By Ralph Rogers
Ralph Rogers, a prominent Noosa businessman and investor in local enterprise, has said Noosa Council’s proposals on short term letting for the shire are “tearing this community apart”.
“The council’s proposed policy for short term letting, which it keeps changing, is contentious, confusing and confrontational,” Mr Rogers said.
“I have pleaded with councillors individually not to vote on the proposal at this time, but to give residents longer to study it and respond to it.
“Many people in our community are concerned that no credible economic impact study has been conducted to understand the proposal’s current and future economic effects.
“The council is wandering into this complex issue with absolutely no idea of what the consequences might be.
“And mayor Wellington glibly rejects the legitimate fears of the 3,000 home owners in the shire who currently let out their properties and the many more who might intend to do so in the future.
“Pleas from the business community – the primary employers in Noosa who understand the economics of the shire better than anyone – are also being ignored,” Mr Rogers said.
He said the council had not acted in good faith by telling him that a vote on the matter had not been planned and documentation was not ready and then 48 hours later scheduling a vote.
“In my view, a council acting in the best interests of the shire would defer a vote on this draconian proposal, which will be subject to one legal challenge after another is tearing this community apart,” Mr Rogers said.
“Better still, they could chuck it out altogether and go back to the drawing board.”
I understand the desire for a healthy economy but it’s hard to see how stopping the continuous spread of short term lets into residential areas will bring about the total collapse of Noosa’s economy that Mr. Rogers is predicting. In the New Plan around 40% of housing stock in the coastal areas will be available for tourist accommodation, and if the number of existing STL reduces over time there is capacity and provision for extra accommodation in the medium density and tourist zones. Governments of all levels across the world are beginning to recognise that economic prosperity is not the only or the best measure of community well-being. The old capitalist arguments that emphasise individual rights and profit and growth above all else are the arguments of a failing system and inappropriate in a changing world that faces many challenges, not least climate change. At some point it’s necessary to call a halt and say we have ‘enough’. We have enough businesses, we have enough tourists, and enough profit being made, and we are willing to stop chasing the old chestnut of ‘growth’ to achieve other goals like community and environmental wellness.
Councillor Ingrid offers another view of the range of unforeseen consequences that could be triggered by this Noosa Council decision. ‘Unforeseen’ because the council failed to do its homework and bring hard social and economic evidence to the table. I won’t repeat Ingrid’s arguments but you can link to them here: https://www.facebook.com/keith.jackson.1426876/posts/10158204471450992
I don’t believe that the sky will fall in on the STL industry, or the Noosa economy as a whole, and it’s complete rubbish to say it will. The recent Council policy on STL takes a sensible centre position in allowing existing use and encouraging resident home owners to rent out rooms. And by cracking down on the pernicious spread of whole house rentals in residential areas, Council is giving our residents a chance to turn back the STL tide and reclaim their neighbourhoods for the lifestyles they thought they’d enjoy when they invested in suburban enclaves.
No, the economy will be unaffected because the decision will strengthen our shire as a great place to live and visit. All this talk of economic and social studies being required is code for elect a new bunch of economic rationalists who will turn the clock back and delete the hard work over the decades of planners, residents, and environmentalists, who basically set the shire up as a model that is much admired in planning circles. How crazy would we be to risk all this?
Popular tourism destinations around the world are grappling with this issue, with more or less success. Byron Bay, for instance, let the rot set in and look at the situation they are in. This issue is being used as a fake hot topic for regime change, nothing more.