially developed for, that is, providing it's an ancillary use to someone living there. It's going back to the, you know, the old Airbnb. Not creating a market whereby a house is more valuable. The value to be bought by an investor to rent out online, where most of the money goes out of the Shire. So the new provisions in relation to STA, I believe, probably are the most significant and probably the most controlled environment for online booking in residential suburbs and rural areas in the state. That is a major advancement. And what we will see is, as was said before, it won't be overnight. But what we'll see is a gradual reduction of those numbers and a return.
01:19:00 A return of neighbourhoods. We'll see it. It might be a decade hence where there'll be meaningful change. But we're already seeing that those uses are abandoned. And once they're abandoned, their existing use rights disappear. So there's a range of good news. The flexibility in our community facility zone, which will provide a lot more opportunity for housing, is another significant step forward. So I'd like to thank the staff. Thank you. We sometimes, you know, people come to town and start talking about planning and the population cap and how we've avoided it. We've still got a strategic planner who was around in the 1997 strategic plan. She was only 15 at the time. Director Rawlings: Twelve. Twelve. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: But those principles and, you know, we've got one of the most stable strategic planning squads in our history. And we've just continued to push forward on making those changes needed to try and keep
01:20:00 Noosa the sustainable place to live and to visit. So well done. Councillor Lorentson: Councillor Whitmer. Councillor Wegener: I'll speak to that. Speak to it. It seems to me that what we're doing with the planning scheme amendments is trying to level the playing field. And sometimes we think, oh, if we don't do anything, you know, the playing field will stay level. But it doesn't. We have Airbnbs. We have pressures from the state. We have all sorts of things that warp that playing field. And the business environment and workings is not fair. And so we, as a council, what we want to do is iron out and bring back a level playing field for it to make a better society. And that is a hard job. And the planning scheme amendments that have been going through have been, are difficult. And we've watched you for years now struggle through the piece by piece by piece, these little, little, little jigs and jerks that iron out, that can smooth out all sorts of things.
01:21:00 And it's our job as councillors to continue to level the playing field, because that's our number one job, is to make sure that things run smoothly and there's fairness. There's fairness and equity amongst our community. And I'd just like to congratulate the staff for this effort, because it's been whopping. I think it's really, for us to, to not pass this would be a true failing of what it is to be a councillor, because we have been on this journey. I regret that we didn't get this through last term, because we have two new councillors that I don't think that it's possible for them to understand the gravity of what we went through the first term, with all the, you know, the huge, the two-inch thick files that we would get. We're going through all the little highlights of the little micro-changes that are there, and they're all very, very important. So I'm looking forward to this, and I think that we are, we've succeeded in doing our job together with yourselves and with the councillors involved in those early, early,
01:22:00 early manifestations, arguments, pushing to and fro, creating these planning scheme amendments, and making our planning scheme even better, because it's really important. That is our roadmap. And I used to bring the planning scheme in here, but I can't anymore because it hurts my back. It's too big. But that's how big the darn thing is. It's incredible, and that's what we depend on to make Noosav this paradise that it is. So thank you very much, and I look forward to this being passed. Councillor Lorentson: I'll speak to this, and probably my position hasn't changed from the last time this came to Council. I really wish I could pull one little section out and approve the whole package, and we can't. It's all nothing. And that makes me really quite sad, because I really commend and congratulate, and I know how much work and how committed to Noosa all of you are.
01:23:00 My decision is, I still can't go past. And I wrote this quote down when I'm out in community speaking to people, is, ability to build a home or develop a lot is an expectation of land ownership. And any restriction on that right should be communicated directly and transparently. And I wrote that down because it sums up exactly what I feel, and Council have done nothing wrong. They have done, they've communicated to the property owners with the zoning changes. The gap, which is that, you know, communicating to those with provision changes, that, I keep going, they're still affected by the planning change. And I understand, as Mayor Wilkie and Richard explained really clearly, existing use rights
01:24:00 can still be retained under a superseded planning scheme change. My issue with that is, that's great if you've got a spare $60,000 or a spare $100,000 to go to a planner or a designer to submit the drawings, but what happens to those residents who don't? Their kids' future are impacted by this, a house is what people own, their number one asset. So, in front of us, what was resolved was that, you know, they're going to have a house. You can't build a dwelling house under, you can't build a dwelling house under 500 metres, and you can't build dual occupancy under 1,000 square metres. That sits uncomfortably for, with me knowing, you know, how many people signed a petition to try to change that. So again, my position hasn't changed from last time.
01:25:00 It's that one issue. And I need to represent those voices for, and on that basis, I'm not going to be supporting the amendment only on that basis. But please know that I know how committed you are to NISA, and I'm actually really excited at seeing whether we can achieve the outcomes, which is more housing supply, more diversity, and good outcomes for our economy. And for our community. Director Rawlings: I know this is not correct, but I just need to pick up that you mentioned that you can't build houses under 500. Councillor Lorentson: Oh, excuse me. Director Rawlings: It's over. Councillor Lorentson: Over. Excuse me. Not under. Over. I did say that. Thank you for the correction. Director Rawlings: Yeah, just in case anyone. Councillor Lorentson: No, please. Over 500 square metres. Director Rawlings: And then dual occupancy is over 600. Councillor Lorentson: And dual occupancy. Thank you.
01:26:00 Thank you. I got my L's and my greater than's mixed up. Thank you. I'll put that to a vote. No further discussion. Mayor Wilkie: All close. Councillor Lorentson: All close. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Look, I also want to make it clear that you can build a dwelling house under 500 square metre lot. And you can build a duplex on lots under 600 square metres. Councillor Lorentson: Under 600 square metres. Mayor Wilkie: Excuse me. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: It's important that we have the correct information out there. But I understand this is going to be re-prosecuted again at the ordinary meeting. So I'll leave it at that. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. Thank you. All those in favour? And against? Thank you. And that brings us... That brings us to... Thank you. Item eight. Reports for noting. There are none. Thank you very much.
8 REPORTS FOR NOTING BY THE COMMITTEE ¶
Nothing was transcribed under this heading — a stretch of the recording with no speech the model could make out.
10 MEETING CLOSURE ¶
01:27:00 Item nine. Thank you. Item nine. Confidential sessions. There are none. So I now declare the meeting closed at exactly 11 o'clock. And I thank the councillors, CEO and all the staff for their hard work. Thank you very much. Thank you.