When Noosa Council next decides to amend its planning scheme its staff will need to prepare a report on the details of its proposed communication strategy to ensure a “more direct and tailored approach” to affected residents so they understand what’s happening and can have a say on it.
The move, supported by all councillors, was raised in a motion by Cr Amelia Lorentson at council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday, and initiated after she discovered some property owners including ones she door-knocked who will be affected by Noosa Plan Amendment No 2 that was passed at the meeting were unaware of the impact.
Cr Lorentson said despite staff going above and beyond legislative requirements in their community consultation on the proposed amendment to the plan property owners affected did not receive a letter to inform them of the changes and may have missed the information buried in council’s technical language.
Only changes made to zoning rules require a letter to be sent to property owners, not the changes that were made under the amendment to the provisions in Medium and High Density zones, which will have an impact on the type of dwelling allowed to be built based on property size.
Cr Nicola Wilson said there were recent examples of residents not being made aware of proposed planning scheme amendments that significantly impact their land.
“A response from council to feedback on the planning scheme amendments in December 2024 reads:
“In preparing Noosa Plan 2020 Council sought to make the use of a dwelling house an inconsistent use in the Medium and High Density Residential Zones, as well as the Tourist Accommodation Zone. This was not possible because of legislative provisions. Council continued to lobby for this to be changed. Since amendments to the Planning Regulation 2017 in December 2022, local planning instruments can make the use of a dwelling house assessable development and inconsistent in the Medium and High Density Residential zones.”
“The general public would not have been aware that Noosa Council was seeking this change for years,” Cr Wilson said.
“As part of the Noosa Plan 2020, property owners subject to a zone change were notified by letter. For many, the zone change didn’t affect the allowed land use, and therefore it met little resistance.
“However Amendment 2 to the scheme changed the provisions within the Medium and High Density zones, following the amendments to the Planning Regulation 2017 in December 2022, that Noosa Council lobbied for. Not a zone change, but a change to what is consistent or inconsistent use in that zone for future development.
“As there was no change in zoning, affected residents were not specifically notified. But this change was potentially more significant than a zone change as it can restrict their ability to build a house. They only found out through general consultation on the amendments. And some still don’t know. They didn’t have a chance to submit their feedback.
“But over 50 people did object with individual submissions, and 960 signed a petition. How many more would there have been if property owners had been individually notified?
“Once a change to the planning scheme is implemented, property owners have one year to make an application for development under the previous scheme. This is a short time frame for residents to find out about the change and then have the money and experts available to make such an application.
When Noosa Council is using new regulations to make a change that no other Queensland council has implemented and has potential to significantly impact an owner’s rights on their land, individual owners must be consulted and notified. A general consultation process is not enough. Residents should not be caught unawares on such significant matters. They should be part of the decision process.
“Sunshine Coast council is currently undergoing community consultation on its planning scheme amendments. I know it’s a bigger council with a bigger team, but their interactive website helps owners to identify whether their property is affected by the changes with a tool that has information specific to each address. The technology is there to support user friendly information for those who want to find out which changes affect them.
“But to be equitable for all, individual notification must be provided where there are significant changes proposed. There’s a budget for community consultation and it must be spent to inform those affected.
“If we can find a budget to send out 40,000 postcards on the DMP, then surely we can write to every rate payer about changes affecting their property, zone by zone.”
