Noosa Springs promises more trees as koala crusader objects to plans

A development application at Noosa Springs faces 400 objections as it changes plans to take into account community concerns, promising to provide added habitat for koalas.

A developer has promised to provide an environmental offset on koala feed trees it will remove if a Noosa Springs development gets the green light from the Noosa Council.

Noosa Springs Golf and Spa owner, GH Properties, has also agreed to plant 60 new koala feed trees on its golf course.

But a Noosa koala rescuer claimed the new trees would not help.

The plan is to build a $50m five-star boutique hotel on land occupied by a tennis court, a tennis pavilion and bushland.

The development project manager Phil Starkey said a raft of changes had been made following community feedback, including the removal of a level from one of the five proposed buildings, changes to roof designs, an additional tennis court and parking and 60 extra koala feed trees on the golf course.

“The primary change is with respect to the height of four of the buildings,” he said.

“These changes will reduce the visibility and prominence of the built form.”

Mr Starkey said some of the comments in submissions had been based on incorrect information about the proposal, but they appreciated the feedback from the community.

The resort owners engaged Gondwana Ecology to consider issues regarding the koalas and their feed trees.

The consultants found the development would have “negligible” impact on koalas, and there was no evidence the 19 koala feed trees that would need replacement were used by koalas.

Noosa koala rescuer Bernard Jean said he did not believe in offset because cutting down the existing trees caused disturbance of the animals’ habitat.

“We don’t know if the koalas are going to use the trees on the golf course,” he said.

The rescuer said he knew koalas used the existing trees because, in 2021, a resident asked him to put signs on Links Drive advising motorists to slow down because a koala was on the move in the area.

Noosa koala rescuer Bernard Jean.

The Noosa Council development assessment manager Kerri Coyle said the council had received more than 400 submissions objecting to the proposal.

“The submissions include concerns about the scale of the building, traffic and parking implications and the proposed development’s potential impact on residents,” she said.

Ms Coyle said council staff were still assessing submissions and the development application would not go before a council meeting until August, at the earliest.