Noosa Residents Against Unregulated Short-Term Accommodation (NRAUSTA) put five simple questions to each of the candidates in next month’s council election.
We wanted to understand each candidate’s attitude to Short-Term Accommodation (STA), and we asked for Yes or No answers.
Some answered Yes or No; some said our questions could not be answered Yes or No; and most added supplementary comments to their replies.
However, drawing on responses to our questions, and their previously published attitudes to the Short-Term Rent tsunami that has flooded Noosa, NRAUSTA’s convenors have resolved to support Frank Wilkie for Mayor; and to support past councillors Joe Juresevic, Brian Stockwell and Tom Wegener. Of new candidates Fiona Jacobs and Nicola Wilson are supported.
Following are the candidates’ tabulated answers and unedited comments.
Mayoral Candidates
Mayoral Candidate | Do you live in the vicinity of STAs and therefore effected personally by them? Yes/No | Do you or anyone in your family own or have a financial consideration in a dwelling in Noosa Shire? Yes/No | Is it Short Term Let (STL)? Yes/No | Do you agree that steps should be taken to reduce the number of STLs in Noosa’s residential zones? Yes/No | Should Noosa Council take action to ensure better compliance with the Local Law on STL? Yes/No |
Nick Hluszko** | No answer | No answer | No answer | No answer | No answer |
Ingrid Jackson | No answer | Yes | No | Can’t answer Y/N, see below | Can’t answer Y/N, see below |
John Morrall | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Frank Wilkie | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Additional information provided (in alphabetical order)
** Nick Hluszko: Needs more information to “make truly objective opinions”.
My starting positing on this subject is that residents should not be penalised by any deleterious impacts which may occur as a result of Town Planning Policy decisions.
As I move around the electorate I have been hearing mixed reactions - some positive, some negative and those not concerned. There seems to be a real mixed bag out there. My own personal experience is that there are 2 STA’s in my street and at no time has there been any issues. In another part of our area, the opposite was true on one occasion.
Today, it is very difficult for me to have an absolute opinion on the subject without factual data. I have not as yet seen anything that could help me or any of us make truly objective opinions. I would want to know out of all of the registered STA’s for example:
How many have had complaints against them?
Of the ones with complaints, on how many occasions has it happened?
What percentage of the STA pool do these represent?
Are issues ad hoc, random, etc or are they ongoing?
Are problems happening in specific areas or zones or do they occur across the shire equally. Ae there areas where there is little if any problems?
Would increased compliance solve issues or are policy decisions needed?
Etc, etc
Like any strategy or policy, good practice is at least annual reviews to adjust when/if necessary using an adaptive management approach. Should I be elected, I would definitely commit to a comprehensive review to truly understand all positions and the facts.
Ingrid Jackson: My Policy
Efficient complaints processes and enforcement are needed for the Short Stay Letting and Home Hosted Accommodation Local Law to be effective. There also needs to be a formal complaints mechanism when issues arise at properties without Short Term Accommodation or Local Law approval. I will ask Council to action improving the complaints mechanisms and compliance at both approved and unapproved properties. I will also seek to have the Local Law reinforced by ensuring council local laws staff are adequately resourced so they can enforce compliance.
Regarding your questions, it is not possible to answer some of them with a simple Yes/No answer. I can let you know that I own a house which is my home.
John Morrall:
The whole STA plan needs to be reopened and when law is created then it needs to be policed 100% without fail. I will work with the community, ratepayers, council and council admin staff to try and resolve this problem before it becomes a bigger monster. This needs to be made a priority. We cannot let this get out of control anymore.
Frank Wilkie:
I have personally advocated and voted for the Noosa Plan 2020 which stopped the unlimited and unregulated spread of STAs in low density residential neighbourhoods plus Housing Strategy actions which will further limit the spread of STAs in all high and medium residential zones. I personally advocated and voted for the introduction of Queensland's first Local Law to manage the impacts of STAs and, if elected, will ensure a review and resourcing of the STA local law to help ensure it works as intended.
