Made in Queensland: planning reform and rhetoric

Abstract

Queensland has been Australia's fastest growing state over the past 20 years. The rate and scale of development has intensified public debate around planning and sustainability in key areas such as transport infrastructure, housing affordability and economic growth and development. The Queensland Government is not coy about staking out an ambitious and competitive economic reform agenda at the state metro-regional or statutory levels. The most recent reform initiatives promote economic development through 'planning for prosperity' and the building of 'a superior planning framework' as a way of consolidating and promoting state interests. This paper focuses on the last two decades of planning reform initiatives in Queensland with particular reference to recent changes to the Sustainable Planning Act 1999 (SPA) such as the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) and the single State Planning Policy (SPP). This procedural emphasis on red and green tape reduction, streamlining planning processes and the development of a one-stop shop sits alongside a collaborative ambition at the metro-regional scale through initiatives such as the South East Queensland Regional Plan (SEQRP) as a means of better facilitating sustainable planning reform -not rhetoric -in Queensland.

How environmental storylines shaped regional planning policies in South East Queensland, Australia: A long-term analysis

“…Its policy achievements are even more impressive considering there is no formal tier of regional government and that its planning system is based on a model of partnership and collaboration. The second reason is that SEQ has always been pro-growth and conservative (Steele and Dodson, 2014). Development and environmental pressures have increased steadily over time.…”

Discretion and the erosion of community trust in planning: reflections on the post‐political

“…Discretion left planning exposed to political and market winds (Ebbs, ; Fairfax Media, ; Moore, ), and it also curtailed grassroots engagement such that protestation and contestation were rendered administrative—that is, post‐political. Finally, the quest to streamline and simplify also shaped a nationwide preference for formal public participation to occur during the early, strategic phases of planning (Ruming et al ., ; Steele & Dodson, ; Shevellar et al ., ). This “frontloading” often led to a poor integration of community visions in Queensland planning exercises, and, as such, it reduced the quality of solutions to a range of social, spatial, and environmental challenges (McGuirk, ; Ruming et al ., ).…”

Social representations of children in higher density housing: enviable, inevitable or evil?

“…This research focuses on Brisbane, Australia's third largest city. Brisbane is located in the South East Queensland (SEQ) region, one of the fastest growing regions in Australia (Steele & Dodson, 2014). Much of Brisbane's future growth is projected to occur in higher density areas as the Southeast Queensland Regional Plan 2009 includes a goal for at least 88% of all dwellings predicted to be developed between 2006 and 2031 in Brisbane to be delivered on infill sites at higher densities.…”