Environmental Significance Overlay - Major Amendment

In accordance with the process for making Major amendments outlined by the State Government Council undertook community consultation on the Environmental significance overlay and Planning scheme policy amendments for eleven weeks or 82 days between 11 May 2023 and 31 July 2023.

The council General Meeting on 11 October 2023 considered the proposed amendment and the report on consultation submissions before deciding not to proceed with the major amendment to the Redland City Plan.

That Council resolves as follows:

1. To endorse the consultation report (Attachment 1) and make the consultation report publicly available in accordance with section 18.4 of Chapter 2, Part 4 of the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules.

2. To not proceed with 01/21 – Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay at this time.

3. To give a notice to the Minister under section 21.1 of Chapter 2, Part 4 of the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules, indicating that Council is not proceeding with the 01/21 – Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay.

4. To publish a public notice outlining the reasons for not proceeding with the 01/21 – Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay as follows:

a. Improved statutory and non-statutory planning measures and initiatives are available to support private landowners to manage environmental values on their properties.

b. Further detailed investigation and analysis is required to ensure the proposed amendment would achieve its intended outcomes.

5. To advise all submitters of this resolution not to proceed with the amendment.

6. To note that the proposed amendment may, subject to Council approval, be further investigated as part of a future review of City Plan.

Redland City Council has extended the public consultation period for an amendment designed to incorporate the Council-endorsed Wildlife Connections Plan 2018-2028 into the City Plan within the urban footprint.

The draft planning scheme amendment 01/21 – Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay proposes that all clearing of native vegetation in mapped areas of affected public and private properties will be assessed against updated assessment criteria in the City Plan.

The original public consultation period was from 11 May to 22 June 2023.

At Council’s General Meeting on 21 June 2023, the consultation period was extended until 31 July 2023.

The extension will ensure all residents impacted by the proposed amendment have the opportunity to make an informed submission.

After community consultation closes, Council will consider all submissions before deciding whether to proceed with the major amendment and incorporate it into the Redland City Plan.

May update

On 8 December 2022, the Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning advised Redland City Council that the proposed 01/21 Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay is approved for public consultation, with conditions.

Council has subsequently resolved to amend the 01/21 Major Amendment - Environmental Significance Overlay to comply with the Minister’s conditions and to commence public consultation of the 01/21 Major Amendment - Environmental Significance Overlay.

The Planning Scheme Policy 1 – Environmental Significance is also being proposed to be amended to support the major amendment.

Public consultation on 01/21 Major Amendment – Environmental Significance Overlay and on the proposed amendments to Planning Scheme Policy 1 – Environmental Significance has been Publicly Notified and will commence on 11 May 2023 and end on 22 June 2023.

Council is proposing to amend Redland City Plan to strengthen protection of the most important urban habitats and wildlife corridors on Redlands Coast.

Mayor Karen Williams said the proposed stronger protections under the major amendment to Redland City Plan would be submitted to Planning Minister Steven Miles for State Interest Review before being released for public consultation.

“This is the first step in changing the City Plan to bring in stronger protections and will be followed by public consultation in which the community can have their say on this proposal,” she said.

“We expect that public consultation will commence early in 2022.”

Cr Williams said the amendment reflected the findings and recommendations of a review requested by Council in November 2020 of options to improve statutory land use planning protections to environmental corridors within the urban footprint, as identified in the Wildlife Connections Plan 2018-2028.

“The proposed changes will only affect parts of properties that are currently mapped as having local or state environmental values and are located in the urban footprint of ShapingSEQ,” she said.

“These amendments ensure that native vegetation clearing in the city’s most important urban habitat and corridors that connect them are mapped in City Plan through a new category of Matters of Local Environmental Significance (MLES) called wildlife core and habitat and are subject to a higher level of regulation in City Plan.

“In effect, this will remove existing native vegetation clearing exemptions in these important mapped urban habitats and corridors, making all such clearing assessable against the environmental significance overlay of City Plan.

“To support stronger protections in these important urban habitats, the amendment proposes new assessment criteria to clearly require that any proposed clearing firstly avoids clearing native vegetation within a mapped MLES wildlife core and corridor habitat.

“Where this is not reasonably possible, the clearing will need to be minimised and mitigated, and an offset provided for any unavoidable loss of native vegetation.

“The amendment is proposed to apply to just over 1000 privately owned properties, with another 1080 publicly-owned properties.”

Cr Williams said Council has provided in-principle support for assisting private landowners affected by the proposed amendment should it be introduced following public consultation.

“To recognise the contribution that affected private landowners make to the protection of the city’s environmental values, an environmental rate concession, tied to the environmental levy, for all private properties that pay a general rate included in the amendment is considered most appropriate,” she said.

“Council will also write to each private landowner to highlight the environmental management support and assistance currently provided under Council’s Environmental Partnership Program.

“The amendment also updates mapped Matters of State Environmental Significance (MSES) in City Plan to reflect changes made to this state mapping since the City Plan commenced in 2018.

“It also proposes some minor changes to mapped MLES to update this mapping, particularly in areas of Mount Cotton that no longer contain these values.”

Cr Williams said Council would provide updates and background information on the amendment to the community via a project page on its Your Say website.

“This will outline the proposed changes as well as highlight the future opportunities for the community to provide comments as part of the statutory public consultation process in 2022, following completion of the State interest review,” she said.