Will the Planning Reform Get an A?

Will the Planning Reform Get an A?

Natalie Fuller, MPIA

Wendy Campana Executive Director Local Government Association of SA

Colin Cassidy Executive Director Policy and Program Division, Planning Group Department of Infrastructure and Planning Queensland Government

Department of Infrastructure PIA SA Presentation 20 March 2009 Colin Cassidy Executive Director Policy and Program Division Qld Department of Infrastructure and Planning

Purpose 1. Overview of Queensland s planning and development system context for subsequent comments/ discussion 2. Queensland s own reforms common issues/ responses? 3. A Queensland response to the PIA Report Card criteria some ideas for consideration/ discussion

Department of Infrastructure Overview of Queensland s planning and development system

Queensland s planning and development system Major reform in 1998 Commencement of Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) Integrated planning and development assessment Performance-based approach Key role of local government planning schemes in state/ regional/ local policy integration

Queensland s planning and development system Integrated development assessment system (IDAS) common process for all development in State Subsequent roll in of up to 60 separate State-based approvals Complimentary and strong role of building approval system

What has happened since? Statutory regional plans introduced in 2005 10 years of operational experience under IPA Continued high population and economic activity growth rates - economic growth rate of 5.6%, 1800 additional people per week (SEQ extra 1M people in 20 years) National shortage of planners

What has happened since? Central planning and infrastructure agency established Complaints that system too complex, slow and adds cost to development (simpler, faster, cheaper) Planning Reform commenced in 2006

Department of Infrastructure Planning Reform

What our stakeholders had to say the planning system is too complex poor quality or incomplete applications submitted poor community engagement in plan making non-compliance with statutory timeframes too much focus on process rather than good development outcomes widespread systemic, operational and cultural issues

Fundamentals of IPA retained Integrated planning and development assessment supported and sound - operation however requires updating/ improving Contemporary legislation has been prepared clarifies intent and addresses a number of operational issues New planning tools developed standard planning scheme provisions, complying development Solution is 1/3 legislative: 1/3 Operational: 1/3 cultural

Completion of legislation is only 1/3 of reform agenda 97% complete 5% 1% legislation operation culture

Operational and cultural reform commenced State-wide program of statutory regional planning - SEQ review accelerated, FNQ Plan finalised, 4 others under preparation RiskSmart risk based approach to Development Assessment, pioneered by Brisbane City Council, rolled out to 10 other local governments and 4 State agencies Smart eda a State-wide electronic Development Assessment tracking system, DA reporting commencing

Operational and cultural reform commenced Building/ Planning interface clarity Standard planning scheme provisions being developed standard structure, definitions, zones Simplifying infrastructure planning and contributions Cheaper and quicker dispute resolution processes Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), expansion of Building and Development Tribunal

Challenges : Finding the balance to achieve real reform Flexibility..Standardisation Disintegration Integrated system Consistency Individuality Prescriptive.Performance Public benefit..private benefit

Principles of Planning Reform 1. 4 levels of planning working together - state -> regional-> local -> neighbourhood 2. Front load planning systems, then get on with it! 3. Focus planning on the big ticket issues - Get the little stuff out of the system fast 4. 80/20 rule 80% the same 20% different - focus on what we all do the same

Principles of Planning Reform 5. Risk management not risk avoidance 6. Preparedness for e-planning 7. It s not business as usual - but evolution not revolution 8. Acknowledge 10 year shortage of planners

Streamline development assessment Fit for purpose Simple development simple process Streamline assessment of houses use of building assessment process as much as possible Fix legislation e.g. missed referrals Clarify, simplify processes Non-legislative solutions (operational and cultural) Smart eda Risk Smart

Summary Simplify the system Make better use of scarce staff resources Streamline links between state and local interests Rebuild community confidence and involvement More focus on outcome less focus on process Better planning and less conflicts

Department of Infrastructure A Queensland response to the PIA Report Card criteria

Growth Management Continued strong population growth and economic activity continuing in much of Queensland 1800 additional people a week accelerated strategic and statutory regional planning program - five new statutory regional plans (SEQ, FNQ and 4 rural) and implementation of 5 existing plans is a key focus urban footprint linked to regulatory provisions SEQ ($108B over 20 years) and FNQ Infrastructure Plans prepared to support land use plans

Sustainability Indicators sustainability indicators developed to inform review of SEQ Regional Plan SEQ State of the Region Baseline Report - baseline for assessing sustainability trends Queensland Development Code introduced new water saving measures including: expanding the allowable uses of treated grey water retrofitting water efficient devices and toilets in residential premises as part of major renovations increased water efficiency in new commercial and industrial buildings

Governance Central agency Department of Infrastructure and Planning established reform agenda developed and being implemented new planning legislation to become operational mid 2009. statutory regional planning model used for SEQ expanded to the rest of the state Urban Land Development Authority established responsible for planning, coordination and development of certain sites reform of the State's local government system in 2008 one driving factor was greater capacity for effective planning at the local level.

