Noosa Council urged to reject application for holiday home at Peregian Beach

New owners of a beach property near Noosa say they were blindsided when they learnt their bid to turn it into a holiday home would likely be refused.

A Queensland farming couple is likely to have their bid to rent out their dream beach house rejected because of an “oversupply” of short term accommodation at Noosa and surrounding suburbs.

St George cotton farmers Craig and Sharon Saunders bought the Peregian Beach home earlier this year with plans to use it for family holidays and eventually retire.

Mrs Saunders said they wanted to rent out the five-bedroom home in Kingfisher Drive occasionally for short-term accommodation and began the approval process with Noosa Council in April.

But this month council officers recommended their application be refused and cited an oversupply of holiday accommodation in the area.

“It’s just very disappointing,“ Mrs Saunders said.

“It’s in a prime location for short-term accommodation, it’s across from the beach and walking distance to the Peregian Beach Village.”

The recommendation comes as the council looks to crackdown on holiday homes in a bid to free up properties for locals.

Noosa’s vacancy rate is 0.4 per cent and median weekly rents are about $600.

The application was compliant with state planning policies and Mrs Saunders said they were “100 per cent confident” when a town planner lodged it.

“All we were told was that we had to go through and apply for this but that there should be no reason for it to be knocked back,“ Mrs Saunders said.

A council report outlining its recommended refusal says the application is not in line with housing needs for the area.

The property is in the shire’s coastal suburbs, where 23 per cent of homes are used for visitor accommodation.

The report says the extent of visitor accommodation has “eroded” the supply of permanent housing in the area and further adding to that would detract from the amenity enjoyed by residents.

Last month council staff gave the same advice to refuse short stay accommodation applications to avoid worsening the housing crisis.

But councillors went against the recommendations and approved the holiday homes.

The application, which received 21 objections, stated it would have a maximum of eight guests and outdoor areas would not be used after 9pm.

Mrs Saunders said, if approved, they would use a local property manager and they saw it as a home for family holidays, not parties.

She said they purchased the home because they loved their holidays at Peregian Beach and wanted to share them with their children and grandchildren.

“That’s what we want to be able to share with other families,” she said.