General Town Planning Process in Queensland

Whether you are subdividing your land or building a block of units, a development application to your local council is always required.

Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA 2009) provides the framework for the development application and assessment process in Queensland. SPA 2009 came to force on 18th December 2009 and succeeds the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA 1997).

In some aspects of development, SPA 2009 is considerably different from IPA 1997. For example, all of the IDAS forms have been amended, new time frames have been introduced, new forms of exempt development added, addition of prohibited development and addition of compliance development. These are only some of the changes found in the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.

Development application process in Queensland can be complex and it is advised that a qualified town planner is employed.

A town planner will manage the whole development application process for you and will be in regular contact with local council and other consultants.

The following steps are some general requirements of lodging a development application to your local council.

Step 1

The applicant (yourself or town planner) lodges a Development Application to council. Lodgement can be made electronically through Smart eDA program or over the counter. When lodging a development application to council, relevant council application fees need to be paid, owner's consent forms need to be signed and relevant copies of plans and reports need to be attached.

Step 2

The assessment manager (council) is required to check if the development application is properly made. If the application is not properly made then the assessment manager has ten (10) business days from date of lodgement to notify the applicant.

If the application is properly made an Acknowledgment Notice may be issued to the Applicant by the Assessment Manager (local council).

An acknowledgement notice should be received ten (10) business days after lodgment. The acknowledgement notice basically states that the council acknowledges that it has received the development application and confirms the details of the application. The notice also informs the applicant if there are any referral agencies.

Step 3

The assessment manager may state in their acknowledgement notice that your development requires submission to referral agencies. The applicant is required to send a copy of the development application to each referral agency. Referral agencies have thirty (30) business days to respond about your development application (the timeframe depends if the referral agency seeks an extension by further twenty (20) business days). A referral agency is usually a government body that is required to assess your development. Some common referral agencies are: Department of Transport and Main Roads, Department of Environment and Resource Management, Ergon energy, and Powerlink.

Step 4

The Assessment Manager may ask the applicant to provide further information to assess the application. This is called the Information Request and is issued twenty (20) business days after the lodgement of the development application (council can extend the information request period).

There is a high chance that nearly every application in Queensland will receive an information request from the Assessment Manager. This means is that further information is required so the council can assess the development application. The Sustainable Planning Act 2009 allows the applicant up to six (6) months from the receipt of the information request to respond to the Assessment Manager.

Step 5

Referral agencies may ask the applicant to provide further information in order to properly assess the application.

If referral coordination is required, the Chief Executive of DLGP will issue a coordinated request for further information. An Applicant may request the Chief Executive of DLGP to provide assistance in relation to the information request. The Applicant may provide all of the further information requested, part of the further information requested or none of the further information requested.

Step 6

Referral agencies assess the application and provide their responses to the assessment manager and the applicant.

Step 7

(if required) The applicant undertakes public notification for development applications which require to be publicly notified. Impact assessable and some code assessable applications are required to be publicly notified. The public notification period ranges between fifteen (15) business days and thirty (30) business days, depending on the type of the application. Public notification involves placing a sign at all frontages to the site, sending letters to the adjoining property owners and placing an ad in a local newspaper.

Step 8

Before a decision is made the applicant may stop the decision making period for not more than three (3) months to make representations to referral agencies or to request the Chief Executive to resolve conflicts between two or more concurrence agency responses containing conditions the applicant is satisfied are inconsistent.

Step 9

The Assessment Manager assesses the application and issues the Decision Notice.

Step 10

If the Applicant is dissatisfied with the Decision Notice the applicant may suspend the applicant?s appeal period and opt for a negotiated decision notice. This part of the process has no timeframe.

Step 11

If the application is Impact Assessable, submitters may appeal against the decision to the Planning & Environment Court or to the Building and Development Tribunal in the case of building matters. This is where the applicant should employ a Planning and Environment Lawyer.

Step 12

The applicant must comply with all the conditions of approval issued by the council.

Please note that in this article we assume that the assessment manager is the local government (council). Please use this article for general information only and not a direct guide for lodging development applications in Queensland. Please consult your town planner should you wish to lodge a development application.