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A quick roadmap for Queensland’s planning & other environmental laws

Image: Zaha Hadid Architects / Sunland

Dr Chris McGrath22 June 2019 - EDO Planning Workshop, Brisbane

5‐part lecture series

Lecture Topic

1 A quick roadmap for Queensland’s planning and other environmental laws – how everything fits together

2 Not black magic: practical tips for statutory interpretation – how to avoid being overwhelmed by complexity

3 Navigating planning schemes – a helpful overview of where to look for what you need to know in a planning scheme

4 Development assessment – understanding the various stages of development assessment

5 Practical tips for taking action to protect the environment in court – what to know about your rights to go to court on planning matters

Lecture outline

1. Our (real world) problem: proposed re-development of the old ABC studio site at Toowong

2. Does the proposed development comply with the law and, if not, what steps need to be taken to either: stop it; or make it comply?

• What laws regulate this activity?

How to think about (conceptualise) environmental law.

• Are any applications needed to gain government approval?

Development approval under the planning Act 2016 (Qld)

Assume everyone is familiar with the three main levels of government in Australia.

If not: see lecture on “Introduction to government in Australia” http://envlaw.com.au/introduction‐to‐government‐in‐australia/

~565 local government

Preliminary topic: 

Explanation of structure of lectures

Lecture plan for problem based learning

Topic 1

Topic 2

Topic 3

Problem

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A major reason that I use problems as the basis for teaching is because as a law student and later as a lawyer I learnt that:

All law is boring until you try to apply it to solve a problem. ...

Problem‐based learning underpins this workshop.

This is deliberate both to make the workshop interesting but also to prepare you to work in the planning system.

To engage in the planning system (as a lawyer, planner, government officer or member of the public), you need to be a good problem‐solver.

1 km

Brisbane

Our problem: redevelopment of the old ABC site at Toowong

https://youtu.be/LJFlZpceQRk?t=25

A short film of proposed development

A quick roadmap of Queensland’s environmental legal system.

How to think about (conceptualise) the environmental legal system.

Three ways of thinking about the environmental legal system:

1. Government/departmental silos

2. Traditional descriptive categories (e.g. pollution)

3. Jigsaw / mapping without categories

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Government silose.g. https://planning.dsdmip.qld.gov.au/

Traditional categories are widely used in textbooks

Jigsaw approach:  

Major pieces of the Queensland environmental legal system

(see handout & Synopsis book)

Think of the law like a jigsaw that you need to solve.

Image: http://www.publicdomainpictures

International law:International policy (soft law) influences 

Australia’s domestic laws & policies in many ways. (e.g. concept of sustainable development)

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/

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International law is important but …

There is no international unilateral “government”.

Generally speaking:

• The United Nations (UN) does not have power to impose obligations on countries without their consent.

• International law binds Australia (as a nation) but not individuals within Australia or overseas.

• International law only relevant to interpret Australian laws where it is expressly incorporated by them (e.g. section 17 of the EPBC Act).

Does international law apply or regulate a project like the redevelopment of the old ABC site?

Image: Zaha Hadid Architects / Sunland

Recordings of lecture series on major international treaties

See http://envlaw.com.au/envm7124/

Commonwealth law

The famous Tasmanian Dam Case (1983)

See http://envlaw.com.au/tasmanian-dam-case/

EPBC Act

See http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/

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See http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/what-is-protected

Each year in Queensland there are:

• <50 referrals of projects under the EPBC Act

• >20,000 development applications under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld)

The EPBC Act rarely stops or regulates development (but it can be important – e.g. Traveston Dam refusal in 2009)

Photo: Courier Mail Source: ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-09/the-developer-the-whistleblower-and-the-minister-toondah-harbour/10487806

Proposed Toondah Harbour, Cleveland

Does the EPBC Act apply or regulate a project like the redevelopment of the old ABC site?

