Proposed Amendment No.2 to Noosa Plan 2020

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Consultation has concluded

Thank you for your feedback, Noosa! 

The proposed amendments and accompanying explanatory material were released for public notification on 31 May for a 6-week period, which was extended for a further 2 weeks.  During the public notification period, there were various opportunities for the community to engage with planners, access information and make submissions.  A total of 475 submissions were received including an online petition with 600 unique signatories. 

A comprehensive consultation report will be made available by early 2025, and all submitters will be advised how their submission(s) have been considered. 

The next stage in the process is seeking approval from the Planning Minister to proceed to adopt amendments. 

What we heard from the community

While there was a range of issues raised in submissions from the community, there were ten (10) key issue areas, some of which resulted in recommended changes to the proposed amendments. 

The Council report and attachments, including a Table of Submissions Table can be accessed here. 

 The key issues identified through submissions and discussed in the Council report are:

  1. Noosa Junction Hospitality Precinct - hours of operation extension and amplified music definition 
  2. Noosa Business Centre
  3. Short term accommodation as an inconsistent use in Medium and High Density Residential zones and Centres zones
  4. Tourist Accommodation zone review - specific sites proposed to be rezoned
  5. Dwelling Houses becoming inconsistent in Medium and High Density Residential zones  
  6. Size of Small Dwellings 
  7. Mandatory small dwellings in the Medium and High Density Residential Zones and dual occupancy 
  8. Affordable Rental Premises and associated bonus provisions, including building height 
  9. Environmental Conservation and Management zone and setbacks
  10. Community Facilities zone - affordable housing

What changes have been made to Amendment No.2 of Noosa Plan 2020?

Following Council’s decision at the Special Meeting on 12 December 2024, several changes are proposed to the publicly notified amendments. 

Some of the key changes to be made include:

  • Dwelling houses will be consistent in Medium and High-Density Residential zones on lots less than 500sqm
  • Dual occupancies will be consistent in the Medium Density Residential zone on lots less than 1000sqm
  • Small dwellings will revert to existing size up to 100sqm
  • It will not be mandatory to construct small dwellings in the Medium and High-Density Residential zones but rather the current opt-in bonus provisions for small dwellings will be retained;
  • the proposed affordable rental bonus provisions will be removed from the Medium and High-Density Residential zones except on the key sites being the former Noosa Bowls Club site and Noosa Business Centre; 
  • 48 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads will allow additional uses to the proposed High Density Residential zone of short-term accommodation where specifically low cost, being motel and backpackers over no more than 40% of the site and subject to a masterplan;
  • the current Tourist Accommodation zone at 3 Hilton Terrace, Tewantin (Noosa Lakes Resort) and lots fronting Gympie Terrace, Noosaville at the Islander Resort will be retained;

 Note other changes not listed above are also proposed as outlined in the Council report and minutes.

What happens next?

A Consultation Report will be prepared and made available to the public on Council's website, with submitters directly notified. This report will include Council’s decision on each specific issue.

Changes will be made to the proposed amendments consistent with Council’s decision including consequential changes, and forwarded to the State Government for Ministerial approval for adoption, together with the Consultation Report. This will be prepared and submitted to the State in early 2025. 

Following approval from the Minister, a further report will be submitted to Council for final adoption.

About Noosa Plan 2020 Amendment No.2 
At its meeting of 16 May 2024, Noosa Council resolved to propose amendments to Noosa Plan 2020, and release the draft amendments for the purpose of community consultation. 

Noosa Council has been working to improve housing choice, diversity, and affordability for residents, as well as introduce mechanisms to support greater innovation and economic development in the Noosa Shire. To achieve these goals, Council has proposed a range of amendments to the shire’s planning scheme - Noosa Plan 2020 – which the state government has now approved for community consultation. 

The proposed amendments implement the key recommendations of both Noosa Housing Strategy 2022 and the Short-term Accommodation Monitoring Report 2022. 

