By Greg Smith
Noosa is a resort town, a world renowned holiday destination and it will always be so. I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. A large majority of our “now” residents, first holidayed here before deciding to take up permanent residency. I can see this continuing given the Covid situation in the southern states. We are victims of our own success and Noosa’s beauty, you might say. Of course this will cause problems, problems which will not be easily solved.
Previous Council reports clearly state that tourism underpins the Noosa economy. Introducing legislation ( New Town Plan re Short Term Stays ) that will affect people’s rights and our economy without accurate data and an economic impact study being conducted, in my opinion is suicide.
Before starting, I should point out that I do not own any holiday letting properties and my business is not involved in holiday letting.
What keeps being touted by some vocal residents is that Short Term Stays are the cause of noise, parking and rubbish complaints in Noosa. And I understand that no one wants to live next to a noisy, troublesome neighbour. But can I say that I have heard the same complaints about some permanent residents as well as owner occupiers.
When I ran for Council at the last elections, I could not for the life of me understand why council did not simply address the problems of noise , parking and rubbish when they occurred. Instead they have introduced a complicated layer of bureaucracy that few can understand and is extremely hard to explain and police.
I asked the then Mayor … how many complaints did the council receive with regards STS in the past 12 months?
The question could not be answered!
I then asked, given Council state they have had numerous complaints with regards STS, …what action was taken with regards these complaints?
Again, the question could not be answered!
When the New Town Plan was being planned, we were constantly told by the then Mayor and a few of the still councillors, that council initiated the New Town Plan with regards STS “in collaboration with key stakeholders”.
When the NTP was open for public discussion, I was invited to a meeting of leading people who were involved in the holiday letting industry in Noosa at the Council chambers. There were many long term holiday people in that room, a wealth of knowledge, well over 100 years of combined knowledge of the holiday accommodation sector in Noosa .
I had to ask the question … … .. before council submitted the proposed changes to the New Town Plan with regards STS, were any people in this room consulted ?
You could hear crickets . To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement.
So, the question beckons, who DID the council staff and then Councillors consult with before initiating the current STS policy?
Who, or what, has been the driving force behind these decisions and why?
Why hasn’t Council initiated an instrument to deal with people who are inconsiderate neighbours whether they be holiday makers, permanent tenants or owner occupiers?
Noosa residents keep on being fed what appears to be “loose” information with regards STS.
Cr Wegener wrote an article in Noosa Today 23/7/2021 – “STAs – time to draw the line”. In the article he stated “…Council planning staff have received information relating to the extent and impact of STAs on the beach and riverside communities, and have found that 23 per cent of residences in these areas have become STAs”
Is this information accurate?
When I enquired as to where this information came from, I was informed by Cr Wegener that “the information is on our website at the following link and the document is called ‘Briefing note on DMATT Growth Forecasts – New Noosa Plan’, oosa.qld.gov.au/downloads/download/187/lgip-additional-documents
When I read the document, it appears to be a projection from a Unity Water strategic planning officer [that] the staff are talking about, produced in 2018.
I asked Cr Wegener for his thoughts on the Unity Water projection from 2018, his reply, “About the Unity Water report, yes, I read it. It confirms what many believe. There has been a huge increase in STLs. I have learned about Unity Water and they are very good with data like this. I am confident it is accurate except there are probably more than 23 per cent STL in the areas they canvased in 2018.”
The question I would like to know is … ..how would Unity Water know what units and houses are being used for ?
Should this be a document being used by council staff to make decisions?
Recently Council staff also appear to be using the Regional Movers Index (28th June 2021) as a reference. The RMI is a Commonwealth Bank document quoting CBA data from relocations amongst its 10 million customers. In the MRI report it states that 6 per cent of its customers moved to the Sunshine Coast (not just Noosa) during the March quarter 2021 (only CBA customers). Does this data give enough accurate information that it is useful in making critical decisons ?
How can council make informed decisions without accurate and relevant data? Council do not appear to have an accurate number of STS properties in Noosa. And we can’t seem to get that number. Council recently issued council rate notices with a noticeable rise to be applied to holiday letting properties.
I know for a fact that many of the issued notices want to permanently let properties because we had some of our landlords ringing us with complaints. You would think council should know which properties are holiday let and which are permanent. If they don’t , why not ?
Why hasn’t Council initiated an instrument to deal with people who are inconsiderate neighbours whether they be holiday makers, permanent tenants or owner occupiers?
