Redland City Plan FAQs

Queensland's planning framework is established in the Planning Act 2016 and is administered collaboratively by the State and local governments. The State Government mandates the roles and responsibilities in plan making and identifies the key state interests in state planning policy and regional plans. Through planning schemes, local governments regulate how land may be used and which types of development require planning approval.

A planning scheme is a document that the community, the development industry, and governments all look to in order to understand the local government's plan for managing growth and change, including the type of development they can expect in a local area (for example, apartments, shops and industry) and how land may be developed (for example, height of a new building and lot size).

In consultation with the local community, each local government in Queensland prepares and administers its own planning scheme to manage growth and change in its local government area in an orderly manner.

The Redland City Plan (City Plan) is Council's planning scheme and contains the framework for the management of development within the City.

With a growing population, it is important that development is well-planned and supports the needs of both current and future residents while balancing different priorities within the community. The City Plan outlines a strategic plan for Redlands Coast over the next 25 years and includes rules that guide new development towards ultimately achieving that strategic plan.

The City Plan helps to:

• Make sure there is enough land for homes, businesses and jobs in the right places;
• Create better communities with access to parks, community facilities, health care and local shopping;
• Ensure that the infrastructure we rely on, such as local roads and wastewater treatment, are planned and upgraded to match the needs of new development;
• Protect and value our natural environment; and
• Make communities more resilient to natural hazards such as floods and bushfires.

Planning schemes are prepared under the Planning Act 2016 and must advance the purpose of this Act to facilitate the achievement of ecological sustainability. Planning schemes must also integrate relevant State interests that are expressed in the State Planning Policy and the South East Queensland Regional Plan, ShapingSEQ 2023.

The City Plan contains these key components:

• Strategic framework - outlines the strategic plan for development in Redlands Coast. All other parts of City Plan (in particular the assessment codes) are drafted to achieve this strategic plan.
• Local government infrastructure plan - plans for new local infrastructure (i.e. roads, cycleways, wastewater, water, parks, stormwater and community facilities) across Redlands Coast to service projected new development over the next 10 years. This does not include State infrastructure, which is planned and delivered by the State government.
• Tables of assessment - identify whether a development approval is required for development in particular locations, the category of assessment (i.e. code or impact assessment) and the assessment criteria that will apply.
• Zone codes - identify the preferred land use intent for different parts of Redlands Coast. City Plan divides the local government area into 21 zones, and in some instances, each zone is divided into precincts
• Overlay codes - contain assessment criteria that ensure development mitigates risks from constraints, such as flooding and bushfire, and does not adversely impact on values, such as environmental and heritage values.
• Use and development codes - contain detailed assessment criteria relating to specific land uses or particular aspects of development.
• Planning scheme policies - contain guidance and advice that supports the City Plan.

The City Plan guides and regulates development across Redlands Coast and has an effect at the City-wide level, the neighbourhood and street level, and down to individual properties. It affects your future accessibility to jobs, different housing types and community meeting places.

At the City-wide level:

• Locations for industry
• Commercial centres
• Road networks
• New residential growth
• Infrastructure capacity
• Biodiversity corridors

At a Neighbourhood level:

• Residential density
• Building heights
• Design and character
• Natural hazard resilience

At a property level:

• Building setbacks
• Privacy and amenity
• Vehicle parking
• Landscaping
• Stormwater management

The City Plan may affect what you can and cannot build on a property and influences how new buildings are designed.

It is important to note that existing lawful uses and development are not affected by City Plan.

The Queensland Government sets out the roles and responsibilities in plan making and articulates their planning priorities and goals - referred to as State Interests - through the State Planning Policy 2017 and the South East Queensland Regional Plan, ShapingSEQ 2023. These policy documents are amended and updated over time by the State government.

State interests must be reflected in City Plan, and through a process of state interest review, the State government ensures that new and amended planning schemes appropriately articulate their goals and objectives.

The City Plan applies to all parts of the Redland City Council area, both mainland and islands, except for specific areas declared by the Queensland government as Priority Development Areas (PDAs). These areas are managed by Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) and City Plan does not apply.

Currently, there are three PDAs in Redland City: Toondah Harbour, Weinam Creek and Southern Thornlands. For more information on PDAs, please refer to EDQ's website.

