A request for approval of another two years for a development permit for a material change of use for a 38-unit complex at Attunga Heights at Noosa Heads has been recommended for refusal by Council development planner, Jack Lewis.
Applicant David Neate took over the site three years ago after the previous landowner went into receivership. In his report Mr Lewis gives three reasons for refusal. The development is contrary to the Noosa Plan’s overall and specific outcomes for Noosa Heads; the community was publicly notified in 2004 and, given the time lapsed, is unlikely to be aware of the approval given it dates back to2004; and if the development like this was made today, it would likely receive submissions objecting to it. Mr Lewis said in July 2005 Council approved in part an application for 30 multiple dwelling units and an accommodation building of 12 units, mainly because of the limited scale of the buildings and the proposed landscape and vegetation buffering would ensure the development would not be visually intrusive. Council also said the geotechnical report concluded there would be a low to moderate risk of slope and more than 70 per cent of the site would remain as undeveloped open space. On December 1, 2005, Desley Boyle, then Minister for Local Government and Planning, called in the application as the development involved matters of state interest, including a wildlife corridor through the site and the movement of koalas. On March 6, 2006, the Minister issued a notice for a material change of use for 26 units and an accommodation building of 12 units.
