2017-11-07 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    7 NOVEMBER 2017


The Planning Act makes provision for continuing to prepare a planning scheme under the
repealed Sustainable Planning Act and also allows for the same format and planning scheme
preparation process. To be clear, Council could successfully prepare the planning scheme under
the old act and implement it under the new Planning Act. In fact the two schemes would be
almost identical.

2.    Resolving to Prepare the new Planning Scheme under the Planning Act 2016
During the period from September 2016 to July 2017 when the new act was finalised, staff have
given consideration to advantages and disadvantages of continuing preparation under the old
Sustainable Planning Act or recommending to Council to resolve to prepare the scheme under
the new Planning Act. Staff have also been in discussions with the Department of Infrastructure,
Local Government and Planning about this issue.

Key considerations have been the need for certainty of the form of a planning scheme under the
new legislation and an understanding of the process, particularly in submitting a draft planning
scheme for state interest checks. Up until recently there has been no clear guidance on these
two issues. The form of a planning scheme has been resolved initially through the alignment
process and template provided by the Department and more recently with their publication How
to draft a Local Planning Scheme under the Planning Act. This document provides guidance in
formulating planning policy and also has an updated and non-mandatory planning scheme
template. The process for preparing the planning scheme has essentially the same steps as
under the previous legislation. However, the detailed procedures have minor differences. Overall,
there seems to be no reason for the state interest reviews to require any longer timeframes under
the Planning Act.

Staff and the Department now support Council discontinuing the preparation of the new planning
scheme under the Sustainable Planning Act and continuing the process under the Planning Act.

The table below summarises the advantages and disadvantages of these two options.

ACT              ADVANTAGES                             DISADVANTAGES
Sustainable         Continuation of process without      An extraordinary administrative burden in
Planning Act          distraction                            preparing two versions of the new scheme
                    Clear regulated format                 - a version that conforms with the
                    Clear process                             Queensland Planning Provisions under
                                                                SPA, and
                                                             - a version that aligns the above version
                                                                with the Planning Act, showing track
                                                                changes.
Planning Act        The new scheme is made               Additional workload but this should not
                      under current legislation.             overly impede scheme preparation
                    Format is clear but       only       Community engagement program is
                      regulated for zones       and          required to be prepared earlier, though
                      definitions                            this can be a preliminary program and
                    The process is becoming                added to later.
                      evident. At least one other          There is an element of risk associated with
                      Council has resolved under the         being an early user of the new system for
                      new act and the Department             a state interest review under the Planning
                      has progressed its procedures.         Act.

The State Planning Policy has been amended in July 2017 with new guidelines released over
recent months. A new SEQ Regional Plan was released in August 2017. The new planning
scheme has to account for these new provisions irrespective of the course chosen by Council.


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