What is the review and is it important?

The Regional Planning Forward Program is undertaken by Queensland’s Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, who will “undertake a fit-for-purpose review of ten regional plans comprising of key elements that can be tailored to respond to region specific challenges and opportunities. The reviews will adopt a coordinated approach aligning economic drivers, infrastructure priorities and land use planning to deliver a more efficient regional planning program.” (Source: Department of State Development)

Is this review important? Yes, without a doubt.

When it comes to developing strategies, it’s best never to assume that the goal posts will be frozen and unchanged over time. Whilst it is absolutely necessary to identify the goal posts and how to reach them, it’s equally important to monitor the goal posts and ask questions such as:

• Are those goal posts still suited to the needs of the region?
• Have any needs changed in recent times?
• Is the direction being taken still the most effective?
• How have our actions impacted other aspects of the region’s growth and development?

Think of the recent economic turmoil, particularly with regards to the housing crisis. Think of differences in climate – in the past few years we’ve been flung from drought and devastating bushfires straight into La Nina and repeated flooding. A lot has changed and continues to change, so do the current regional plans take these things into account?

What is the purpose of a Regional Plan?

A Regional Plan is the vision, goal posts, and guidelines that govern growth and development within a specific region. Queensland is a vast and diverse state, making it too difficult to plan and legislate from the one broad document.

The needs of Central Queensland will vary greatly from those of Far North Queensland or South East Queensland. And so, drawing from state legislation, each of the thirteen regions devises a strategy that is unique to the needs of the region, its communities, its industries, and its people.

A regional plan looks at the region’s:

• Statistics, such as its population, economy, and settlements;
• Nominated outcomes and the policies to achieve them;
• Infrastructure, both existing and opportunities to improve and develop;
• State Interests, which guide local government legislation, such as housing, environment, and natural hazards;
• Priority Living Areas (PLA); and
• Priority Agricultural Areas (PAA).

All this information is pulled together through thorough research and consultation to produce a detailed overview of the region and the requirements that must be addressed to ensure continued strength and growth in economies, infrastructure, agriculture and industries.

What effect does a Regional Plan have on the local planning legislation?

If you’ve ever developed or at least looked into developing, you’ll have likely come across your local Council’s Planning Scheme. This is the locally developed legislation, or codes, that govern where you can develop and what you can develop. It assigns zones and carefully orchestrates the overlapping overlays, such as flood hazard or airport environs, that also affect a development.

Breaking the state down into regions is still a very broad approach to legislating and so these regions are further broken down into the Local Government Areas, or Councils, that we area all familiar with. Along with the State’s Planning Act, the vision and strategy developed in the regional plan trickles down into the local legislation, providing key criteria and regulatory requirements that must be addressed within the planning scheme.

What happens if the regional plan is newer than the planning scheme?

A great deal of work goes into writing a planning scheme, which is why they can often still be in use up to a decade after their release. It’s difficult to expect that a new one be miraculously written to match a new regional plan – it’s not uncommon for these things to simply not align!

In the instance that a regional plan was created after a planning scheme, the specific requirements within a regional plan trump those of the planning scheme. That’s why town planners always check the regional plan before addressing the local planning scheme.  The most current legislation wins!

How does this affect my development?

If you’ve been researching a potential development but not actively seeking approval, you may suddenly find that your development is potentially no longer suited to the land you have earmarked for it.

Whilst some special circumstances may allow for assessment against superseded legislation, this would be rare and certainly not something to bank on! All the more reason to leap into action, before new regional plans are in place.

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