“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot with a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot spot”
I’m sure the surfers who loaded a sweaty EH Holden van and made the trek to Noosa would have sung along to Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi on the long trip north (I know this because I was one of them).
How prophetic it was now that the developer of the proposed hotel at Noosa Springs has submitted plans for a multi-level car park on the site. This is a development which seeks to build a hotel on land zoned open space and recreation. Further, the land is a connecting habitat area.
This is land set aside as habitat for “endangered, vulnerable, rare and regionally and locally significant flora and fauna…. (it) is protected and enhanced, including food sources and nesting and breeding areas important for species health and recovery”.
The only nesting and breeding going on in this development will be after a lazy day by the resort pool, well-lubricated in the pool bar and warmed in the glow of the fire pit.
The land proposed for development is a land bridge between the environmental management and conservation area to the west of Sunshine Beach and the Noosa Springs Recreation Area, which connects to Lake Weyba. These bridges are vital to biodiversity.
The developer proposes to manage biodiversity by giving any koala an Uber voucher and their best wishes. But koalas are only the most high-profile residents. It’s a bit like being the sister of a supermodel. You never get noticed.
Let’s forget the animals – they don’t really use Uber much and they certainly won’t keep the restaurants of Hastings Street in business.
I guess that only leaves people. Generally, a bit of a worry in their voracious appetite for acquisition. Whether it is another country or a piece of scrubby land, it is easy for us to assume that our desire to do something great will not have consequences for others.
It is clear, in the case of the Noosa Springs Hotel, that the proponent is unaware or unconcerned with the claim that residents, both animal and human, may have on the 14,500 square metres of land zoned Open Space/Recreation under the Noosa Plan 2020 they wish to develop.
But take heart, this is a five star, boutique hotel. Somewhere you’d be proud to stay if you could afford a 32 square metre basic room. I certainly will never stay in the presidential suite. I’ll leave that to real presidents like Xi Jinping. I think he may be investing in the project.
I am being unkind, however. The real motivating factor for the hotel is economic necessity. Noosa needs five-star hotel beds we’re told. There have been surveys and a report, which indicate the need for such a facility. It will be a boon for the community.
Businesses will flourish and tradespeople from the far reaches of Cooroy and perhaps even Gympie will point their white utilities to the rising sun of Noosa Springs and head off for a day’s honest toil on the resort building site. Children will be fed and all will be well in tradie land.
But let’s not be too self-interested. The real jewel in the crown of this hotel will be the quality of its guests. People who live the virtues to which we all aspire. They are quality people – the type who stay in five star boutique hotels. These folk do not holiday at the Ibis, the Mantra or the recently upgraded resort motels of Noosaville.
They ride electric scooters as a mark of respect for the environment. They eschew the motor vehicle for its environmental vandalism. Any hotel they patronise will follow a strict management regime. This management will set the resort apart and mitigate all of the impacts normally associated with the back end of an hotel.
The waste trucks will be fitted with reversing mufflers, which play Handel or Mozart. All glass waste will be individually wrapped in environmentally sourced recycled containers thus eliminating any noise when crushed. Linen will be delivered by French-speaking couriers whose horns honk bonjour. Life will be bliss at the resort.
The developers of Noosa Springs Boutique Resort Hotel (five star) are also environmental warriors. Not content with the environment of the springs, they are spending an absolute motza on a second Lake Weyba.
But there is more – it is a two-storey lake with a pool bar. What better contribution could one make than to discuss climate action over a boutique cocktail or two at the pool bar?
But is it sustainable? Clearly, the answer is a resounding yes. Due to their commitment to wellness, mindfulness, yoga and detox the high net worth visitor will be able to revisit forever. No mention of colonic irrigation – just a fad, I guess.
Fellow Noosa residents, do not be jealous. You too can have a five star boutique hotel in your neighbourhood. We have established the economic need, the public good, the insatiable desire for high spending aristocrats to visit our oh so chic, low-rise playground.
And with the ability of such resorts to do away with the motor vehicle we may indeed have the perfect answer to the whole global warming issue.
So, I hear you ask, “What is the problem”? Planning law is the problem. There are good reasons for strategic planning. It is not just about control and stopping people from doing what they want. It is about vision, sustainability, and community aspiration. It is about a shared view of the world as opposed to individual desire.
Next time you look longingly at your local park or nature reserve and think – ‘What a wonderful place for a five star boutique resort’ – stop yourself and think about the consequences. If, on reflection, you do not see a problem then take up the pen. Write to every Noosa Councillor and demand –
“Why can’t I have a five star boutique hotel” in my street?”
And if you don’t think they will listen, I refer you to the Supreme Court of Queensland – Development Watch Inc. V Sunshine Coast Regional Council –
“The court was required to take that evidence (expectations of the community) into account …. but that did not occur…… This was another error of law.”
(John Cochrane is an architect and Noosa Springs homeowner. He is one of more than 500 objectors to the estimated $50million hotel development proposal at Noosa Springs to be considered by Noosa Council this month.
