In practice, there are hundreds of dwellings being rented out to visitors within the shire without any development consent … and many owners are not even aware that consent is required.

On the strength of a report to councillors by the General Manager Michael Coulter, highlighting the importance of such accommodation to the shire’s economy, Nambucca Shire councillors offered their thoughts on ways around this dilemma.

They voted to make a submission to the options paper recommending that the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (SEPP) be amended by adding a division which makes STHL exempt development subject to development standards which are aimed at reducing amenity impacts.

Cr Janine Reed noted that children were not included in the list (see below) and recommended that Clause 3 be amended to read:

(3)      A maximum of 2 adults per main bedroom or a maximum of two adults or four children in subsequent bedrooms subject to adequate fit out.  Only those rooms approved as bedrooms are to be used for the purposes of this subclause.

“Kids are not mentioned and this type of accommodation is more affordable for families,” Cr Reed said.

The councillors also voted to delete Clause 4, which requires that general waste garbage bin of at least 240L capacity.

“Our rural residents don’t have these bins and are not on our garbage routes – we don’t want to exclude them,” Cr Hoban said.

The council will now request the following exempt development standards be incorporated into the SEPP:

Short-term holiday letting

The use of a dwelling as tourist and visitor accommodation must comply with the following:

(1)  The subject dwelling must be the subject of an existing development consent and be located in a zone where dwellings are permitted with consent.

(2)  The dwelling must not contain more than 4 bedrooms.

(3)   A maximum of two adults per bedroom. Only those rooms approved as bedrooms are to be used for the purposes of this subclause.

(4)  The dwelling must be serviced by a general waste garbage bin of at least 240L capacity.

(5)  If the dwelling is located in a bush fire prone area, the development consent for the erection of the dwelling must have been granted in accordance with section 79BA of the act and a bush fire evacuation plan must be attached to the dwelling in a prominent location.

(6)   All vehicles associated with the occupants of the accommodation must be located on the same lot as the dwelling.

(7)   Noise emanating from the lot on which the dwelling is located must not be offensive as defined under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

(8)  There must not have been more than 2 written complaints to the Council concerning the activities taking place on the property from the occupiers of separate dwellings located within 40m of the subject dwelling within the preceding 12 months.

(9)   The operator must hold a monetary bond to discourage occupants from behaving in a manner which adversely impacts the amenity of the surrounding area.