NBN Planning Report_Cooran

6       CURRENT PLANNING CONTROLS

6.1     Commonwealth Legislation – The Telecommunications Act

The Telecommunications Act 1997 has been operative since 1 July 1997. This legislation
establishes the criteria for ‘low impact’ telecommunication facilities. If a proposed facility satisfies
the requirements of a ‘low impact’ facility, the development is exempt from the planning approval
process.

Further clarification of the term ‘low impact’ is provided in the Telecommunications Act 1997 and
the Telecommunications (Low Impact Facilities) Determination 1997, which was gazetted
subsequent to the Act. The Telecommunications (Low Impact Facilities) Determination 1997
establishes certain facilities, which cannot be considered low impact facilities.

The proposed facility is not considered to be low impact under the definitions contained in the
Commonwealth legislation as it involves the construction of a new tower. Therefore, it is subject
to the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and requires a development approval under the provisions of
The Noosa Plan 2009 (the Noosa Plan).


6.2     State Legislation – Sustainable Planning Act 2009
The Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (the SPA) is the legislation that governs planning in
Queensland. The SPA seeks to achieve ecologically sustainable outcomes for development within
Queensland by coordinating and integrating planning mechanisms at local, regional and state
levels, managing the effects of development on the environment, and managing the process by
which development takes place.

Where a telecommunications facility is not considered a low-impact facility, it is subject to the
provisions of the relevant local government planning provisions. As the proposal involves the
installation of a new Telecommunication Facility and is not a ‘low-impact’ facility; the provisions of
the Noosa Plan apply.

This development report has been compiled to accompany an Impact Assessable (Inconsistent)
application to Noosa Council under the provisions of the Noosa Plan. The development proposal is
assessed against the provisions of the Noosa Plan in Section 7.0 below.

6.2.1   Referral Agencies

The State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) established on 1 July 2013, made the
Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) the single referral agency
for all development applications where the Chief Executive of SPA has a jurisdiction as either the
Assessment Manager or referral agency. While DSDIP is responsible for a number of referral
agency triggers, since the commencement of the SARA provisions, there are a number of other
entities that exist outside of SARA that hold jurisdiction for their own referral agency triggers.

A referral agency is an agency that has jurisdiction over a matter in a Development Application if
referral to that agency is triggered under Schedule 7 of the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009
(SP Reg).



NBN-4BBZ-4GYM-5132-Schreibers                                                       Page 22