Sitting among the trees in a rural setting to sip coffee and socialise has proven so popular at Cooroy’s Bus Espresso cafe it has attracted neighbourhood complaints about traffic, road safety and amenity and now looks set to lose its approval to trade as a food and drink outlet.
About 18 months ago Noosa councillors were unanimous in backing the continued operation of the roadside stall which had grown into a food and drink outlet, enabling the operator time to apply for the appropriate permit to continue serving coffee at its onsite dining area.
At the time, the application sparked discussion on the value of small scale rural businesses to the community and tourism as well as the limitations in the planning scheme to enable a path of growth for small scale rural produce and creative industries that do not adversely impact the region.
Rob Noy submitted an application to council to retrospectively approve his Bus Stop Espresso that serves his own and locally sourced food and beverages from a 1948 Victorian omnibus at 201 Mary River Road, Cooroy.
The stall sells honey and eggs, produced on his property, fruit, vegetables and herbs grown on his and nearby properties, coffee processed and produced by Cooroy Coffee Roasters and had aims to expand its range, stall structure and dining opportunities.
At council’s general meeting on Monday staff said a number of complaints had been received and, while they were supportive of the roadside stall structure, they were not supportive of the food and drink outlet.
Staff said a food and drink outlet was more suitable for an urban location, not a rural area.
It was outside the urban boundary, had insufficient car parks and, being located on a 80km/hr road, raised safety concerns with cars pulling in and out and parking on road verges, they said.
Cr Frank Wilkie raised a motion authorising the chief executive officer to work with the applicant to find an appropriate location for his food and drink outlet/bus before reading out a plea from a neighbour.
The neighbour wrote of her life and dream of living in a rural zone being turned upside down by the roadside outlet which, being located opposite Cooroy dump zone, added to local traffic, increased the risk for her children crossing the road and led to customers wandering her property.
Cr Tom Wegener said he felt for the neighbour but the real problem was the business was too busy because it was too successful. It’s providing a serious need, he said.
“The problem is there’s not enough of these places. Bringing locally made products to a place to sell them is something council has been striving for,“ he said.
We should hammer out a lot of these issues. We haven’t really addressed them, he said.
All councillors except Cr Wegener voted against approving the food and drink outlet application and a final decision on the matter will be made at council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday evening.
If carried, the applicant will be advised the food and drink outlet must cease operating from the site within three months with any unapproved structures removed.