City Plan can only regulate 'development', which is defined by the Planning Act 2016 as:

• making a material change of use of premises - changing the land use on the property or materially intensifying an existing land use
• reconfiguring a lot - subdividing land
• operational work - including excavation, filling and vegetation clearing
• building work
• plumbing and drainage work - not currently regulated by City Plan.

Proposed development is categorised in one of four ways:

• Accepted - a development approval is not required. In some instances, this is subject to meeting certain criteria.
• Assessable (code assessment) - a development approval is required. The development application is assessed against the applicable codes in City Plan.
• Assessable (impact assessment) - a development approval is required. The development application must go through public notification and is assessed not only against the codes in the City Plan, but also the strategic framework and having regard to other relevant matters.
• Prohibited - a development application cannot be made.

The City Plan determines the category of development - it is not a discretionary decision made by a Council officer. In some cases, the Planning Regulation 2017 will prescribe the category of development.

Where a development is assessable by Council, that assessment is never a 'tick and flick' process - it is a considered and balanced assessment. As a requirement of the Planning Act 2016, assessment codes are written to allow 'performance assessment' of development, which prioritises achieving good outcomes rather than simply applying prescriptive standards.

City Plan cannot prohibit development, as only the State government has the power to do so. Prohibited development is identified in Schedule 10 of the Planning Regulation 2017.

What the City Plan does do is designate preferred land uses for certain areas and discourage incompatible land uses. This is achieved through adopting clear and consistent policy statements throughout the City Plan.

Any development application submitted to Council that does not include prohibited development must be accepted and assessed by Council. This does not mean it will be approved - that decision will be determined by the assessment.

Planning schemes are 'living' documents and are constantly being reviewed and updated to ensure they remain current. Amendments can be undertaken for a number of reasons, including reflecting new Council policies and priorities.  Since City Plan commenced in October 2018, several amendments have been completed.  The current version of the City Plan can be accessed on the Redland City Plan page.

Under the Planning Act 2016 section 25, a local government is required to formally review a planning scheme every 10 years and review its Local Government Infrastructure Plan (LGIP) every five (5) years. Council recently undertook a 10 year review of the current City Plan and decided to commence preparation of a new City Plan. You can read the outcomes of this review on the Redlands Coast City Plan Developing a new plan project page.

The mapping tool, Development.i provides basic property information such as the zone(s) and/or overlay(s) that apply to a particular property. Other key features that can be accessed through Development.i include whether a premises is affected by a building envelope or a Temporary Local Planning Instrument. Development.i also provides access to details of current and past development applications.

Access City Plan to find out what the planning scheme means for you. The zone and overlay codes of the City Plan may be relevant if you are planning to undertake development on your property.

Under thePlanning Act 2016, a person may request that a proposed development application be assessed and decided under the superseded planning scheme. This request can only be made within one (1) year of a new version of City Plan taking effect and may be agreed or refused by Council.

Development.i provides access to details of current and past application details dating back to March 2007. Documents lodged before this date are not published and can instead be accessed through a property search. Alternatively, you can request an inspection of a file at one of Council's customer service centres. There are also some application types where documents will not appear on Development.i. These include plumbing and drainage (PD), private certifier building approvals (BX), and the majority of pre-Planning Act 2016 applications for building work assessable against the planning scheme.

You should be aware that Council is bound by the Information Privacy Act 2009 and Planning Act 2016 in terms of the information it makes available on Development.i. In accordance with this legislation, Council must publish certain documents, it has the discretion to publish some documents, and is unable to publish other documents. For example, submissions made on a development application are published on Development.i and will include the name, address, contact details and signatures of submitters, as permitted under the Planning Act 2016.

Council has a range of plans and strategies in place to guide its operations, priorities and vision for Redlands Coast. These include strategies relating to transport, economic development, housing, environment and tourism. The City Plan is then a regulatory tool that assists the achievement of those plans and strategies, by guiding new development towards their objectives.

The Corporate Plan provides overall direction and priorities for a five-year period, allowing Council to make strategic decisions on where it directs budget and resources for that period. Council is currently preparing a new Corporate Plan, and further information can be found on the Corporate Plan - 2031 YourSay page. It is expected that insights from the corporate planning process will feed into the preparation of the new City Plan.

Local laws play an important role in Council's day to day operations by helping set rules and regulations for a broad range of activities in Redland City. Local laws do not form part of the planning scheme and are a separate mechanism to regulate public activities, playing a supporting role in land use and development planning. Local laws control things like parking, alcohol in parks and fire regulations.