By JOLENE OGLE
PLANS to build a 24-hour fuel station in Noosaville have ignited debate in Noosa Council, with deputy mayor Bob Abbot and councillor Tony Wellington going head-to-head over the planning application.
In a report to the Planning and Organisation Committee meeting on Tuesday 15 September, council staff recommended that the council allow a change to a development approval for a property at 139 Eumundi Noosa Road and 30 Lionel Donovan Drive that would see a 24-hour fuel station, convenience store and drive-through fast food outlet constructed.
The proposed development originally included a tradie snack bar business but has been replaced with a drive-through fast food outlet.
Cr Abbot said the Noosaville Industrial zone was the “logical area” for such a development and said traffic impacts would be minimal.
“This is one thing I’ve been talking about for 10 years. (The Noosaville industrial area) is the obvious place for a take-away business to actually reduce the amount of traffic that needs to go into Noosaville,” he said.
“That’s the reality of it. We either don’t have any of these businesses or we do and if you’re going to have them I can’t see the sense of having them in the Junction or in Noosaville. They need to be where this is being proposed.
“Yes, it might generate a little bit of traffic but it would be marginal during the day compared to what the previous application was for. But where it will probably generate more traffic is between the hours of 5pm and 9pm, and what does that matter in an industrial area? I think this is an obvious (development) to take pressure off our residential areas.”
Cr Wellington said he accepted Cr Abbot’s argument that the industrial area was the ideal location for the development, but he didn’t believe another fast food outlet was an “ideal outcome for Noosa”.
“I was the last man standing opposing this (application) the last time round and I’m still not happy with the outcome, but I’m going to be the last man standing again,” he said.
“What happened originally was staff recommended a smaller footprint for the food outlet. We approved a somewhat larger footprint and that has now led to a situation where an applicant has been able to readjust that to suit … a fast food chain.”
Cr Wellington raised concerns that an increase in drive-through take-away restaurants could be linked to an increase in diabetes and obesity in the shire.
“While I don’t think the council is here to undertake social engineering, there are some interesting studies out of Sydney that were publicised in the past week that looked at the relationship between diabetes and obesity and the number of drive-through food outlets and fast food chains at it was very clear there was a significantly higher rate of those health issues where there was a higher number of those outlets,” he said.
“Yes, we have a responsibility to provide the community with what it wants. But, we also have a responsibility for their health.”
Cr Abbot said with Noosa’s population heading towards 60,000, there was an expectation from the wider community for more convenient fast food options in the region.
“I’m talking about people with young kids in the car wanting to pick up something on the way home for dinner,” he said.
“What can we do to reach their expectations in Noosa? One drive-through (fast food outlet) for 53,000 people; I don’t think we can sit here and say we don’t want another drive-through. It doesn’t matter what we want … go out there and talk to the average punter in the street.”
The request to change a development approval is likely to be approved at the council’s ordinary meeting on Thursday 24 September.
