I rise in support of the Sustainable Planning Bill 2009. An overhauling of the current planning laws is long overdue. I am sure that all long-term members will agree with me that dealing with planning laws is often a frustrating process for the public and government agencies as well as members of parliament. It is a highly complex and specialised area, and therein lies half the problem. Very few people have a full understanding of how the current planning laws work, the history behind them and the roles of each government agency, especially local government.

In 2003 I had a crash course in planning laws when the Maleny Woolworths dispute blew up. The situation was not helped initially by the local councillor at the time, who did not understand her own council’s planning laws let alone the role of the state government in the decision to approve the Woolworths development. The decision to give the site in Maple Street, Maleny an as-of-right development approval dated back some 20 years. It was subsequently not picked up during public consultation several times about the town plan. When the site, which had been used for a cattle saleyard, was bought by a developer and he announced plans to have a shopping centre on the site, community members were surprised and outraged by the announcement. They were even more outraged when they realised that council had, over decades, not rectified the mistake to make a sensitive piece of land at the entry to their town a building development site. Neither the developer nor the council assisted the community to deal with the many issues that then occurred. The whole thing was a disgrace. I must say that the replacement councillor from 2004 to 2008, Councillor Dick Newman, did understand planning and was very helpful to both the community and to myself.

It is for this reason that I have long advocated that the whole process surrounding planning needs to be changed, and I am pleased to see that this is occurring. This bill will lead to coordinated and integrated planning at the local, regional and state levels. This reform agenda started in early 2006 with extensive consultation with stakeholders and the public and was further moved along by the release of two discussion papers. It was expected that the Integrated Planning Act 1997 would be amended, but it was decided that this did not go far enough and that an extended review needed to occur. The reform agenda then contained 80 actions, of which 42 involved significant legislative change. About two-thirds of the reform agenda relates to operational and cultural reform, but it was decided that new planning legislation was considered necessary to provide a framework for a best-practice planning and development system. Hence this bill will replace the current Integrated Planning Act 1997.

The emphasis remains on an effective regional planning framework, which we have implemented with the South East Queensland Regional Plan. This SEQ Regional Plan has provided certainty about land uses and designation within the South-East Queensland area and has allowed councils to also ensure their planning is working to provide good outcomes for people in relation to lifestyle, liveability and the environment whilst allowing development to be planned to best fit in with communities. This bill also assists in this land use planning and development by streamlining the development system at plan-making and development assessment stages.

One of the problems I have seen over the years is the length of time that councils take to work through documentation and approve or reject applications. This means that developers and communities can be left hanging, sometimes for years. This bill does not provide developers with the chance to sneak their applications through, but it does mean that councils need to do their work in a timely and costeffective fashion. Another part of this streamlining will be to make the infrastructure charging regime more transparent and equitable and it will be enhanced by standard planning scheme provisions.

As the minister has stated, this Sustainable Planning Bill is a document which bestows on participants in the planning process certain responsibilities. Applicants have a responsibility to provide all of the necessary and relevant information that will enable the council to properly assess the proposal in front of them. Councils have a responsibility to assess applications in a timely and appropriate manner. State government agencies who are part of the referral process must ensure state interests are included in our state planning instrument and should be involved from the beginning of the application process, rather than the end. In my area, quite often that happens very well with Main Roads but sometimes not with some of the other departments.

The final part of this is that the community has a role to play. The legislation provides for efficient community engagement at all appropriate stages and requires stakeholder involvement to make it effective. This bill will ensure that planning and development involves our community along with government. There will always be a degree of concern over new developments, especially as they relate to vegetation clearing and care for wildlife. I think council needs to look carefully at all future developments in relation to lot sizes, retention of vegetation et cetera and also look closely at the provision of affordable housing opportunities within these developments.

Planning should complement our community and enhance opportunities for people to live in an environment that satisfies their needs and wants. Environmental considerations should be paramount for new housing developments, as should access to infrastructure and transport. Industrial developments need to be provided so that local people can work in the local area. This is what communities are all about. I look forward to seeing the implementation of the Sustainable Planning Bill and I commend the bill to the House.