Lucky for some – A new tourist precinct for Noosa

The new Noosa Plan is out for consultation with a brave new vision for the future of our shire.  We get to look into the future and see what sort of place our civic leaders envisage Noosa will become. Get ready for Noosa Resort Inc. It will be like nothing you have ever seen before or imagined possible.

Blue lines placed on a map of our coastal communities delineate the bold new vision for a tourist district where short term accommodation (STA) will become the norm, wall to wall events and costly eats and entertainment will abound, and residents will find lowly paid menial work.

The already rich and famous will become even richer and more famous and less well heeled tourists will flock to fill the coffers of absentee landlords who were smart enough to own property there before the new plan came into effect.

A spokesperson for Noosa Resort Inc, Mr Iamin Control, said that in line with Tourism Noosa’s strategy to encourage only quality tourists, the long term aim of the plan was to create a zone where only the affluent could live or holiday, a sort of National Park for Tourists quarantined from the riffraff of day trippers and locals, with a hefty entrance fee for outsiders being considered as the precinct developed.

He said this was not unlike what had happened in places in Europe where central precincts had become wonderful tourist theme parks and long term residents were moved to the outskirts of town where housing was more affordable. To keep the outer housing affordable Noosa Resort Inc has done a deal with Council that will see restrictions on STA in any area outside the new tourist park.

Outside the blue lines STA will require a costly development application. Proceeds from this and the proposed entrance fees will be used to fund the development of the tourist park precinct where infrastructure will be of the highest quality to match the calibre of tourists.

Meanwhile a resident spokesperson, Ms Avarice Libertarian, who lives outside the new precinct is angry that she will not be able to turn her house into a mini hotel whenever she wants. She says it’s unfair that those who live outside the precinct won’t have the opportunity to earn extra dollars by making their own neighbourhoods unfit for long term residents. “If someone wants to bring up kids in a stable environment or live a quiet life they shouldn’t be living in Noosa,” she said. “This place is for tourists, always has been.”

A discussion paper on STA released by Council attempted to appease those already operating STA outside the blue lines whose profitable, home-based hotel businesses might be affected, by suggesting their money making ability will be grandfathered by ‘existing rights’ legislation, but Ms Libertarian said that was not good enough: “If one can do it, why shouldn’t we all be able to?” she said.

Ms Homebody TradValue, an elderly resident who lives next door to several STAs, said the new plan did nothing to address the problems created by STA in residential areas.

“All they’ve done is create a tourist precinct for the wealthy,” she said. “I’m outside the blue zone and I’ll still be putting up with the noise  and traffic from STA forever. Homes and neighbourhoods shouldn’t be just cash cows.

“We thought Council might bring in some regulations that would actually make it a bit easier to live near STA, but no, they’ve just created this new precinct. Nothing has changed for us and we can’t move because no one will want to buy a house surrounded by existing STA outside the quality area.”

Another outspoken resident, Mr Anythingoes LetitRip, said he thought the new precinct would be a windfall for local real estate agents and bring a new perspective to the tourist offering in Noosa.

“Of course there will be some downsides for those living outside the zone, but hey, this has always been a tourist town and the locals will get to work there so everyone wins, don’t they?”

“Noosa has a history of quarantining valuable land for National Parks,” he said. “This was just another step in that direction and in the long term we will have a lot more control over who enters our valuable tourist areas so they can be protected from day trippers from outer Noosa and beyond. “