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16 Comments

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1. For the sake of the resident's amenity & rights for a safe & peaceful life, please do not approve this application. Columbia Drive has traditionally been a residential street. Allowing holiday rentals in a Low Density Residential Zone is inconsistent with land use & is fostering the decline of the Noosa Community.
   The shire is struggling with a housing crisis. This property should be available for residents, not a STA.
   Even the threat of another STA, let alone an approved one, impacts the mental well-being of the permanent residents with the worry of ‘What will next weeks visitors be like?’ Quality of life or residents should be paramount & put ahead of commercial interest.

2. As stated in the Noosa Plan 2020, Item 5.2 “Low Density Residential Zone is intended for permanent residential living, the regular or frequent use of a dwelling house for short term accommodation is not considered an appropriate use in the zone”. I shouldn’t have to say anymore….. This property sold in July 2020 and has not been occupied by permanent residents since this date. This property has No “Existing Use Rights” as it was never used as Short Term accommodation prior to October 2020, this was after the implementation of the Noosa Plan which commenced on 31 July 2020. Surely, this information alone is enough for this application for short term holiday accommodation to be refused.
   16 Columbia Drive, Sunrise Beach allows up to 10 guests and 2 dogs during all bookings. This property is booked on an ongoing and frequent basis by large groups of people that are generally loud, and inconsiderate of permanent residents that reside in this street. Although, it is not defined by Council as a party house, I have personally witnessed and been affected by the loud music and entertaining of large groups into the early hours of the morning, police arriving on numerous occasions, many vehicles parked both sides of the street and overflowing bins allowing rubbish to be strewn into neighbouring gardens, all this combined has significant negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of the long term, permanent residents that live around them.
   Noosa provides more than enough accommodation for holiday makers all year round in the appropriately designated zones. With the current housing crisis, Noosa is losing the balance between the locals that support our Community and the here today, gone tomorrow tourists. The residents that live in these low density zones choose to escape the tourist hub of Noosa. Please allow them the peaceful, quiet neighbourhood that they deserve.

3. As neighbours to 16 Columbia Drive, we plead that this application is not approved. During the time that this property has already been used for Short Term accomodation we have experienced unacceptable conditions for a residential area. The back to back bookings of large groups have caused us many sleepless nights and concerns for our safety and privacy, twice guests have attempted to enter our premises uninvited whilst partying.

   The conditions for the holiday accommodation specify that the house can only accept 2 dogs at a time however we have seen up to 4 dogs left unattended at the property for hours on end, they were obviously distressed and there was no action to rectify this even after the Property Manager attempted to contact the guests. As great as it is to have rules, there is no one to enforce them and the Property Mangers unfortunately have had no control when we have reported issues. The guests are inconsiderate and don’t even respond to the management party, all we get is an apology and empty promise that it won’t happen again. I acknowledge that each time I have contacted the Property Mangers they do respond.

   On multiple occasions we have had rubbish overflow from the kerbside bins and blow down the street and into our property. This is one of the most disappointing results of having large groups staying and the bins being left on the street. Again, I acknowledge that the property managers made an effort to rectify this by cleaning up some of the rubbish on the most recent occasion.

   Having short stay accommodation during holiday periods such as Schoolies, New Year’s Eve and other party periods disturbs the neighbourhood and the excessive number of vehicles parked up and down the street makes it difficult for the local traffic to pass.

   Our concern is for our neighbours who are elderly and have young families. We cannot sustain being subject to sleepless nights and uncertainty. We are very reasonable people and have great relationships with all of our neighbours. We all respect the area in which we live and we wish to restore peace to our quiet little street and no longer have to worry when the weekends come.

   We thank you for your understanding regarding the undeniable impact these types of accomodation arrangements have on our community.

4. This request should be declined for following reasons -
   This is in a quiet, low density, residential area with local families living peacefully here, its a refuge from the holiday areas.
   This area is not zoned for commercial or holiday businesses.
   The business of running commercial Airbnbs on a full time basis has already eroded the local community, taken far too many long term rental properties out of the market and this is destroying the fabric of this town.
   There are more than sufficient designated holiday & tourist accommodation available in appropriate & already designated areas of Noosa.
   The peaceful enjoyment of neighbours & long term local residents need to be favoured over new commercial business.

5. I don’t believe this house is suitable for short term lease such as air bnb, Columbia Drive has always been a peaceful residential area. Having such a large house with a large amount of guests is not suitable, also doesn’t provide the off street parking for all house guests, blocking the street to current residents. The noise from this house in the past months has been unbearable with party’s non stop throughout the night. This application must be denied! I can hear the noise & I am a resident on Ben lexcen Drive.

6. We are residents in Sunrise Beach and believe we don’t need anymore short term accomodation options in our suburb. Columbia Drive is a quiet and family friendly street. It does not fit into the category offering short term accommodation. If this application goes through it will result in large numbers of people coming and going, basically strangers to the neighbourhood, cars parked all over a not very wide street and disruption to Columbia Drive residents. Please don’t allow the streets in Sunrise Beach to become mini Hastings Streets!

7. This request should be DENIED Columbia Drive is a quiet peaceful street in Sunrise Beach full of families that live in harmony.
   We choose to live in Sunrise Beach to be away from the "holiday makers" that frequent our beautiful town. The precincts for tourists are Hastings Street, Gympie Terrace etc which accommodate the holiday makers in a spectacular fashion.

