The Queensland Government passed legislation on 28 November to amend the Planning Act 2016 to allow the Minister to revise or revoke a State Facilitated Development (SFD) application.
Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie told parliament the previous statutory process did not anticipate that changes may be necessary after a development is declared to be state facilitated development.
“State facilitated development commenced in July 2024 and is an alternative state assessed pathway to development that is a priority for the state,” he said. “The bill amends the Planning Act to provide the planning minister may amend or repeal a state facilitated development declaration, and may request a change to an application made under a direction. The bill sets out the process for doing so, including notifying relevant stakeholders.
“The bill also amends the Planning and Environment Court Act 2016 to clarify that the declaratory proceedings may be started if there is an uncertainty about how to administer a development application that is no longer declared as a state facilitated development and may progress through the usual assessment pathway. These changes are part of the LNP government’s approach to planning, which is all about resetting the planning partnership with local government and listening to local communities. They align other planning instruments available to the state and can ensure we deliver the LNP’s election commitments in relation to this type of development approval pathway.”
Noosa MP Sandy Bolton said she supported this component of a bill (which included a wide variety of unrelated legislative amendments) as it relates directly to Noosa, and the State Facilitated Development or SFD proposals to which the community objected.
“As you are aware, planning laws were amended earlier this year to introduce this new SFD pathway to approve developments bypassing local planning schemes with an approval process through state government rather than Councils, which I opposed at the time,” Ms Bolton said.
“This bill will allow the Planning Minister to revise or revoke/refuse an application that does not adhere to a local planning scheme, which under the previous Bill was not an avenue available.
“This will ensure that commitments made to my electorate during the elections can be delivered, and I thank the Premier and Minister for Planning Jarrod Bleijie for this as it is appreciated.
“With Noosa Council in support of these amendments, and the planning department working with them closely on any SFD applications or future proposals, I feel confident that the concerns of our community will now be addressed, and that Noosa can rest easy tonight knowing that we have been heard, and action has resulted.
“The changes relating to the SFDs will work to address the community’s concerns regarding the two proposals within the Noosa Electorate, and help ensure going forward that there is a mechanism for the Minister to refuse future applications that do not align to the Noosa Planning Scheme.”
Parliament also accepted a petition on the same day, signed by 1,734 petitioners, “requesting the House to refuse the development applications for 194 residential units in Noosa Junction and 40 units in Tewantin Village which exceed the size, scale and height development allowance under the Noosa Plan 2020”.
