The Queensland planning system reform: the evolution of SARA and the SPP

In Brief

• The Queensland Government is reforming the current planning and development system to ensure the state’s continued growth and prosperity.
• The Queensland Government’s intent to remove regulatory barriers and reform the planning system was formalised by the Temporary State Planning Policy (SPP) 2/12 Planning for Prosperity which expires on 24 August 2013.
• In the meantime the introduction of Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2013 (SPOLA Act) has delivered a single State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) for development applications that became operational from 1 July 2013.
• SARA is part of the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) and becomes the ‘one stop shop’ for development assessments involving one or multiple State departments. SARA has decision making power and uses the other State departments as technical advice agencies, where issues cannot be resolved by reference to the State Development Assessment Provisions (SDAP). The SDAP incorporates all the State’s existing development policies.
• The Queensland Government is also proposing a single State Planning Policy (SPP) that will represent all the State’s interests in planning and development in Queensland.  All of the 12 existing SPP’s have been represented by the draft SPP and new guidelines. The draft SPP was released for consultation in April 2013 and is currently in a review period before its release in early 2014.

Full Article

As the result of an election promise to ‘reduce tape’ (which changes in colour regularly from green to red), the Queensland Government is reforming the current planning and development system to ensure the state’s continued growth and prosperity.  As presented by the Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP), this comprehensive reform aims to:

• streamline assessment and approval processes;
• remove unnecessary red tape; and
• re-empower local governments to plan for their communities.

The Queensland Government commenced the reform process with the introduction (on 24 August 2012) of the Temporary State Planning Policy (SPP) 2/12 Planning for Prosperity.  The policy aims to promote agriculture, tourism, mineral /extractive industry and construction.  In reality, the SPP 2/12 does little more than formalise the Queensland Government’s intent to remove regulatory barriers and reform the planning system by 24 August 2013 (which is when the Temporary SPP2/12 expires). 

True to their word, the introduction of the SPP 2/12 was followed closely by the Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment (SPOLA) Bill (which reached parliamentary assent on 22 November 2012 to become the SPOLA Act). The Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2013 (SPOLA Act) aims to bring about changes to the Queensland planning system including amongst others:

• establish a single state assessment and referral agency  for development applications;
• removal of ineffective structure planning and master planning arrangements for declared master planned areas; and
• providing for the Queensland Planning Provisions to apply across all local governments to enable consistency in assessment levels for certain low risk developments (DSDIP 2013).

The key component of SPOLA Act and the ‘platform’ from which the other elements of the planning reform will be delivered is the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA).

In effect SARA is part of the DSDIP and becomes the ‘one stop shop’ for development assessments involving one or multiple State departments.  In the past development applications (DA’s) involving State interest would be submitted to the local council and one or more State departments may become referral agencies or sometimes the assessment manager.  The local council and the State departments would each provide an information request or set of conditions as a response to a DA and a lack of co-ordination between the parties would often mean that items in the response would be duplicated or even contradictory.  

Under the new system the Director General of DSDIP will be the assessment manager for all DA’s involving State departments. Based on information provided in the DA, DSDIP will decide who the interested State departments are and contact them as ‘technical advice agencies’ in situations where issues cannot be resolved through the use of the State Development Assessment Provisions (SDAP) alone.  The SDAP incorporates all the State’s existing development policies broken into five themes (Housing &Liveable Communities, Economic Growth, Environment & Heritage, Hazards & Safety and Transport & Infrastructure), 19 modules (e.g. community amenity, fisheries resources, native vegetation clearing, contaminated land, airports etc.) and 35 state codes including the Regional Vegetation Management Codes and offset policies amongst many others.  Presently the SDAP is an amalgamation of all the existing policies (and as such has not undergone public consultation).  If technical advice is sought for a DA, DSDIP will collate all the information from the relevant State departments and write a single response to the DA.

The delivery mechanisms for SARA involve regional offices and an online lodgement system.  The online lodgement system is called MyDAS and it is a paperless system, avoiding the necessity of printing several copies of a DA for lodgement.  MyDAS incorporates all the IDAS forms and presents them as a set of questions when application is lodged online.  MyDAS is also linked to a GIS map tool so that when the address for a DA is entered the system will automatically know what set of questions to ask.  For regular users of MyDAS, a username and login will provide access to a home page with a record of all the applications lodged by that user and what stage they are at.  Messages (automated or from DSDIP officers) can be delivered to applicants through MyDAS.

