Release of the Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan 'ShapingSEQ'

On 20 October 2016 the Queensland Government released the draft South East Queensland Regional Plan entitled ‘ShapingSEQ’. Click here to view the draft plan.

ShapingSEQ is the new regional planning framework to sustainably manage change and growth in South East Queensland.

Revised goals and residential targets for the Queensland Government

• In broad strokes, ShapingSEQ has been developed with a 50 year vision and a 25 year statutory plan;
• The framework provides for a revised residential supply target of 40% greenfield and 60% infill. This is not an insignificant shift from the targets set in the previous SEQ Regional Plans:
  • 50% greenfield and 50% infill in 2009; and
  • 60% greenfield and 40% infill in 2005.
•  Additionally, the Queensland Government will attempt to provide a 15 year rolling supply of adequately zoned greenfield land that is capable of being serviced by infrastructure.

Key initiatives and functions

More specifically, the Queensland Government proposes 16 key initiatives and functions in ShapingSEQ:

1. A 50 year vision that responds to global ‘megatrends’. The megatrends identified include increased urbanisation, introduction of new technology, the changing preferences of healthcare and the aging population, resource dependency, the pressure on biodiversity, climate change and global connectedness.
2. Planning to build a globally competitive regional economy by identifying and facilitating areas of high value and export-oriented business.
3. Focusing more development in the existing urban areas in South East Queensland to accommodate for the projected population in the area, with associated employment growth. ShapingSEQ anticipates an approximate population size of 5.3 million by 2041, requiring the industry to deliver more than 30,000 new dwellings each year.
4. Identifying 8,200 hectares of new urban land, in addition to the 13,600 hectares added in planned growth areas in the 2009 SEQ Regional Plan, to minimise the risk of land supply constraints placing upward pressure on housing prices.
5. A greater emphasis on public and active transport. This includes a strategic passenger transport system and a strategic road and freight system, to enable planned growth areas and provide an extensive and safe active transport network throughout the region’s urban areas.
6. Maximising the use of existing infrastructure before building new infrastructure, as well as identifying new region shaping infrastructure only where needed, so as to increase accessibility and productivity to support settlement patterns and economic policies.
7. Increasing an emphasis on protecting and sustainably using South East Queensland’s regional landscapes and natural assets.
8. Identifying and mapping regional biodiversity corridors and values to support the protection of those values.
9. Using employment planning benchmarks to ensure land and infrastructure are planned for and delivered so as to meet South East Queensland’s projections. ShapingSEQ projects total employment across the region as increasing from approximately 1,650,000 in 2016 to 2,600,000 in 2041, with industries such as manufacturing and construction seeing the largest increases.
10. Valuing design as a way to create more housing choice, and memorable and liveable urban places and spaces.
11. Ensuring flexibility for local governments to plan for rural development.
12. For ShapingSEQ to work in parallel with the State Infrastructure Plan to ensure a coordinated approach to ongoing infrastructure and service delivery.
13. Sub-regional directions spatially expressing regional strategies and intra-regional relationships.
14. Developing a more sophisticated approach to determining urban land supply.
15. Improving ways to monitor land supply and development activity, and the plan’s performance over time.
16. Delivering the plan through specific actions and coordination with initiatives such as a City Deal in partnership with the Australian Government and South East Queensland local governments.

Revised SEQ Maps

Significantly, revised regional planning maps have been released with ShapingSEQ. Click here to view.

The mapping is interactive and can be searched by property address and lot.

Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan 2016 State Planning Regulatory Provisions

In addition to the above, ShapingSEQ also provides for the draft version of the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2016 State Planning Regulatory Provisions (Regulatory Provisions).

The Regulatory Provisions provide the framework for specific types of development within designated areas contemplated in the ShapingSEQ, such as material change of use outside the Urban Footprint, being the area designated as such in ShapingSEQ, as well as the assessment criteria for specific types of developments.

The Queensland Government, in addition to ShapingSEQ overall, is also seeking feedback in relation to the draft Regulatory Provisions.

The next steps: who you can talk to and when

Public consultation on ShapingSEQ is underway until Friday, 3 March 2017.

This article was written by Kelly Alcorn, Partner and Peter Bittner, Partner.