2015-10-13 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                           13 OCTOBER 2015


D.   The definition of material change of use should not be limited to only increases in scale
     and density of the premises, as there are circumstances where reducing the scale of
     the development does materially change the site’s use. This is particularly relevant for
     developments which include an important community use or the like. For example
     removing the nursing home component from a retirement village may have a
     significant social impact on an area;
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.
F.   As Noosa Council values community engagement in its planning and development
     decisions, we have concerns regarding changes that may serve to inhibit, obstruct or
     minimise resident input. Reductions in public notification periods and removal of
     existing requirements for notices to be placed in local newspapers are thus not
     supported and there should be a minimum notification period for applications of 20
     business days. We also have concerns about the proposal that an applicant may
     choose to publicly notify a development application as early as 5 days after the
     development application is properly made. We believe submitters are better served
     under the current arrangement where public notification is able to occur following the
     information request period;
G.   Noosa Council has long enjoyed a locally popular planning scheme that is in part
     premised on studies and deliberations concerning the ideal carrying capacity for our
     shire. We have concerns that the Queensland Planning Reform Process may herald
     arbitrary enlargements of the Urban Footprints within the Noosa Shire area;
H.   Noosa Council does not support proposed changes relating to Community
     Infrastructure designation that will remove local government powers to designate
     infrastructure. Nor do we support the proposal for the State Planning Minister to be the
     sole designating Minister for Infrastructure Designation in Queensland and to thus
     choose what developments can proceed, be they public or private infrastructure, and
     have them exempt from planning scheme requirements and from infrastructure
     charges; and
I.   The maximum infrastructure charges prescribed by legislation remain unchanged
     since being introduced in 2011. Infrastructure charges have dropped in real terms due
     to indexation not being applied. This prohibits councils from making charges that
     reflect the actual current costs of building infrastructure. Thus the proportional costs of
     public infrastructure related to new development are being met by the community.
     Meanwhile the State Government adds 3.5% annual indexation to its own fees and
     charges. Noosa Council thus requests that annual automatic indexation of the current
     maximum capped charges be introduced to reflect increasing costs of providing
     infrastructure.

Ordinary Meeting 2 July 2015, Item 2, Page 10
That Council note the report by the Principal Strategic Planner to the General Committee
Meeting dated 29 June 2015 and authorise the Chief Executive Officer to:
A.   Make a submission to the Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources
     Parliamentary Committee on:
     1.    the Planning and Development (Planning for Prosperity) Bill 2015;
     2.    the Planning and Development (Planning for Prosperity - Consequential
           Amendments) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015; and


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