Infrastructure State Infrastructure Plan - framework for the State Government and infrastructure providers to evaluate the likely economic development outcomes of particular infrastructure initiatives State committed to deliver over $107 billion over 20 years in SEQ to build infrastructure (transport, roads, water, energy, community safety, education, housing and health) over $10 billion already been invested (as at 31 March 2008) - more than 160 projects completed, another 290 projects underway Program Management Office established to drive delivery of projects TOD Coordination Unit established local governments to prepare infrastructure plans to integrate land use and infrastructure planning Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) now undertakes independent reviews of local government infrastructure plans Expanded role of Building and Development Tribunal to hear infrastructure appeals

Demographic Change Strong regional growth component of growth related to resource boom and tree/ sea change Key trigger for accelerated statutory regional planning across the state Department of Infrastructure and Planning undertakes extensive research on population dynamics and forecasts, residential dwelling activity and urban land supply Information used in the accelerated regional planning program Expanded land monitoring role to address housing affordability issues coverage across whole state and include ownership and housing affordability indicators

Housing Queensland Housing Affordability Strategy released Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA) established to deliver affordable housing Interim amendments to IPA to streamline and improve efficiency of the planning and development system fast-track planning of a number of greenfield sites within SEQ to improve land supply expanded Departmental land supply/ housing monitoring programs Simplified and more transparent infrastructure charging Opportunities for improving the energy efficiency of air-conditioning and residential hot-water systems, reducing energy consumption through improvements in lighting, water conservation and insulation under investigation

Public Participation Poor community awareness and engagement in the plan-making process Over-reliance on adversarial involvement in subsequent, individual, development applications Standard Planning Scheme Provisions (SPSP) will assist focus on simpler and easier to understand planning documents Legislative changes to simplify the planning scheme preparation process

Planning workforce shortage of planning professionals acknowledged Training plan based on needs analysis Considering scholarship programs to support entrance into planning and development vocations (especially in regional and remote communities) professional exchange program with councils, State agencies and the private sector Strong support for the LGAQ Diploma in Local Government (Planning) course para-planners streamlining and simplifying the development assessment process, and the introduction of electronic development assessment systems will help reduce pressure on planning resources and improve service delivery

Streamlined assessment Risk-based approach to assessment with low risk applications being fast tracked expanded from SEQ to ten high growth councils and 4 state agencies 5 day approvals, use of accredited consultants, council audits Legislative changes to streamline and simplify IDAS include: streamline and simplify the assessment and referral triggers simplify the application stage and strengthen the requirements for properly made applications consolidate, simplify and allow more flexible arrangements for procedural matters including various timeframes, changing development applications, missed referrals and public notification making code and impact assessment and the decision making processes simpler, clearer and more consistent expand the current compliance assessment process to apply to a much wider range of compliance matters.

Urban Design Queensland Government Architect appointed Board for Urban Places (BUP) being established - advise government on design aspects of major infrastructure and urban planning projects Key projects under development include - Transit Oriented Design Resource Manual, Sub-tropical Design Guidelines, review of Queensland Streets etc. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Guidelines for Queensland released - promote incorporation of CPTED principles into the planning, design and management of development

Climate Change Office of Climate Change established ClimateSmart 2050 released and includes: mandating 4 star energy efficiency in new commercial buildings and phasing out electric hot water systems in existing homes at the time of replacement from 2010 banned electric hot water systems in all new houses. Climate change considerations an underlying principle in the development of regional plans in-fill development, reduce urban sprawl and increased densities in centres and transport nodes Commitment to development of Climate Change State Planning Policy Current review of State Planning Policy 1/03: Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Flood, Bushfire and Landslide, the State Coastal Management Plan, local government planning schemes and physical infrastructure

Questions?

Jon Kellet, MPIA Associate Professor Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment School of Natural and Built Environments University of South Australia

Will the Planning Review get an 'A'? Jon Kellett University of South Australia

The short answer... No!

The longer answer...

Differentiated analysis Growth management Sustainability Indicators Governance structure Infrastructure Transport Demographic Change Housing Public Participation Professional Planning Workforce Planning Assessment Urban Design Climate Change Average B B B D E C B B C A C B C

Content of reforms Streamlining the DA system New approach to Strategic planning Supporting Growth Tackling in climate change Governance & procedural structures

Streamlining the DA system "The transformation of the planning system from a rules bound rule focused process driven... to a sophisticated strategy driven enabler..." 85% of matters handled by planning system relate to residential development SA has more applications per head than any other state SA has very low level of complying development

Streamlining the DA system UK Stats 2007-8 63% of applications were for residential. 50% existing, 13% new. 82% of all applications granted. 90% of all decisions used delegated powers without referral to committee. Scorecard C+ Direction

New approach to Strategic planning So what's new? More content than method Categories Growth Management TOD Housing Scorecard C Direction

Supporting Growth High emphasis Housing land and supply Density increase Major developments Scorecard C- Direction

Tackling Climate Change The Griffith University VAMPIRE model

Tackling climate change Will ResCode reduce climate impacts? Energy efficiency a Building Code issue How can we... increase public transport usage reduce private car trip distances reduce the need to travel? Scorecard C Direction

Governance & procedural structures Improved State Local co-operation Performance standards for local councils Put emphasis on high quality public realm. Major development processes Fast tracking and call in powers Enhanced position of Planning SA New role for LMC Scorecard C Direction

Key concerns Why do we reform a system? What should reform concentrate on? How will public perceive it? How will planners perceive it? Symbolism is important Results take a long time

A personal view.. Need much more robust and analytical strategic planning ResCode more symbolic than revolutionary Lets tackle our approach to zoning Emphasise high quality public realm. Less conservatism

The bottom line... Expect a C on the 2009 planning score card

But most important... What do YOU think?

Q & A

Workshop

Panel Discussion

Final Comments