AS TOURISM visitors to the Scenic Rim continue to boom it’s understandable that many are seeking innovative ways to cash in on the area’s growing popularity.
New luxury accommodation is opening up, shops are getting bigger and restaurants that have struggled in recent years are finally making their bank manager smile.
While those can all be looked at as positives for the region the boom also has a flat side and that involves residents who came to the district looking to enjoy the green space and tranquility of the area.
Increasing traffic throughout the area has hit a raw nerve with locals, but that’s something that every growing region is forced to encounter.
The new and concerning issue involves something that other popular tourism areas are also battling with and that’s the sudden growth of Air BNB accommodation and how to monitor and control it.
The beauty of the Scenic Rim has prompted many over the years to look at buying investment properties here which in the past they have rented out and also used for themselves.
What they have now discovered is that while rents have gone up dramatically they can make hundreds more a month by listing them as Air BNB’s.
Next door shock
Mark Spencer uprooted his family from the quiet bayside suburb of Dundowran near Hervey Bay in 2022 to move into a home near Tamborine Mountain’s Botanical Gardens.
With no dividing fence between his new home and the neighbours he started a conversation to have one built.
After the house was sold he discovered it had been bought as an investment property, but that didn’t cause him concern, nor the fact that the building of the fence ended up in a stalemate.
It was only when the neighbour started using the home as an Air BNB that he started having issues.
“Floodlights lighting up the driveway for impending guest now shine through my house at night and cars coming and going and battling to get up a steep driveway are another issue as is the increased noise,” Mark said.
“I can understand those driving to a property rented out as holiday accomodation arrive in a party mood and are here to have fun, but they have no idea that many of these BNBs are located in quiet residential suburbs.”
When Mark took his concerns to the Scenic Rim Council they discovered that the property owners had never applied for a DA to operate it as a BNB and council has now sent them a notice to cease advertising it as such until they secure a DA approval.
“The current issue is that at the moment it seems anyone in the Scenic Rim can turn their property into a short holiday rental and even though they put a DA in the neighbours are not informed about what is happening,” Mark said.
“When I tried to find out what was happening with my complaint I got the usual council ring around making the whole episode even more frustrating.
“This issue is a mind field for all councils, but at least Noosa Council is showing the way by having a hotline for residents to ring to discuss nearby BNB issues and they have also dramatically tightened the rules around operating a holiday rental.
“I believe the Scenic Rim should take a lesson out of their book and do the same here.”
