A local council has launched court action against a couple who allegedly cleared vegetation on a block of land in a prestigious enclave without permission.
Noosa Council has commenced Planning and Environment Court proceedings against Heidi Meyer and Kim Carroll regarding the land at 39-41 Picture Point Crescent, Noosa Heads.
Court documents filed on December 23 allege the couple cleared vegetation from the 1447sqm block on unknown dates between November 2021 and June 2022.
They further allege that more clearing was carried out on the block and the adjacent Noosa Drive road reserve on unknown dates between October 2024 and October 2025.
The documents state Ms Meyer and Mr Carroll have owned the land since May 2023.
The site was also the subject of a Planning and Environment Court appeal after the council in 2023 refused plans to subdivide the block. The dispute was resolved in 2024, with the subdivision being allowed subject to conditions.
Last year the former owners of Buderim’s Malumba Estate, which they sold in 2021 after it was listed for $21 million, applied to the council to build a sprawling four-storey mansion with two basement levels on the ocean-view site.
It is understood that sale was for one of the two subdivided blocks, totalling 723sqm, and had a price tag of $25 million.
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The original home on the site was removed after a development permit for its demolition was issued by the council in December 2024.
The documents state that the landowners were given a show-cause notice by the council in December 2023 following the first alleged clearing.
Lawyers for the council then wrote to the couple in October 2025, following the second alleged clearing, seeking that they give an undertaking that the area be revegetated.
The council is now seeking an enforcement order that the landowners revegetate the land and pay costs.
“It is in the public interest that obedience to planning laws be secured,” says the court application, which was filed on behalf of the council by Brisbane-based lawyers McCullough Robertson.
“The first clearing and second clearing has caused damage to the natural environment, which has resulted in degradation of the ecological values of the land and road, and adverse visual amenity impacts.”
Lawyers for Ms Meyer and Mr Carroll in October responded to the council’s letter, arguing that no permit was required for the first clearing.
“Our clients provided a response to the show-cause notice on 10 January 2024, which set out in detail why the clearing of vegetation that had occurred was not assessable development under the Noosa Plan 2020, and consequently, did not require a development permit in order to be lawful,” it said.
Regarding the alleged second clearing, the couple’s lawyers sought clarification on “whether council’s concern is limited to the alleged clearing in the ‘original cleared area’ or the whole site”, as well as the basis for alleging that the recent clearing was assessable development, and the nature of the development permit council says was required.
The proposed revegetation plan says the area has been “historically cleared and is now largely dominated by weakly attached regrowth trees (to be replaced) and exotic species”.
“Revegetation is therefore to primarily focus on the re-establishment of canopy cover and removal/control of understorey weed species,” it states.
The council is also seeking that any court orders also apply to any potential future owners of the site.
No response from Ms Meyer and Mr Carroll has yet been filed.
The application is set to be heard by the court in Maroochydore on January 30.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
