A club is considering its options after the Sunshine Coast Council knocked back its proposal to establish a new base in a rural area.
Council officers had recommended the application by the Suncoast Model Flyers for an outdoor sport and recreation facility on land at Dynes Road and Yandina-Coolum Road, Valdora, be approved.
However, the divisional councillor, Maria Suarez, put forward a motion at last week’s ordinary meeting of council that the application be refused on 22 grounds.
The mayor and all councillors present bar Ted Hungerford and Terry Landsberg backed her motion, which also sought information on what the council had done to progress a regional aeromodelling facility, and suggested it advocate for state government funding for a club facility and look for suitable council land.
The application had attracted 262 submissions, of which 116 were in support and 145 against, with concerns raised about the risk of accidents and fire, acoustic and visual impacts, traffic and dust, community and economic impacts, locational need, and impacts on existing rural uses and businesses.
The council officer report said the applicant had submitted a fire management plan that addressed a key concern and the risk of an aircraft flying or crashing outside of a buffer area was “extremely low”.
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Introducing her motion, Cr Suarez said the gravel road into the proposed facility did not achieve the minimum standard, that car parking was insufficient, that proposed buildings would impede views across the landscape and visual amenity, and that the proposal posed noise and dust problems for nearby residents.
“The development proposes inadequate separation from sensitive uses in the surrounding area, and would result in substantial impact on the amenity and character of Valdora valley,” she said.
Cr Suarez said the site was subject to flooding and potential climate change-related flood investigation, that there was insufficient information about the investigation and management of acid sulphate soils, and that the model flyers could clash with pending changes to the Sunshine Coast Airport no-fly zone.
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She said outdoor recreation was a potentially consistent use within a rural zone “but only where further assessment has determined that the use is appropriate in the zone, having regard to such matters as its location, its nature, scale, and intensity”.
There was “no doubt” Suncoast Model Flyers was a well-loved club with members that benefitted from it, but also that residents would be affected by the club’s activities, she said.
Suncoast Model Flyers president Mark Stringer was unimpressed with Cr Suarez’s move in the meeting and the outcome.
“We disagree with much of what was said,” he said, pointing out that reports by independent experts submitted with the club’s application addressed planning scheme requirements.
Mr Stringer doubted the club would have as much impact on the amenity of the area as claimed, saying 80 per cent of the planes flown by club members were electric and not noisy, that there were only four days in the last two months when members could have flown due to weather, and the membership was heavy on defence force veterans who spent as much, if not more time, talking as flying.
He said he and the club secretary had previously met with Cr Suarez and a town planner and explained that there was no suitable state government land available.
The club had been based near the Quanda Park industrial estate at Coolum but Mr Stringer said it was forced to move because of pending development by Economic Development Queensland, which was now on hold following the change of state government.
He said the club had been interested in using council-owned land at Doonan but the council had withdrawn it from tender for unknown reasons.
The only other site the council had been able to offer was at Conondale, flying over a motocross track and surrounded by hills “out of The Sound of Music”, he said.
The club has 20 days to appeal the council’s decision. Mr Stringer said it was considering its options.
