The Queensland Government's overhaul of the State's planning laws has taken an important step with the release of consultation drafts of the Planning and Development Bill and the Planning and Environment Court Bill for public comment.
Under this proposal, the current Sustainable Planning Act 2009 would be repealed and replaced. The Planning and Environment Court would continue, but have its own separate legislation.
The terminology for many of planning concepts would change, and a number of processes deregulated.
Importantly, the draft Bills would remove:
- State planning regulatory provisions and standard planning scheme provisions;
- the EIS process;
- designations of land for community infrastructure by a local government; and
- compliance assessment.
For local government, these changes would mean new assessment and approval processes, new planning instruments, and some new compliance obligations.
For developers, the key issues will be the whole of the assessment process, and the transitional arrangements for any applications under way.
You can get more information in our Planning and Development Bill Briefing Note.
Submissions are due by 26 September 2014. The Government will consider them and then release final versions of the Bills, which could be later this year.
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Clayton Utz communications are intended to provide commentary and general information. They should not be relied upon as legal advice. Formal legal advice should be sought in particular transactions or on matters of interest arising from this bulletin. Persons listed may not be admitted in all states and territories.