At a glance, SARA does seem as though it will achieve a more efficient planning system in Queensland but there have been a few criticisms and/or concerns:

• some referral agencies have been left out, e.g. electricity entities, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS), Queensland Health
• it does not cover some other types of applications, such as Environmentally Relevant Activities (ERA’s) or EIS’s under legislation other than the Sustainable Planning Act 2009
• the exclusion of the Koala State Planning Regulatory Provisions (SPRP) although koala assessable development areas are included in mapping for information purposes
• DSDIP personnel may not have the necessary skills to adequately assess all the issues in an application
• SDAP is currently an amalgamation of existing policies and provisions (but may be revised in the future by DSDIP)
• SARA is not necessarily advantageous for small or simple DA’s.

In any case from 1 July 2013 DSDIP (through SARA) became the final decision maker on DA’s from a State policy perspective.  Obviously local councils are still responsible for assessment under their own planning schemes, however (as in the past), if the DA does not gain State approval it cannot be approved by the local council. 

In keeping with the theme of simplification, the Queensland Government is also proposing a single State Planning Policy (SPP) that will represent all the State’s interests in planning and development in Queensland.  Typically SPP’s include policies for local governments for making or amending planning instruments and development assessment decision making as well as designating land for community infrastructure and other State development.  The Queensland Government believes that “by expressing state interests in a complete and comprehensive manner it will be easier for local governments to reflect and balance state interests ‘up front’ in local planning instruments, paving the way for the approval of the right development in the right location without undue process and delays”.

The new SPP is simply titled “State Planning Policy”, as there is no need for any other detail when this SPP is proposed to be the one and only SPP for Queensland.  The draft SPP was released for consultation in April 2013 (submissions closed 12 June 2013).  The document is currently in a review period and is to be finalised by the end of 2013 and released at the start of 2014 when all the existing SPP’s are repealed.  In its draft form the SPP contains:

• Part A: Introduction & Policy Context
• Part B: Application & Operation
• Part C: State Interests

o   Housing &Liveable Communities

o   Economic Growth

o   Environment & Heritage

o   Hazards & Safety

o   Transport & Infrastructure

The State interests are again grouped into five themes, but this time there are 18 modules or sub-themes.  For example, all the State’s policy involving biodiversity sits in one module under Environment and Heritage.  With regards to biodiversity, the State requires that in making or amending local planning instruments, the State’s interests are considered by:

• reflecting appropriate consideration of Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES), matters of State environmental significance (i.e. protected area estates, marine parks, fish habitat areas, threatened species including breeding places, regulated vegetation under the Vegetation Management Act 1999, wild rivers areas, protected wetland areas and legally secured offsets) and strategic offset areas;
• facilitating protection of matters of national and State interest by protecting species, habitat, ecosystem services and connectivity by avoiding the placement of urban (or other development) in these areas; and
• including planning measures that require development to avoid significant and adverse environmental impacts, or where this cannot be reasonably achieved, impacts are minimised and residual impacts offset.

All of the 12 existing SPP’s have been represented by the draft SPP and new guidelines.  It is important to note that the Koala SPRP is referenced in the provisions applicable to development assessment as a footnote stating that the Koala SPRP will continue to apply to development in South-east Queensland.  The exclusion of the Koala SPRP from SDAP indicates that it will be delivered by local government.  The guidance notes also refer to numerous specific issues offsets policies under the Queensland Environmental Offset Policy (e.g. biodiversity, fish habitat, koala and vegetation) with a footnote indicating that a new single policy will be developed to replace all specific issues offsets policies in the near future. 

One only needs to read the introduction to each of the five themes to pick up a distinctly promotional flavour with regards to economic development and a prosperous Queensland, which is indeed the objective of the SPP.  This is evident in other sections of the document as well.  For example, in Part A the SPP presents a guide for resolving competing interests and priorities, including any conflict arising between State interests.  The guide states that when applying the SPP consideration needs to be given to a resolution that best achieves and advances the purpose of the SPP, which is for a prosperous Queensland. 

Both SARA and the new SPP will represent a cultural shift for development assessment in Queensland with the focus of previous planning instruments being swayed towards ‘sustainable development’ and the primary goal of the new planning framework being ‘a prosperous Queensland’.