LGAT Submission – Regional Planning Framework and Draft Structure Plan Guidelines
Councils have historically not received strategic support from the Government, resulting in public backlash around development issues falling on councils and the Government avoiding scrutiny. As a sector, we understand the challenges that accelerated population growth presents and we welcome strategic reform to the planning system to address this.
There are key problems the Government should resolve through a Regional Planning Framework, such as responsiveness to emerging local issues, the lack of ownership of Regional Land Use Strategies (RLUSs) and how different state government agencies should interface with the RLUSs.
Reviews of the three RLUSs should respond to actual needs instead of just being part of a regular review cycle. We suggest different types of amendment processes, such as:
- Minor amendments
- Targeted reviews
- Single council amendment
- Major review.
The RLUSs should strive to improve consistency as an ideal but also provide practical flexibility for councils to develop their own local solutions to their unique challenges. The Government should aim to create RLUSs that are translatable and understandable with a set of templates and guiding information within statutory guidelines.
The Draft Structure Plan Guidelines that have been developed will provide additional supporting information to assist proponents, communities and councils to engage with, and utilise, Tasmania’s planning system. However, we recommend that the Government further considers the audience and purpose of the Guidelines so they can be more effectively used as a tool.