Insite SJC Blog

Bundaberg Regional Council has released its fee schedule for 2020/21.  While most DA lodgement fees will increase generally in accordance with the CPI there are exceptions. Find out more.

Remember "Bundaberg Open for Development 2016”, the Council’s thrice extended but now concluded incentives scheme?

If you were fortunate enough to secure discounts on your infrastructure charges under this scheme, but have not yet completed your development, it is most likely your discounts applicable to the uncompleted part will lapse on 26 June 2020.

Find out what you can do!

The InsiteSJC planning team is pleased to acknowledge the efforts of North Burnett Regional Council in progressing amendments to the planning scheme. Minor and administrative amendments commenced on Monday 3 February 2020. InsiteSJC had the pleasure of assisting the Council to make a series of amendments to ‘appropriately integrate’ SPP 2017, reflect the regulated requirements and make various other improvements and corrections.

InsiteSJC's planning team recently received a briefing from Bundaberg Regional Council’s Manager of Strategic Planning, Evan Fritz, about recent amendments to the Bundaberg Regional Council Planning Scheme that commenced on 10 February. 

Choose a PIA 'Registered Planner' to be sure of quality planning advice. InsiteSJC has the only consulting Registered Planners in the Bundaberg and Fraser Coast Regions. Only a small proportion of planners in all of Queensland, whether employed in the public, community or private sectors, meet the criteria for being a Registered Planner.

What a big year it has been for InsiteSJC!  We have been involved in a diverse range of projects and are proud to be a part of the local community.  You, as our clients, suppliers, and fellow consultants are what keep us going. We cannot wait to see what projects come our way next year.  
We thought it would be an excellent opportunity to reflect on our year and share with you some of the major projects that we have been involved with from concept and approval phase through to construction. Excuse us for a little self-indulgence, but we appreciate being part of our client’s successes! Of course, this would also not be possible without the collegiate help of our many fellow consultants!

This blog discusses what it means for a proposal to 'conflict with' a planning scheme and the 'sufficient grounds test' that an assessment manager would need to apply in the event of such a conflict.

It is interesting sometimes to observe the community perception that all development proposals must comply with every aspect of the planning scheme. In reality, most development projects have some minor issue that requires dispensation or relaxation by the Council as the assessment manager.

Not so long ago we had a small footprint planning system! Before being afflicted with Planning Reform Syndrome symptoms, Queensland had a very lightweight planning regime. Only as far back as the early 1980s, to arguably the most bureaucratically-complex part of Queensland as far as the planning and development system was concerned, Brisbane...the City of Brisbane Town Planning Act 1964 comprised just 19 pages and the town plan contained a little more than 100 pages of text. There were no state planning policies, guidelines or rules. Our entire planning system, as it applied to metropolitan Brisbane, fitted into less than 120 pages! Compare that to what we are launching into in 2017!

The 19 July 2017 deadline may seem like it is still a long way off, but considering the prospect of State referrals, information requests, public notification and submitter appeals, the timeframe is getting impractical for some projects. Act now to ensure that you make the most of the Bundaberg Regional Council development incentives.

We have a new planning regime commencing in Queensland in July 2017. With the objective of streamlining planning and development assessment processes, many are expecting the Planning Act 2016 and associated legislation to revolutionise the development landscape. We think otherwise!

Property developers should keep in mind the timing of publicly notifying relevant applications. Notification between 20 December in any year to 5 January in the following year does not count towards the 15 or 30 business day notification period.

A 15-day notification needs to commence by 28 November to avoid the blackout period. Act now!