Earlier this year, urgent amendments were made to the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) (the Act) to allow the Minister to extend or suspend periods under the Act because of the impact of COVID-19.
On 8 July 2020, the Treasurer (also being the Minister administering the Act), first exercised this power, by issuing an Extension Notice under section 275R of the Act extending:
- development approval and compliance permit currency periods under section 85, section 299(2) or any other relevant provision of the Act; and
- development approval periods for completion of development referenced in section 88, section 342 or any other relevant provision of the Act.
Building development approvals for building work, to which section 71 of the Building Act 1975 applies, are excluded from the extensions.
The universal extension is for a period of six months, effectively meaning that the currency period of all approvals currently in effect (or that will come into effect before 31 October 2020) are automatically extended by six months.
More information can be found on the Department of State Development, Tourism and Innovation website here, including the notices from the Minister (one extends the applicable event, the other extends currency periods for development approvals).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.