The Queensland Not For Profit is discovering how long it can take to get projects off the ground as it starts construction on a co-located aged care home and retirement village at Sunrise Beach in Noosa, Queensland.
It was a decade ago that Blue Care’s initial development application was approved and the community allowed to comment. Between 2007 and 2011 when the ecological assessments and approval for the facility was given, the site was not mapped by the state as an Essential Habitat.
However, there is now increased concern for the future of the Glossy Black Cockatoo which is listed as vulnerable under the Nature Conservation Act. The species is currently being considered for listing under the Australian Government Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Ecological assessment has identified 71 feed trees of the Glossy Black Cockatoo on the Sunrise Beach site with records of up to 40 birds coming to feed, drink and rear their young in the locality.
Council’s latest Bushfire Hazard Mapping rates a large portion of the land as having a high bushfire hazard.
Noosa Councillor Brian Stockwell has seized on Blue Care’s operator UnitingCare submitting a Material Change of Use application for an extension on the construction of its proposed 102-bed aged care facility.
He wants Noosa Council to scrap approval for the site due to the high conservation value and bushfire hazard rating and to increase the permitted use to include social housing options.
“This would allow for greater flexibility on this allotment should the current approval not proceed with the potential to help meet the current critical demand for social housing in the shire,” he said.