   The noise that has come from this house on previous occasions is unacceptable and disrespectful !!! we should not have to tolerate this kind of behavior.
   Disrupting the peaceful neighborhood with loud music and drunk adults in the early hours of the morning - 3am
   Police attending to complaints
   Multiple cars parked in the street
   Rubbish strewn all over the street due to overflowing bins.
   We do not want this in our neighborhood. Please do not let this short term accommodation application be accepted, it is not fair to us that live on Columbia Drive.

8. As residents in very close proximity to this property ( 50 meters ) , We concer with all of the previous comments. Noise, parking ( number of cars) traffic all have an adverse effect on our own lifestyle and wellbeing.

9. As residents in very close proximity to this property ( 50 meters ) , We concer with all of the previous comments. Noise, parking ( number of cars) traffic all have an adverse effect on our own lifestyle and wellbeing.

10. Please do not approve this application in a quiet residential street. Doing so would be an unacceptable and unfair incursion into the lives of the residents.

11. As neighbours of this property, this application should be DENIED. The booking criteria states no parties, but due to the large size of the house, it attracts groups who are naturally noisy, even though this may be unintentional. Noise from this house affects the neighbours who are working people who have to get up early and go to work after being kept awake late into the night.. The property sold in July 2020 and since then has never been used as a place of residence. We respectfully request that this application be denied.

12. I live very close to 16 Columbia Drive (within 20 metres). We frequently hear noise from the house and experience cars from the AirBnB guests parked on our verge, where my daughter usually parks. I am concerned about the impact on our neighbours who are even closer. They are at their wits end with the noise which funnels through into their house late at night. Columbia Drive is a quiet residential street where families and working people reside. I am also concerned that this short term let has been allowed to operate unchecked for so long without any approval. This is not a local resident earning a small income through occasionally letting their property, but a professional developer with no interest in this community, making money to be spent elsewhere. This application should be denied for the sake of the residents of Columbia Drive.

13. The proposed use is in conflict with the planning scheme intent for the use of premises in a residential area. Short term holiday let uses result in pressures on infrastructure and users behaviours are at odds with those of longer term residential occupation. There is more than adequate tourist accommodation in appropriate zones in the coastal area of Noosa Shire. The whole fabric of community life is being destroyed by homes being used for tourist accommodation. We need housing for the employees who service this community including essential services employees (Police, Ambulance, Fire & Rescue, Council staff, medical, education and hospitality. Reliance on the tourism industry alone is fraught with risks....enough is enough. And the noise local law is not the answer to these problems....noise is only a part of the problem....the issues are greater than that. Please do not approve this application and think of the residents and the needs of the community & broader economy and not just those of a property investor.

14. This size of this home and its location makes it a disastrous choice for an STA under the superceded planning scheme. 16 Columbia Dr sits very close to its neighbours on all sides except to the rear, which is National Park. It is a large house which would appeal to a large group of friends or a number of families sharing holiday costs. The impact of this particular STA is already being experienced and objected to by the neighbours in the street, and no "Code Of Conduct" is going to be respected by tourists that have paid a large amount of money to rent a house for their holiday use.
    This property is exactly the type of place that prompted the necessity for regulation of land use by the new 2020 Noosa Plan, now approved. The owners may be trying to take advantage of the window of opportunity under the SPS provisions, but this is a perfect example of why the new regulations were required and adopted in the first place: to protect local amenity and preserve community. Sunrise Beach might be close enough to the tourist regions to access but it is still a permanent residential area. Many of the residents chose to live here because it was away from the high-activity zones. Council would be setting a devastating precedent by approving this house as a short term let. In truth, the type of STA best suited to Sunrise Beach already exists in large quantity across the suburb in the form of 2 person BNB type arrangements that are home hosted and cater for couples or 3 persons at the most. A bit of research on AirBNB, Stayz , Booking.com, hometogo, vacationrenter.com, etc. show there are already plenty of options for this type of letting.
    The influx of tourists in this otherwise low density residential area is going to impact on amenity. Residents in Sunrise Beach are already complaining that tourists generate increased noise, rubbish, traffic and parking congestion, and can be loud, drugged or drunk and therefore impossible to reason with. There is the security risk of not knowing who is renting these premises and the transient nature of the stays means neighbours don’t know from one week to the next who is staying there.
    There is also the long-term effect of the increase in short term residents and the consequential decrease in permanent residents. The needs of such a population are different – for example, schools may suffer from drop in numbers of families living close as permanent resident family numbers decrease. There are 3 schools in Sunrise Beach which could be so affected. Tourism is seasonal and with the loss of local resident spend, many shops and restaurants may suffer from loss of local clientele in the down season when these holiday homes are empty.
    We need what is left of our suburb preserved for the locals who live here, work here, have friends and family here, attend school and sports clubs here. Please do not approve this STA under the SPS provisions.

15. As a neighbour of this property, I strongly agree with what has already been said regarding the affects this property has on our street and our lives. I can no longer enjoy the quiet of my own outdoor living area when guests are staying at 16 Columbia Drive. This is having a negative impact on my wife, my children and myself, not to mention, the affects on all neighbouring properties.
    As a long term resident in this street and local business owner in Noosa, I find it sad and disappointing that our local residential areas are now being subject to STA’s which is completely unnecessary with the amount of holiday accomodation already in Noosa.
    I hope that council doesn’t lose sight of the locals that make up the heart and soul of our community. Because without locals.... there is no community!

16. We are residents in Sunrise Beach and believe we don’t need anymore short term accomodation options in our suburb. Columbia Drive is a quiet and family friendly street. It does not fit into the category offering short term accommodation. If this application goes through it will result in large numbers of people coming and going, basically strangers to the neighbourhood, cars parked all over a not very wide street and disruption to Columbia Drive residents. Please don’t allow the streets in Sunrise Beach to become mini Hastings Streets!

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