Work is progressing on Gladstone Regional Council’s new amalgamated planning scheme. Council’s strategic planning officers are continuing to work through the intensive project which began in 2009 and, ultimately, will govern the region’s future development.
The new planning scheme will replace the existing planning schemes that apply to the former Gladstone City, Calliope Shire and Miriam Vale Shire councils which amalgamated to become Gladstone Regional Council in 2008.
Its intent is to provide greater uniformity, introducing one binding document of consistent land use planning rules and regulations across Council’s jurisdiction. The new planning scheme will be in accordance with State Government’s Sustainable Planning Act (SPA) 2009 which includes a mandatory standard format for planning schemes, known as the Queensland Planning Provisions (QPP).
Council is working to the QPP template which also allows for local content to be added among the mandatory sections. Under the SPA, planning schemes need to be revisited every 10 years. The current and projected growth for this area is another factor driving the need for a new planning scheme that will address the uneven development pressures being experienced across the region. Unsurprisingly, the existing planning schemes did not anticipate the growth pressures now being experienced.
Council is currently in the process of drafting a strategic framework which sets the strategic direction for the whole planning scheme. It is expected that an “80 per cent draft” of the Strategic Framework will be completed by March 2013. This will inform the code and zone works that will follow. This is a huge task which cannot be rushed. The focus for Council is to complete a full draft of the new planning scheme and ultimately provide the community with an opportunity to make formal comment. In the interim the current planning schemes prevail.
The final drafts of seven planning scheme strategies have now been received and these can be viewed by clicking the links below (Planning Scheme Strategies Table) from February 18, 2013.
Additionally, copies of these strategies are available for viewing at all of the Gladstone Regional Libraries. These strategies (and the recommendations included) are background documents only and do not represent an agreed Council position.
Residents wanting to receive updates on the progress of the planning scheme via email can do so by emailing regionalstrategy@gladstonerc.qld.gov.au and submitting your name and address or for further information phone 1300 621 922.
