2015-01-12 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                12 January 2015


E.     The Planning & Development Bill maintains and extends the time frame for applicants to
       be able revive a development application where it lapses. This ability is not consistent
       with the principles for the DA Rules of being an applicant driven process, and is likely to
       create administrative problems for Councils and lead to significant confusion for the
       community, particularly submitters.


REPORT
1.   Context
As previously reported to Council in September 2014, the Queensland Government is currently
undertaking Planning Reform with the desire to create a planning system that is clear,
transparent and easy to understand and navigate. According to the State, the purpose of the
reforming legislation is to facilitate the prosperity of Queensland, whilst pursuing ecologically
sustainable development, balancing economic growth, environmental protection and community
wellbeing.
Planning legislation has been drafted to replace the existing Sustainable Planning Act.
Consultation on the draft Planning & Development Bill was held in August-September 2014,
during which time some 224 submissions were received. 40% of these were from individuals
(many of which reflect similar wording), 13% were from industry and 12% were from Local
Government.
The Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) suggest that the
development industry and legal community have generally indicated high levels of support for the
reforms, as did the Planning Institute of Australia however variable views were expressed by
local governments. Environment and Community groups raised a number of concerns regarding
maintenance of ecologically sustainable development and community engagement in, and
accessibility to, planning processes.
The resource material available on the planning reform highlights that it is about both Plan
Making and Development Assessment as illustrated in the following figure.




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