Friday, 12 March, 2021
Thinking of selling? You know who to call
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Save Yaroomba off to court
The real price of a tattoo
Tucker with Trevor
32-page liftout Property Guide
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INSIDE
PR OP ER TY
Spencer’s battle Ten year old Spencer Hitchen is continuing his David and Goliath battle to save Sunrise Beach bushland that sustains his beloved Glossy Black Cockatoo population against a Uniting Church development project that will clear five hectares of habitat to construct a 102-bed residential aged care home. Spencer has been watching and photographing the vulnerable species for the past few years. He has written to the Uniting Church to preserve the bushland and with Glossy Team Sunrise is supporting a petition containing more than 3000 local signatures to save the bushland. Last week Spencer, his mum Maxine and the Glossy Team Sunrise including Bob Carey and Desiree and Zoe Gralton, were joined by Mayor Clare Stewart to walk the perimeter of the Grasstree Court land earmarked for clearing. Continued page 6 Spencer Hitchen focuses on saving the glossies. Picture: ROB MACCOLL
Enforce STA law By Margaret Maccoll You make the law, you enforce it. That was the sentiment of one councillor during discussions to change Noosa Council’s short term accomodation laws on Tuesday. Cr Tom Wegener told the Planning and Environment Committee meeting that it was up to them to enforce the local laws. When the STA draft local law under the 2020 Noosa Plan was put out for consultation key complaints focused on a lack of local management, a lack of complaint resolution and a lack of regulation and enforcement. Cr Wegener said if Council saw it as its role to regulate where short term
accommodation could occur in the Shire and manage its impacts on the amenity of permanent residents then it was the responsibility of Council to retain that amenity. “The responsibility of enforcing the Code of Conduct rests with us,“ he said. Cr Amelia Lorentsen said as STA’s brought money and tourism to the Shire she suggested Council use money obtained through the tourism and economic levy to engage extra staff or contractors to monitor STAs. She said Council could follow the practice of Mornington Peninsula Council which contracts a security firm to go onsite to record data following a complaint. Council CEO Brett de Chastel said under
the current policy money obtained through the tourism and economic levy could only be spent on tourism and economic issues. In October 2019, to manage the ongoing effects of both existing and future short term accommodation Council publicly notified a draft local law for short stay letting. The draft local law was put on hold following public notification, pending the outcome of a state wide approach to managing short stay letting by the Queensland Government. With the advent of Covid-19 however, the matter was deferred. As part of Council’s adoption of Noosa Plan 2020, Council resolved to complete and introduce the local law for short stay letting.
A revised draft local law has now been prepared proposing a number of changes, having considered public submissions, legal advice, stakeholder engagement and internal staff review. The issue of compliance and regulation will be discussed at Council’s General Meeting next Monday along with a raft of amendments proposed to the revised draft local law. Among the amendments proposed is the requirement for home-hosted accommodation to obtain approval under the local law, the removal of body corporate approval for properties to operate STAs in community title schemes and no longer allowing properties with onsite managers to be exempt from the local law.
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