By Ingrid Jackson, Former Noosa Councillor
Noosa Council – or more precisely, anti-visitor elements within it – is moving to amend the Noosa Plan so it will effectively ban expansion of short term accommodation in the Shire.
Councillors commanding a Council majority are about to set Noosa up for problems next time the economy tumbles.
In July 2021, after a year of Council consistently approving applications for short term accommodation in medium and high density residential areas, assessment staff suddenly began recommending applications be rejected.
Without warning, staff decided to enforce a section of the Noosa Plan directing that “visitor accommodation is not to be located in areas which are predominantly permanent residential dwellings”.
The plan does not define ‘predominantly’, but staff worked around this by adopting Unity Water’s estimate that “23 per cent of dwellings within the coastal areas are being used for the purpose of short-term accommodation”.
This 23 per cent benchmark, of uncertain derivation and reliability, was then arbitrarily applied to each application.
So recommendations to refuse applications for short term accommodation flowed to Council’s decision-making meetings and a number of councillors, without questioning, began to reject all or most applications.
It seemed to suit them to have a justification, however obscure, that matched their perception of Noosa being overrun by visitors.
In 2019, after public agitation about a draft Noosa Plan, staff had proposed something totally different: that short term accommodation be allowed for all residential dwellings in low, medium and high density areas.
But a majority of councillors decided instead that in low density areas, short term accommodation would be defined as an ‘inconsistent use’ of whole houses and that applications would be ‘impact assessable’, therefore unlikely to be approved. I opposed those harsh limitations, hence voted against adopting the plan.
‘Inconsistent’ means that short term accommodation is regarded as incompatible in low density zones. Applicants must pay a $9000 application fee.
‘Impact assessable’ means each application must be assessed to determine neighbourhood impact.
In medium and high density zones, the plan defines short term accommodation as ‘consistent’ but requires applications to be ‘impact assessable’. Applications can still be rejected even though ‘consistency’ makes approval more likely. But there is no guarantee. A lower fee of around $3000 is imposed.
Applying was deliberately made expensive and complex, so applicants are likely to require the services of a consultant planner, and even a lawyer.
The Noosa Plan had not been ratified before the 2020 Council elections. It returned to Council after the elections for adoption. With similar concerns to mine, newly-elected Mayor Clare Stewart and Cr Amelia Lorentson voted against the plan, but continuing Councillors, who retained a majority, voted to approve it.
A proviso required by the State Planning Minister prevailed – over a two year period the Council was required to monitor and provide “a detailed analysis … , annual comparison data, consider the economic and social benefits of the current situation [and] forecast the potential long-term impacts of short-term accommodation across the residential zones”.
Before July, assessment staff consistently recommended, and councillors approved, short term accommodation applications in medium and high density zones. Then suddenly staff began recommending refusal and councillors began, but not unanimously, to follow suit by rejecting some applications.
There was concern in the community. Mayor Stewart and Crs Finzel and Lorentson raised concerns about the sudden change, arguing that the staff recommendations were not evidence based and did not address the “detailed analysis” sought by the Minister.
So Council agreed to put Noosa Plan changes temporarily on hold. But there is no guarantee limitations on short term accommodation applications will be eased; it is possible they may be more severe.
There is a long history in Noosa of objection to tourism and visitors, including fearmongering about short term letting taking over the Shire. Online platforms like Airbnb are regarded as malign and property owners who want to short term let characterised as little better than interlopers. There are plenty of anecdotes but little evidence to support these contentions.
Short term accommodation has also become a proxy in Noosa’s tiresome culture wars in which a self-styled group of ‘guardians’ seek to exert control over visitors, newcomers, most business people, wealthy retirees, in fact, anybody except themselves.
Noosa’s beautiful environment and relaxed lifestyle make it a magnet for retirees and visitors. It’s not surprising that tourism, hospitality, property, construction and health services comprise the bulk of the Shire’s economy.
In 2008 the Global Financial Crisis battered tourism in Noosa and left the property market on its knees, a situation that took nearly 10 years to alleviate. But since then, property and rental prices have risen steeply.
However, property and tourism are cyclical, economic downturns inevitable and Noosa has an undiversified, and therefore precarious, economy.
Short term accommodation, effectively managed and not blighted by unnecessarily restrictive rules, could be an important part in providing greater adaptability, flexibility and stability and add to the Shire’s economic resilience.
This opportunity to strengthen the local economy seems to be neither understood nor valued by most Councillors.
It is a furphy that the shortage of affordable housing in Noosa will be addressed by limiting short term accommodation. Quite simply, the prices and rentals of most of these properties are beyond the means of low income people.
Led by Mayor Stewart, the Council has begun to address this problem but realistically it will take many years before the supply of purpose-built, affordable housing meets demand.
Another objection to short stay accommodation is that it is to blame for traffic congestion and the cost of maintaining public infrastructure. But the real cause of traffic congestion is the lack of Council action on establishing appropriate traffic and transport solutions. In the meantime, STA council rates have been increased to address infrastructure costs.
Opponents of short term accommodation also characterise visitors as holding constant deafening parties, wantonly dumping rubbish and blocking streets with their poor parking habits.
There’s no doubt some neighbours have bad experiences, but Council debates never move beyond anecdotes, not providing substantive evidence that problems are widespread. Meanwhile Council local laws officers receive frequent complaints about chronically ill-behaved owner-occupiers and permanent tenants.
The solution to these problems with some short term visitors, long term tenants and permanent residents is a properly resourced complaints and monitoring process to protect neighbourhood amenity. Bad neighbours are not a short term accommodation issue; they are being used as an excuse.
In summary, restricting short term accommodation will not diversify the Noosa economy, fix housing affordability, remove traffic congestion or ensure neighbourhood amenity. Each of these is an issue to be addressed in its own right.
Using the planning scheme to regulate short term accommodation is cumbersome, costly and unfair. It entrenches Council approvals in perpetuity, since these are permanently attached to properties. STAs seem likely to cause distortions in the market because some properties have existing use rights, some have approvals, and many have neither.
A more nimble approach is epitomised in Barcelona, Spain, where the city council manages short term letting not by applications for land use, but through a permit and quota system to control the number of short term rentals in each precinct – settings which the council can adjust as conditions change. It is a system that is fair, adaptable and which works.
Adopting a similar agile framework would allow Noosa Shire to avoid being nailed down by a rigid scheme purpose-designed to advantage some property owners, disadvantage others and do nothing for the Noosa economy.
The foreshadowed scheme amendments will not solve any of the matters claimed by opponents of short term accommodation, who appear mostly motivated by an antipathy to visitation and tourism in general.
