While traditionally a quieter time of year for business, this summer is shaping up to be especially busy in Queensland in terms of the release of planning and environment policy for consultation and submission. Most significantly, the Planning Bill 2015 (and Planning and Environment Court Bill 2015 and Planning (Consequential) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015), were introduced to Parliament by the Deputy Premier, Minister for Transport, Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Trade on 12 November 2015. The Bills have been referred to the Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources Committee, with reporting due on 21 March 2016. The Committee has set a submission deadline of 4.00pm on Monday 18 January 2016. In parallel, the Department is seeking feedback on four instruments that will support the operation of the new planning system: the draft planning regulation, draft development assessment rules, draft plan making rules and draft infrastructure designation guidelines.
Consultation on these closes on Friday 5 February 2016. All of our practitioners, and especially David Nicholls, James Ireland and me in our roles with the UDIA (Qld) and QELA, will be engaged over the coming months in attending briefings, reviewing the Bills and draft instruments, and assisting with the preparation of submissions. In a recent article, David identifies a critical change brought about by the Bills in respect of code assessment. I would encourage readers to reflect on the issues raised in David’s article in the course of preparing any of your own submissions about the Bills.
David and Ruby’s case note about the recent Court of Appeal decision in Gladstone Regional Council v Homes R Us (Australia) Pty Ltd [2015] QCA 175 includes a “stop press” in relation to automatic infrastructure charge indexation to be introduced by the Bills which again may warrant your further consideration and submission to the Committee. Coastal planning policy is an area we expect to receive considerable attention from the State Government over the remainder of this term.
David and Gemma continue their in depth consideration of coastal planning issues in this edition.
On the local government front, Olivia’s article discusses the progress of the somewhat controversial Bulimba Barracks Draft Master Plan, while David and Tom’s summary of Gerhardt v Brisbane City Council [2015] QPEC 34 highlights the ramifications that judgment may have for
local governments that seek to make building work directly assessable under a planning scheme. That decision is the subject of an application
for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and we will report further once the outcome is known.
Following on from our Planning seminar held in November 2015, Robyn provides us with a handy reference about the concept of amenity.
Finally, this edition of Envisage includes a number of articles relating to the area of compensation. James’s column on resumption draws together key matters to be considered when valuing a potential use. Our team in Western Australia discuss some approaches under consideration by the State Government in relation to compensation for interference with private property rights. On that same subject, David and Ruby’s article about the recently enacted Sustainable Ports Development Act 2015 highlights that the Act as adopted removes provisions of the Bill relating to compensation for injurious affection on the erroneous basis that compensation rights are provided under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. It is interesting to compare the different approaches taken to interference with private property rights and just compensation between Western Australia and Queensland in the context of these articles.
Enjoy the Envisage summer edition, and from all of our Planning and Environment Team we wish our readers a safe and relaxing festive season and look forward to working with you again in 2016.