Image: Zaha Hadid Architects / Sunland

Queensland (State) laws

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Queensland has traditionally made a major distinction between the application processes for:

• Mining (& CSG); and

• Other forms for development (“planning laws”).

The Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (Qld) created more planning controls on mining and CSG development.

Queensland’s planning system has multiple layers comprised of many large, complex and related documents.

(341 pages) (475 pages; 24 Schedules)

The process for local government plan making is set out in the Minister’s Guidelines and Rules 2017

(88 pages) (77 pages)

Development Assessment follows Ch 3 (ss43‐109) of the Planning Act & the DA Rules

See Ch 3 (Development Assessment), ss 43-109, especially:

• s 45 (definitions of code & impact assessment);

• s 60 (Deciding development applications)

See also: Ch 8 (Transitional provisions), s289 – references to old terms “exempt development” and “self-assessable development”.

(38 pages)(~75 of 341 pages)

State Government development assessment triggers are prescribed in the Planning Regulations 2017 (Qld) and, if triggered, assessed through the Single Assessment & Referral Agency (SARA) 

against the State Development Assessment Provisions. 

(475 pages; 24 Schedules) (261 pages)

Regional plans prescribe an “urban footprint” and some other matters at a regional level

(192 pages)

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Local government planning schemes provide the bulk of detailed development controls

(e.g. Brisbane City Plan 2014 – >1,000pp?)

http://eplan.brisbane.qld.gov.au/

Does the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) apply or regulate a project like the re-development of the old ABC site (along with other lawse.g. State Development & PWO Act 1971)?

Image: Zaha Hadid Architects / Sunland

4th (bottom) layer: the common law

Concluding remarks:

A witch’s brew of 

complex, technical issues

Think of the law like a jigsaw that you need to solve.

Image: http://www.publicdomainpictures

As a broad summary, there are three basic rules for complying with environmental laws:

1. Obtain and comply with any necessary licence or government approval;

2. Comply with any relevant standard imposed by the law, including taking all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent or minimise environmental harm; and

3. If unlawful material or serious environmental harm occurs or may occur, notify the Queensland government.

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There are several layers of planning in Queensland and other Australian States that in turn affect application requirements:

Statewide  

Regional

Local

Decreasing geographic area of application but dramatically increasing levels of detail & specificity.

While State and regional planning is important, local government planning schemes provide the bulk of laws and regulations restricting land development in Queensland and other Australian States.

Local governments are often key decision‐makers in the planning system.

Simple, short & lack of detail.

Uncertainty

Complex, long & detailed.

Certainty

There is a constant tension & trade‐off in writing laws, plans & related documents between:

Increasingly prescriptive and detailed laws and plans have the advantage of giving certainty to landholders and government but the disadvantage of being long and complex.

Shorter, less prescriptive laws and plans tend to be very vague and uncertain in their operation, often depending to a large extent on the discretion of the government decision‐maker (e.g. contrast EPBC Act vs planning schemes under the 

Planning Act 2016 (Qld) in high pressure areas such as Brisbane).

Lecture outline

1. Our (real world) problem: proposed re-development of the old ABC studio site at Toowong

2. Does the proposed development comply with the law and, if not, what steps need to be taken to either: stop it; or make it comply?

• What laws regulate this activity?

How to think about (conceptualise) environmental law.

• Are any applications needed to gain government approval?

Development approval under the planning Act 2016 (Qld)

1. There are three main ways of thinking of (conceptualising) the Queensland environmental legal system (they are not mutually exclusive):

o Government/departmental silos

o Traditional descriptive categories (e.g. pollution)

o Jigsaw / mapping without categories

2. Be wary of silos and categories – they are widely used but apt to mislead.

3. The development assessment system in the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) provides a central part of the environmental legal system in Queensland (>20,000 applications/yr).

4. There is a trade-off: long, complex and detailed laws & plans are more difficult to use but tend to give more certainty.

Key take away points: