Council will extend the consultation period on the draft signage laws for two weeks and also arrange more meetings with key business groups.
Mayor Tony Wellington said the extension came at the request of local business groups and Council was happy to oblige, extending the deadline for submissions to Friday, August 9.
“It is just a draft at this stage and we want to ensure that, as part of the engagement process, we get to hear from our community about the proposals. So we are happy to provide an extension to ensure that everyone who wants to have a say can do so.
“The current proposals are not substantially different to the historical approach to signage, with the exception of a suggested new approach to real estate pointer signs, tear drops flags and A-frames,” the Mayor said.
“There is also a suggestion to establish a registration fee for businesses. This is aimed at partial cost recovery so that residents aren’t footing the bill for compliance checks on business signage.
“The current proposal is for the registration fee to be waived for compliant businesses initially and then introduced in the 2020-2021 financial year. But this is all up to council making a decision based on consideration of the submissions received.
“Council has made no determinations on the local laws issue. We are very happy to facilitate further consultation sessions with our key business representative groups to find a workable solution that meets a range of needs.”
Council’s proposed local law is designed to simplify the signage regulation process. Signage is currently regulated through both the planning scheme and the local laws.
“Our aim is to migrate the planning scheme elements into local laws,” the Mayor said.
“For some businesses, this will ultimately be cheaper, because they won’t have to make a development application to deal with signage matters.
“One of Noosa’s iconic features is its subdued, low-key approach to signage. That is an important identifying feature of Noosa which supports the Noosa brand. Like avoidance of other big city symbols, our intrinsic approach to visual amenity underpins our tourism industry and is an adjunct to the success of all Noosa-based businesses,” the Mayor said.
“We appreciate there is strong opinion on certain aspects of the proposals, so extending the consultation period and facilitating more meetings with our key business groups is a reasonable response,” Cr Wellington said.
Submissions can be made via the Your Say Noosa .
