2015-12-08 Planning and Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                             8 DECEMBER 2015


By way of a comparison, when Noosa Council embarked on the preparation of the current
planning scheme at the beginning of 2000, a team of 5 FTE was created (1 project manager,
2 other planners, 1 technical officer (GIS) and 1 administration officer). By the second half
of 2002 the team grew to 6 FTE and reached a high of 7 FTE by 2004 including a senior
contract planner and a consultant engineer working in-house preparing works codes for a
temporary period. Two administration officers were needed temporarily for the peak of
community engagement.
3.   Other project considerations
 Community and stakeholder engagement
Initial stakeholder and community engagement will occur in Stage 2 (May – December
2016), focussing on establishing an agreed position on a Directions Paper which will be
presented to Council for endorsement and provided to the Minister before the
commencement of planning scheme preparation.          General community engagement will
occur throughout the various project stages in an effort to keep the community informed of
progress, with the most significant community consultation occurring in Stage 5 (August
2018 – April 2019).
A Community Engagement Plan will be provided to Council prior to endorsing the
commencement of the drafting of the new planning scheme (Stage 2).
 Online planning system
Council is implementing the TechnologyOne online planning system. The system will replace
the list of separate planning documents in Adobe PDF format on the Council website with an
easily navigable electronic planning scheme including mapping. The system is in use
successfully at other councils including Townsville.
The new system will also allow customers to enter a property address and any proposed
type of activity (e.g. home based business) and be shown only the relevant parts of the
planning scheme. This will greatly simplify interpretation of the scheme for the public.
Staff will maintain the new planning scheme in the system enabling them to collaborate,
manage versions and easily publish amendments to the public.
 Office accommodation
In order to establish a collaborative working space for the planning scheme project, office
accommodation changes are required.
The Special Projects Officer is working with the Building & Plumbing Branch to facilitate this
within the 2015/16 financial year. The current proposal is to move the three Environmental
Officers to Level 1, leaving the current space on Level 2 for the strategic planners and
project team for the project duration.
 Legislation changes
The State Government is currently reviewing Queensland planning legislation which will
shape the preparation of Noosa’s new planning scheme. Council has previously made a
submission to the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (DILGP) on
the draft planning bills as outlined in the report by the Manager, Planning & Environment,
Principal Strategic Planner and Infrastructure Assessment Coordinator to the Planning &
Organisation Committee Meeting dated 13 October 2015.
The Planning Bill, the Planning and Environment Court Bill and the Planning (Consequential)
and Other Legislation Amendment Bill were introduced to Queensland Parliament on 12
November 2015. The Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resource Committee is required
to consider these and report to Parliament by 21 March 2016. If passed, new legislation is
likely to be in place before scheme drafting commences.



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