Coolum Beach holiday units application stirs up protest from Drift residents

Divisions are forming at a luxurious Sunshine Coast beachfront unit complex with long-term residents putting up a fight against a bid to turn some units into Airbnbs.

Long-term residents at a luxurious Coolum Beach unit complex are furious with some owners they claim are letting out units on Airbnb and other holiday accommodation sites.

The owner-occupiers claim several unit owners at Drift Coolum Beach have been renting their properties for short stays without the relevant council approvals, including one which is listed for more than $1000 a night.

The owners of four units in the complex have applied for Sunshine Coast Council approval in a combined application for short-stay letting which prompted a protest from dozens of neighbours in the 56-unit complex.

Drift Body Corporate Committee treasurer and resident Helen Seitam is urging the council to reject the application to put an end to noisy guests visiting the beachfront complex.

She said the unit complex was not built for resort-style use and the holiday-makers were impacting long-term residents.

Helen Seitam and other Drift Coolum unit owners are calling on council to refuse an application for four of the units to be used as short term accommodation. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“None of us want to live in a holiday resort and yet that has already been forced upon us,” Ms Seitam said.

“It shows a real lack of respect for the other owners and also council’s process that you keep doing the wrong thing on one hand while you put your application together.”

Several booking websites show the units are advertised for rent despite the council currently considering the application.

Ms Seitman said the complex was not built for short-term accommodation with no lobby and the pool area having little screening or noise buffers.

She said car parking was also an issue when guests used the four units.

“It’s really terrible – they just don’t know what the bylaws are and if they do know them they don’t care,” she said.

An application was lodged on behalf of each of the owners of the four units by Adapt Town Planning.

It said the proposed short-term accommodation units would be serviced through the individual owners who would maintain a 24/7 call service for tenant and resident inquiries.

“Complaints, whether from permanent or short-stay tenants are managed by the individual unit manager … there is a ‘zero tolerance’ no party policy,” the application stated.

The body corporate’s submission against the application said it was “fundamentally wrong” that a small number of owners could change the use of their properties.

Ms Seitam said residents had complained to property managers about unruly guests using the units for parties or not respecting the complex bylaws.

“We started to lodge complaints originally,” she said.

But she claims this hasn’t stopped other guests from being unruly.

Drift Coolum Beach was developed in 2019. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“These holiday-makers are not the slightest bit worried about any repercussions as they know that the letting agent managing the unit is off-site.”

Under the 2014 planning scheme any new houses or units need approval to be rented out on a short-term basis – generally less than three months.

Short stay accommodation was identified as a hot topic in Sunshine Coast Council’s recent consultation for its 2024 planning scheme.

During recent consultation the council stated short-term accommodation was sometimes used inappropriately for parties or functions and could have adverse noise impacts and car parking issues.

It said sometimes units approved for permanent residential purposes were used for short-term letting.

The council proposed to make regulation clearer, monitor approaches from other local governments which could be suitable for the Sunshine Coast, and to continue to advocate the state government for statewide regulation.

Noosa Shire Council became the first in Queensland to introduce local laws with stronger regulation around holiday units and homes – forcing owners to apply for approval, have a 24/7 complaints register and be located within 30 minutes of the property.

Ms Seitman said with Coolum Beach’s rental vacancy rate at 0.4 per cent and an influx in holiday rentals, the beachside suburb did not need more short-term accommodation.

Because the development application is code assessable the council does not need to consider public submissions when making its decision.

But Ms Seitman said they hoped to still have an influence, with dozens of owners already writing to council objecting to the application.

“All we can do is try to urge council to know this is the wrong decision,” she said.

“If they approve four where do they stop?”

The Sunshine Coast Daily has attempted to contact owners of several units advertised on short-stay accommodation website.