MORE than 40 residents put pedal to metal as they rode in support of local business in Noosa Junction.
Protest organiser and Noosa Junction resident Gary Swanepoel said the ride, which took place on Tuesday 14 June, was about supporting a thriving Junction.
“Today is about supporting late night trading for Village Bicycle. We live and work in the Noosa Junction and the key thing is that it’s zoned as the CBD of Noosa so to not allow late night trading goes against what the area is zoned for,” Mr Swanepoel said.
“The people who live here have chosen to live in a commercial space. We want to see the Junction become a thriving space for residents and businesses.
“To have a council that enables people to run their business and to not continually regulate is what’s going to strengthen Noosa.”
Noosa Council is expected to approve a material change of use for the Village Bicycle restaurant that will see the popular nightspot operate until midnight four nights a week.
An initial recommendation by staff to approve the material change of use (MCU) came before the Planning and Environment Committee on Tuesday 7 June following a number of noise complaints.
However, councillor Frank Pardon disagreed with the officers’ recommendation to limit midnight trading to two nights.
At the general committee meeting on Monday 13 June, and after vigorous debate, councillors voted to allow Village Bicycle to operate until midnight for four nights a week.
Councillor Ingrid Jackson said she felt the approval for Village Bicycle to trade until midnight from Friday to Monday was “appropriate”.
“Actually, Noosa doesn’t have a lot of business centres so I think it is really appropriate to support business in the small number of small business centres we do have,” she said.
Cr Jackson said Noosa Junction had great potential to become a vibrant centre of entertainment and was “comfortable” allowing Village Bicycle to operate until midnight four nights a week.
The MCU will be voted on at Thursday 16 June’s council meeting and includes a number of other conditions including a requirement for the owners of Village Bicycle to construct a sound-barrier fence, a limit to the number of patrons in the venue and a four-night trading trial period until June 2017.
