Local law to manage short-stay letting open for comment April 9

A new local law Council has proposed to manage short-stay letting and home-hosted accommodation in Noosa Shire will be open for public comment from April 9. 

Residents are asked to have a say on a proposed new local law to manage short-stay letting and home-hosted accommodation in Noosa Shire.

Mayor Clare Stewart said the new local law was back on the agenda after the state government deferred its plans for a state-wide framework to manage short-stay letting.

“The state has other priorities in the wake of COVID-19 but the impacts of short-stay letting on residential amenity continue to be an issue for some in our community, so we’re pressing on with the introduction of the new local law to deal with it at a local level,” the Mayor said.

Cr Stewart said the Short-Stay Letting Local Law would give Council a framework - above what the new planning scheme provided - to ensure property owners managed their properties and dealt with complaints.

Under the local law, owners must appoint a contact person whose contact details must be listed on the front of the property. The contact person must be contactable 24-hours and respond to all complaints within 30 minutes.

“The contact person will be responsible for informing guests of the code of conduct,” the Mayor said.

Under the local law, the contact person must keep a register of all complaints.

“The draft local law has been reworked since an initial consultation by the previous council in 2019, to reflect community and stakeholder feedback, legal advice, the new planning scheme and state government input.”

The Mayor said the introduction of the proposed local law would answer hundreds of submissions Council received about short-stay letting as part of the Noosa Plan consultation and consultation on the first draft of the local law back in 2019.

“Once implemented, the local law will help Council to manage the impacts of short-stay let properties on residents.”

The community is encouraged to have a say on the proposed local law from, April 9, by visiting Council’s YourSay Noosa website.

The consultation will run for five weeks.