Housing Projects

Noosa’s three cemeteries hold deep significance for individuals and families as final resting places as well as spaces to honour, remember and reflect. Council factors in the changing community needs and cemetery practices in determining cemetery requirements into the future. The proposed subdivision allows for a further 1 hectare cemetery expansion to the Cooroy Cemetery to provide for additional burials in the future.

The current Community Facilities zone is remaining unchanged noting there are some residential uses already permitted onsite subject to impact assessment.   Social and affordable housing options are proposed to be permitted as part of the most recent planning scheme amendments.

It is proposed to subdivide the land into 5 lots one with 1ha lot for cemetery expansion, 3 large residential lots for multiple dwellings (units) and 1 lot for stormwater management and water treatment. The proposed subdivision plan can be found here.

To retain housing as affordable (below market rent) it needs to be managed by a Community Housing Provider. Council has resolved to sell proposed Lot 1 (a portion of the site) to Coast2Bay Housing Group, a local Tier 1 not-for-profit Community Housing Provider to fulfil this purpose following their success in obtaining a State Government grant to provide social housing.

Twenty-five 1 and 2-bedroom units are proposed for construction with a maximum height of buildings being 2 storeys and 8 metres.

Coast2Bay will manage the dwellings on proposed Lot 1. These will cater mostly for existing Noosa residents who are likely to be older residents and people with a disability. They further advised their intention is to integrate with the local community as much as possible.

The mix of housing proposed for lots 2 and 3 has not yet been determined but will also be no greater than 2 storeys and 8 metres above the natural ground level.
 

Landscaping and buffer 

A landscaped green buffer and a new road will provide separation between the new development and the nearest residents. The landscaped buffer would include densely planted 3 - 5m tall understorey when mature planted between larger native trees. The landscaped buffer and new road will provide good separation between the existing residences and any buildings on the new lots. A new double-paling fence is also proposed along the eastern boundary to help mitigate noise emanating from the development. 
 

Intersection upgrade 

Given the additional traffic from the proposed development at the Dianella Court and Lake Macdonald Drive intersection, Council engaged a traffic engineer to ensure the intersection was safe. An upgrade to this intersection is required and includes a dedicated right hand turn lane northeast bound (heading towards the Botanical gardens), median strips and a new pedestrian refuge in the southern median will make the intersection safer for pedestrians and traffic using Lake Macdonald Drive, Dianella Court and Wilgee Court. New lighting for the intersection will also be included. The additional traffic will not travel very far along Dianella Court as the new road for the subdivision will enter before the first house in the street.

A stormwater management plan and sediment and erosion control plan have been designed by a hydraulic engineer so there would be a non-worsening of overland flow at the site boundaries, which means there will not be any adverse impacts on surrounding properties, including flood levels in the drainage reserve at the rear of some of the Dianella Court properties.

Proposed Lots 1 and 2 and the new road stormwater will be captured and treated naturally in a bioretention basin located near Lake Macdonald Drive. Any development on proposed Lot 3 will need to treat their own water and to be discharged into the nearby drainage reserve. 

All proposed new lots are flood free. Currently only a small portion of the north eastern corner of the site floods. This area is proposed to be resumed as road reserve for the required upgrade to the intersection of Lake Macdonald Drive and Dianella Court. The Flood hazard assessment shows this area only floods in significant rain events (1% and 2% AEP) and for less than 2 hours duration.

While the lot is generally free from natural hazard constraints, prior to Council acquiring the land, the site was used as a landfill and a night soil disposal area in the 1950’s/60’s. This was identified in 2023 when preliminary contamination testing was undertaken.  

Council has been advised the site needs to be fully remediated for future residential and cemetery uses. Site remediation is highly regulated and will be overseen by a qualified specialist.  

Extensive assessment of contamination on the site has now been carried out by a qualified and experienced environmental consultant.  

A Detailed Site Contamination Investigation was undertaken in 2024 which further estimated the extent and depth of the landfill and night soil disposal areas. The former landfill is located beneath the plantation trees and downhill towards the gully, while the night soil area is more towards Lake Macdonald Drive to the north of the gully.

A soil screening trial of the night soil area was successful and is a recycling option for remediation of this area of the site. By utilising soil screening where appropriate, as much soil as possible will be retained for use on site to reduce disposal costs. Soil screening, while available for the night soil area, is not suited to the area of the former landfill.

Note: There can be no use of the land while it is contaminated.

A significant sized slash pine and small hardwood plantation is located over some of the contaminated areas of the site. All these trees will be harvested, and the roots removed as part of the remediation of the site. There is some scattered native vegetation across the site which will be either removed as part of the remediation or subdivision works. The screening trees along the northern boundary of the cemetery are likely to be retained along with some of the screening hedge along Lake Macdonald Drive. New native tree plantings throughout the subdivision will offset the removal of the existing native trees.

An Ecological Assessment Report was commissioned by Council and indicates that no flora species and or ecological communities under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 or the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 were observed onsite nor were there incidentally identified presence of any conservation significant fauna species noted in the report.

The anticipated impacts to fauna relate to the development of the existing modified area and pine & hardwood plantations. No impacts to natural bushland areas are expected to arise, as all the notable natural bushland is off site on the adjoining land to the south, and is separated by a fire trail located within the adjoining site.

Remediation

• Start - December 2024 / January 2024 - trees will be removed at the start of the remediation. 
• Finish – February /March 2025

Subdivision works

• Start – February/March 2025
• Finish – May/June2025

Council appreciates the keen interest in this project.

Several communications have occurred so far with nearby residents:

• July 2022 - Letter 
• 23 May 2024 – Letter box drop
• 10 June 2024 – Street meeting
• 18 July 2024 - Letter box drop
• 30 July 2024 – Community meeting in Council Chambers.

Further meetings are being scheduled with a core action group of nearby residents.

Every effort will be made during this project to be as mindful and respectful as possible to surrounding residents.

Further updates will be provided through a project newsletter which will be available on the webpage.