By JONATHON HOWARD
NOOSA Council has been accused of “wasting rate payer’s money” in its fight against the proposed Masters Home Improvement application near Noosa Civic.
One Noosa resident, Daniel Williams, singled out Cr Tony Wellington in last week’s Noosa Today letters to the editor page (5 June).
Mr Williams accused Mr Wellington of “washing $200,000 of our money down the drain by convincing council to appeal the Masters development”.
An application was made by Masters to develop a new Noosa-based outlet was rejected by both Sunshine Coast Council and Noosa Council last year.
Masters, however, made a successful appeal in the Planning and Environment Court and had Council’s decision overturned recently.
“For future reference Tony, it is unlawful (to) refuse a development application because it was made by a multinational company, or because it is a ‘big box’ development,” he said.
“Developments are assessed on their merits against the applicable planning scheme and other policies/documents. In this case, Noosa Council’s documents intend the site to be used for trade related showrooms, hardware, and garden centres as identified in the officer’s report to Council… sound like a Masters store?”
Mr Wellington said it was absurd to suggest that any council decision was the product of a single councillor.
“In the case of the Masters development application, my motion for refusal was supported by a majority of Sunshine Coast councillors,” he said.
“Furthermore, a majority of both Sunshine Coast Councillors and Noosa Councillors determined it worthwhile to contest the appeal.
“Having said that, I am happy to affirm that I led the charge against the Masters application.”
Mr Wellington refuted claims the Masters application was consistent with the planning scheme.
“Under the Noosa Plan, the Masters store does not directly accord with any single planning scheme definition, having components that include hardware store, garden centre and showroom,” he said.
“Noosa Civic already has 7,000 square metres of showroom space and that is considered to be the upper limit for the Noosa Business Centre. Adding additional showroom floor area thus conflicts with the specific outcomes that the planning scheme determines for the Noosa Business Centre.”
“The Masters development was designed to span two precincts in the Business Centre, called E5 and B3. Whilst the proposal may have been consistent with the zoning for B3, both the garden centre and showroom components are inconsistent with E5. Thus the development conflicted with both the zoning (in part) as well as the overarching planning intentions for the Business Centre.”
Mr Wellington said his main concerns for the Masters development was the impact on local businesses and the Noosa economy.