Noosa Plan 2020 – Amendment No. 2 is a major amendment that seeks to support housing supply, housing choice, housing diversity and housing affordability by:

  • expanding housing choice by requiring and incentivising smaller dwellings, accessible dwellings, affordable dwellings and dwellings specifically built for permanent rental
  • prioritising permanent residents within the Medium and High Density Residential zones and key centre zones by preventing further short-term accommodation
  • ensuring any visitor accommodation in Rural and Rural Residential zones is in conjunction with the permanent resident's dwelling and not replacing it
  • rezoning certain land to increase opportunities for smaller dwellings and key worker accommodation
  • creating feasible pathways for the development of additional social or affordable housing
  • reviewing the Tourist Accommodation Zone to both rezone some areas for permanent residents and neighbourhoods and a broader range of local business uses, as well as including certain existing resorts in the Tourist Accommodation zone
  • setting clearer expectations for the future development of the Noosa Business Centre so that it functions as an integrated village providing a diversity of housing and employment
  • establishing clear guidelines for the development of the Innovation Zone
  • facilitating an integrated health and wellbeing precinct within the Noosa District Sports Complex; and
  • generally improving the operation of the planning scheme.

About the engagement period

Properly made submissions regarding any aspect of the proposed amendment were invited between Friday 31 May and Sunday 14 July 2024.

At the Ordinary Meeting on 18th July, Council decided to extend the public engagement period to make sure anyone who had not had a chance to read and comment on the proposed amendments could still do so until the close of business on 28 July 2024.

An extra 100 submissions were received during the 10-day extension, on top of more than 350 submissions received during the initial six-week consultation. Council planners also spoke to more than 300 people at face-to-face pop-up events about the proposed amendments.

We will continue to analyse your feedback on the proposed amendments and let you know what we heard and what happens next.

You can read the media release about the consultation process here.

Fact sheets 

12 Fact sheets provide information on the proposed amendments:

Frequently asked Questions (FAQs)

You can read a series of frequently asked questions on the right hand side of this screen.

Artistic impression of how an additional storey could look if affordable housing provisions are taken up 

You can view indicative artistic impressions of what an additional storey could look like for a residential and mixed-use development, if the affordable housing provisions are taken up. 

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.

This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development, with affordable housing in Lanyana Way, in Noosa Heads.


This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development in Doonella Street, Tewantin.

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.



This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development in the area around Pinaroo Park, Noosa Heads.

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.


Thank you for your feedback, Noosa! 

The proposed amendments and accompanying explanatory material were released for public notification on 31 May for a 6-week period, which was extended for a further 2 weeks.  During the public notification period, there were various opportunities for the community to engage with planners, access information and make submissions.  A total of 475 submissions were received including an online petition with 600 unique signatories. 

A comprehensive consultation report will be made available by early 2025, and all submitters will be advised how their submission(s) have been considered. 

The next stage in the process is seeking approval from the Planning Minister to proceed to adopt amendments. 

What we heard from the community

While there was a range of issues raised in submissions from the community, there were ten (10) key issue areas, some of which resulted in recommended changes to the proposed amendments. 

The Council report and attachments, including a Table of Submissions Table can be accessed here. 

 The key issues identified through submissions and discussed in the Council report are:

  1. Noosa Junction Hospitality Precinct - hours of operation extension and amplified music definition 
  2. Noosa Business Centre
  3. Short term accommodation as an inconsistent use in Medium and High Density Residential zones and Centres zones
  4. Tourist Accommodation zone review - specific sites proposed to be rezoned
  5. Dwelling Houses becoming inconsistent in Medium and High Density Residential zones  
  6. Size of Small Dwellings 
  7. Mandatory small dwellings in the Medium and High Density Residential Zones and dual occupancy 
  8. Affordable Rental Premises and associated bonus provisions, including building height 
  9. Environmental Conservation and Management zone and setbacks
  10. Community Facilities zone - affordable housing

What changes have been made to Amendment No.2 of Noosa Plan 2020?

Following Council’s decision at the Special Meeting on 12 December 2024, several changes are proposed to the publicly notified amendments. 