Councillor Candidates
Councillor Candidate | Do you live in the vicinity of STAs and therefore effected personally by them? Yes/No | Do you or anyone in your family own or have a financial consideration in a dwelling in Noosa Shire? Yes/No | Is it Short Term Let (STL)? Yes/No | Do you agree that steps should be taken to reduce the number of STLs in Noosa’s residential zones? Yes/No | Should Noosa Council take action to ensure better compliance with the Local Law on STL? Yes/No |
Mat Bankes | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply |
Christopher Darwen | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Karen Finzel* | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply |
Fiona Jacobs | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Joe Jurisevic | No | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes |
Amelia Lorentson | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Leigh McCready | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Andrea Newland* | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply | No reply |
Jessica Phillips | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Alecia Staines | No answer | Yes | No | No answer | No answer |
Brian Stockwell | No | No | No | See below | Yes |
Michelle Ngatai Stokes | No | No | N/A | Yes *see comments | Yes |
Tom Wegener | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Nicola Wilson | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
* Did not respond by the deadline
Additional information provided (in alphabetical order):
Fiona Jacobs:
Ensure visitors, STA owners and Council staff, are aware of Council’s commitment to implementing the provisions of the Local Law
Enforce existing Local Laws in a timely and efficient manner and issue fines for non compliance.
Ensure council seek and consider submissions from neighbours when approvals for STA are considered.
Undertake a comprehensive review, which includes community input, of operation and effectiveness of the Local Law by August 2024.
Joe Jurisevic:
I was the only Councillor to argue that all 3 densities of residential property should have been made inconsistent when this was first put before Council as part of the 2020 Planning Scheme. Medium and High Density residential have the greatest concentration of STAs and facilitate the most affordable rental properties and greatest impact on worker accommodation. This needs to be addressed.
More work on compliance is required and is being undertaken. Council has been working towards filling all positions to ensure that it can meet the expectations of the community in managing registration and compliance of STA registration and local laws.
I was a part of Noosa Council being the first in Queensland and one of the first in Australia to recognise the pressures of short stay letting on resident amenity and implement STA Registration, Local Laws and a Hotline to deal with the issue. We need to implement Tourism Zones in the Planning Scheme where STAs can be situated to facilitate the tourism industry and economy. STAs should essentially be limited to tourism zones in my opinion. There are only 7 purpose built Short Stay resort style properties approved in Noosa. The remaining properties are a mix of residential and short stay properties which present additional challenges. A number of these have live in on site managers which should be considered.
Council is working on facilitating an STA Dashboard to provide a regular snapshot regarding the statistics related to the operation of the Short Stay Local Law for the community. Council continues to defend its position on STA refusals.
Amelia Lorentson:
STA owned - The townhouse (2-4 people max) is located along Noosa Parade in a visitor precinct. It is professionally managed and we have never had any complaints.
Since July 2020, I've championed positive changes in our community. My amendment to complete and introduce a Local Law for Short-Term Letting, including the associated code of conduct to regulate short- term letting was unanimously supported when the Noosa Plan was adopted, followed by unanimous backing of my amendment for the investigation into a Council-employed security firm in March 2021. I recommended a workshop with the Mornington Peninsula Council to exchange insights on short-term accommodation regulations, leading to the advocacy for a 24/7 hotline and a "three strikes and you're out" policy.
Subsequent amendments I made in October 2021 to the Local Law aimed to establish ongoing consultation through a multi-interest stakeholder group, received unanimous support. Additionally, in January 2023, I moved amendments to state-level amendments, requesting a broadening of the definition of "party house". I also advocated for Resort exemptions to short-term accommodation approval fees.
Leigh McCready:
Short Stay Letting in Noosa consists of resort accommodation, home-hosted accommodation and full house accommodation. We have issues with dwellings failing to register as SSLs, poor compliance with local laws and lack of follow up when local laws are breached, and a shortfall of resources to improve compliance in these areas. The types of SSLs which cause the most pain for residents are full houses holiday rented in residential areas of the Shire.
If elected, as a priority I would like to work with the Mayor and CEO to improve the resources allocated to the team responsible for compliance of SSLs. I believe it makes sense to exempt resorts with on-site managers from SSL local law regulation as they should be treated similarly to staffed hotels and accommodation on Hastings St and other tourist zones. This would free up Council resources to focus on improving residential amenity and over time, re-direct tourists back into purpose-built resorts rather than residential areas.
