A tough new short-stay local law appears to have contributed to quieter neighbourhoods.
Noosa Council data showed there have been fewer reports of noise from short-stay properties since measures were implemented in 2022.
Council’s development and regulation director Richard MacGillivray detailed a decreasing number of complaints.
“In 2023, the hotline fielded 592 calls,” he said.
“We’re more than halfway through 2024 and, so far, we’ve received just 149 calls.
“In the same period last year there were 336 calls, so that’s a 56 per cent reduction this year.
“We are also finding we aren’t getting hotline calls regarding ‘party houses’, so we believe this is a really positive sign that people are following the rules.”
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Noosa became the first council in Queensland to introduce a short-stay local law.
It requires all short-stay property owners to apply for approval and to nominate a contact person to act on noise complaints and other issues within 30 minutes, 24 hours a day.
All short-stay properties must also display the 24-hour hotline number out the front.
Short-stay guests must follow a strict code of conduct to minimise the impact they have on surrounding neighbours through noise, parking and rubbish.
“Our residential areas aren’t tourist precincts, and our residents were increasingly frustrated with the number of homes being used for short-stay guests, often in large numbers and with parties and other noisy activities impacting amenity late into the night,” Mr MacGillivray said.
He said the short-stay approval process had helped build a database of short-stay properties and prevent new short-stay properties popping up in residential zone areas. Only the owners who have a development permit or existing use rights receive approval.
Application fees have funded staff to enforce the local law and manage the approval process.
“We are pleased that our short-stay local law team is now at full staffing capacity with the addition of a new coordinator and an additional assessment and compliance officer,” Mr MacGillivray said.
“In the most recent quarter – April to June – we’ve issued 87 penalty infringement notices and 150 compliance notices to short-stay owners found to be in breach of the local law, including properties that aren’t displaying the local law signage and complaints hotline number.”
It’s believed the local short-stay law could encourage some property owners to turn their short-stay residences into long-term rentals.
The number of approvals surrendered or not renewed has increased, from 83 to 146, during the past quarter.
“We’d previously had an estimated 4200 short-stay properties. With further analysis of active listings, we now estimate that number is now down around 3500,” Mr MacGillivray said.
“That’s great news for the community as more homes will have returned to the long-term rental market.”
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