Some of the key changes to be made include:

  • Dwelling houses will be consistent in Medium and High-Density Residential zones on lots less than 500sqm
  • Dual occupancies will be consistent in the Medium Density Residential zone on lots less than 1000sqm
  • Small dwellings will revert to existing size up to 100sqm
  • It will not be mandatory to construct small dwellings in the Medium and High-Density Residential zones but rather the current opt-in bonus provisions for small dwellings will be retained;
  • the proposed affordable rental bonus provisions will be removed from the Medium and High-Density Residential zones except on the key sites being the former Noosa Bowls Club site and Noosa Business Centre; 
  • 48 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads will allow additional uses to the proposed High Density Residential zone of short-term accommodation where specifically low cost, being motel and backpackers over no more than 40% of the site and subject to a masterplan;
  • the current Tourist Accommodation zone at 3 Hilton Terrace, Tewantin (Noosa Lakes Resort) and lots fronting Gympie Terrace, Noosaville at the Islander Resort will be retained;

 Note other changes not listed above are also proposed as outlined in the Council report and minutes.

What happens next?

A Consultation Report will be prepared and made available to the public on Council's website, with submitters directly notified. This report will include Council’s decision on each specific issue.

Changes will be made to the proposed amendments consistent with Council’s decision including consequential changes, and forwarded to the State Government for Ministerial approval for adoption, together with the Consultation Report. This will be prepared and submitted to the State in early 2025. 

Following approval from the Minister, a further report will be submitted to Council for final adoption.

About Noosa Plan 2020 Amendment No.2 
At its meeting of 16 May 2024, Noosa Council resolved to propose amendments to Noosa Plan 2020, and release the draft amendments for the purpose of community consultation. 

Noosa Council has been working to improve housing choice, diversity, and affordability for residents, as well as introduce mechanisms to support greater innovation and economic development in the Noosa Shire. To achieve these goals, Council has proposed a range of amendments to the shire’s planning scheme - Noosa Plan 2020 – which the state government has now approved for community consultation. 

The proposed amendments implement the key recommendations of both Noosa Housing Strategy 2022 and the Short-term Accommodation Monitoring Report 2022. 

Noosa Plan 2020 – Amendment No. 2 is a major amendment that seeks to support housing supply, housing choice, housing diversity and housing affordability by:

  • expanding housing choice by requiring and incentivising smaller dwellings, accessible dwellings, affordable dwellings and dwellings specifically built for permanent rental
  • prioritising permanent residents within the Medium and High Density Residential zones and key centre zones by preventing further short-term accommodation
  • ensuring any visitor accommodation in Rural and Rural Residential zones is in conjunction with the permanent resident's dwelling and not replacing it
  • rezoning certain land to increase opportunities for smaller dwellings and key worker accommodation
  • creating feasible pathways for the development of additional social or affordable housing
  • reviewing the Tourist Accommodation Zone to both rezone some areas for permanent residents and neighbourhoods and a broader range of local business uses, as well as including certain existing resorts in the Tourist Accommodation zone
  • setting clearer expectations for the future development of the Noosa Business Centre so that it functions as an integrated village providing a diversity of housing and employment
  • establishing clear guidelines for the development of the Innovation Zone
  • facilitating an integrated health and wellbeing precinct within the Noosa District Sports Complex; and
  • generally improving the operation of the planning scheme.

About the engagement period

Properly made submissions regarding any aspect of the proposed amendment were invited between Friday 31 May and Sunday 14 July 2024.

At the Ordinary Meeting on 18th July, Council decided to extend the public engagement period to make sure anyone who had not had a chance to read and comment on the proposed amendments could still do so until the close of business on 28 July 2024.

An extra 100 submissions were received during the 10-day extension, on top of more than 350 submissions received during the initial six-week consultation. Council planners also spoke to more than 300 people at face-to-face pop-up events about the proposed amendments.

We will continue to analyse your feedback on the proposed amendments and let you know what we heard and what happens next.

You can read the media release about the consultation process here.

Fact sheets 

12 Fact sheets provide information on the proposed amendments:

Frequently asked Questions (FAQs)

You can read a series of frequently asked questions on the right hand side of this screen.

Artistic impression of how an additional storey could look if affordable housing provisions are taken up 

You can view indicative artistic impressions of what an additional storey could look like for a residential and mixed-use development, if the affordable housing provisions are taken up. 

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.

This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development, with affordable housing in Lanyana Way, in Noosa Heads.


This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development in Doonella Street, Tewantin.

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.



This clip illustrates indicative 4 storey mixed use development in the area around Pinaroo Park, Noosa Heads.

These images do not represent any development proposals or applications and are provided for illustration purposes only.