The following is an extract from Gecko’s response to the QCC document on election asks:
Coastal and Urban Development
The need for integrated coastal management across the length of Queensland has been recognised by the Government with the preparation of a State Coastal Plan and accompanying legislation. Unfortunately, many of the problems facing the coastal zone will not be adequately addressed through the plan and new laws.
Policy Asks:
Conduct an Audit of current outstanding permit and development approvals in the Coastal zone (and other regions) and introduce ‘sunset clauses’ in the Integrated Planning Act and other relevant legislation to ensure thatdevelopment approvals automatically expire if not proceeded with within aspecified (reasonable) time, namely two years from date of initial approval.
Ensure effective implementation of the Coastal Protection and Management Act that delivers coastal regional planning and protection of key sites.This should include:
ensuring that all State and Regional Coastal Plans are finalised in time to enable adequate incorporation into local government planning schemes
providing sufficient resources to ensure Local Authority planning documents reflect and implement the State and Regional Coastal Plans,
establishing an annual budget allocation to cover the cost of injurious affection compensation liabilities of State and Local Government for refusal of coastal zone developments and for necessary compulsory acquisitions in the coastal zone, and
resourcing the Coastal Protection Advisory Council to oversee implementation of coastal management plans, including stronger links to regional processes
Ensure that the EPA has concurrence powers in relation to Queensland Transport’s assessment of Port Land Use plans.
Take action to resume or revise development leases on coast and island public lands where the lessee has not met the time-limited specified conditions (securing finance, implementing and completing development, social and environmental management conditions, etc.) set by the Queensland Government or other regulatory agencies.
Guarantee the protection of vegetation with high biodiversity values in coastal developments. This does not mean the acceptance of mitigation “net gain” efforts i.e. planting of similar vegetation elsewhere on a development site to replace cleared high biodiversity value vegetation.
Planning and the Integrated Planning Act
The Integrated Planning Act (IPA) is at the centre of much development activity in the state and has a significant role in shaping the impact of this development on the natural environment. However, the IPA is failing to ensure adequate environmental protection.
Policy Asks:
Improve community rights and making the system fairer.
Restore the Environmental Impact Statement process.
Make Planning Schemes clear and understandable
Allow prohibitions
Take natural resources constraints into account in planning schemes
Strengthen state planning policies/codes to protect environmental values and future threats
Set sunset clauses for all current and future Development Applications
Remove injurious affection as a compensation claim
Provide recurrent funding of $1.5 million per annum for Queensland community-based, public interest environmental law offices and state legal aid organisations to assist public interest environmental cases.
Urban Development
By the year 2021, South East Queensland will have a population similar to Sydney ’s current population. In SEQ only about 17% of land is currently set aside in national park or state forest, compared with 43% in the Greater Sydney Region. Bushland and green open space are disappearing and thee is no systematic approach to protect these areas.
Policy Asks:
Improve and increase the level of State planning, by expanding the number of State Planning Policies addressing environmental values or constraints, such as nature conservation or steeply sloping land.
Amend the SEQ Regional Plan to ensure increased density of development does not compromise environmental values, open space and lifestyle; ensure concentration not densification
Keeping development within the carrying capacity of each region. Funding local government investigation of population caps and their levels.
Ensure permanent legislative protection for all mature (remnant) vegetation in Queensland , on rural and urban lands. For the purposes of assessing the conservation status of remnant vegetation, the “biodiversity status” defined by the EPA should be used in place of the “vegetation management status” defined by DNRM.