With regards to the NRAUSTA recommendations to improve transparency around key aspects of the SSL sector, in line with my policies I support more transparency by Noosa Council across the board. It would be useful to have an SSL Dashboard, which has up to date data displayed on the Council website – including numbers of applications approved and registered; numbers re-registered; numbers rejected; numbers of calls to the complaints Hot Line; number of Hot Line complaints positively resolved; and numbers of show cause letters and enforcement notices issued.
Michelle Ngatai-Stokes:
The only Short Stay Letting that should be allowed is one that is home based where the owners can then manage on site 24/7 any problems or complaints that arise ie noise, rubbish, can be dealt with straight away.
· If the house is not lived in 24/7 then it is not eligible for a SSL. Only long term letting min 6 months or more. This would allow workers to be able to live here and work here reducing the housing shortage.
· Short stay Letting is the demise of our lifestyle and is a blight on our community.In that we used to have streets occupied by residents that all knew each other and looked out for each other. Fast forward to now We have 1 or 2 residents in a street where all the other houses are empty no connections, no community and lots of concerns - noise, parking, etc.
· Stop destroying what we came to enjoy.
· Council has neglected their duty in enforcing the current by laws and needs a complete overhaul of bylaws and seek input from all communities affected.
· Keep residents and neighbours informed and notified of upcoming applications rejections and approvals prior to any council decisions being made that affects and intrudes on residents lifestyle and privacy, via a register that’s available online and up to date.
No exclusions allowed ie Hastings St, RACV, Peppers etc
Jess Phillips:
No, I do not live near any [STAs]. However as a first responder Police here for 5 years I have seen the first hand noise complaints and disturbance reports from STAs and personally spoken to many victims of STA disruption.
I believe from talking with the community, it seems a lack of resources and training in the department/s handling complaints of STAs, there does not seem to be adequate response times in complaints nor any reasonable action taken. It sounds like the community would like the council to consult and include the community in the decisions that directly impact our locals.
Alecia Staines:
Thank you for your contact. I do own in the Noosa Shire, but it isn't used for Short Letting. The local laws for short stay letting needs to be appropriately resourced and staffed to manage impacts on residents, including enforcing registration. I am aware there are some issues that need to be resolved and when elected, I intend to ensure transparency, and consultation with the community to ensure this happens. I agree that there should not be any additional short stays.
Brian Stockwell: I am currently building in Boreen Point but it is a frame not a dwelling ATM.
I agree reducing the number of STAs is a desirable goal. The legal steps available are limited considering the lawful existing use rights and compensation provisions for adverse planning scheme amendments within the Planning Act. i.e. not reinstating a use right after the abandonment of STA use is perhaps the only available lever.
We are over the peak of the very large approval process required under the Local Law and have started the compliance effort and continue to respond to all complaints. However, I consider it is time to ramp up our enforcement activities, particularly for repeat offenders and those who have not registered but continue to trade as an STA.
My campaign web page ( brianfornoosa.au ) and communications material identify that I commit to implementing the Housing Strategy including the specific campaign platform [quoted at length from that page, as well as from a newsletter he wrote.]
Tom Wegener:
I hope we can further limit STAs through the planning scheme amendments, which were narrowly supported by a 4:3 councillor vote, early in the next term.
Nicola Wilson:
The Local Law appears to adequately address most issues, and the key problem has been lack of implementation and enforcement to date due to division, delays and inadequate resourcing. Residents have made complaints about surrounding properties affecting their wellbeing, and these complaints are not being dealt with. This is unacceptable. I support full implementation of the Noosa Plan 2020 and the Local Law. Implementation and enforcement require additional staffing to manage registration approvals and reviews, deal with complaints, and to design systems to improve transparency and compliance. Beyond that, I believe we can look to other councils in Australia and worldwide to learn from their approaches. While a local issue for us, it's also a global problem that has been successfully contained and managed in some instances.
In addition to the impact on amenity for residents living in the vicinity of STAs, the proliferation of such properties has led to housing shortages for Noosa workers, both in terms of availability and affordability. The impact of this is felt all over the shire, leaving very few rental affordable properties for families in the hinterland. This is an imbalance I want to address as a priority if elected.
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