Skip links and keyboard navigation

Guide to the Sustainable Planning Act

The Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA) (PDF icon) was amended by the Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 2012 (SPOLAA (No. 2) 2012) which was given assent on 22 November 2012.

SPOLAA (No. 2) 2012 is the result of extensive consultation with local government, the property and construction industry and the environmental sector. SPOLAA (No. 2) 2012 delivers on the government's commitment to restoring efficiency, consistency and certainty to the planning and development system. For further information on the SPOLAA (No. 2) 2012 refer to the Queensland Legislation website.

SPOLAA is the result of the first regular review of the SPA and includes amendments that clarify, simplify or improve operational arrangements for the planning and development framework.

The Sustainable Planning Act 2009 replaces the Integrated Planning Act 1997.

SPA seeks to achieve sustainable planning outcomes through:

  • managing the process by which development takes place
  • managing the effects of development on the environment
  • continuing the coordination and integration of local, regional and state planning.

Sustainable Planning Regulation

The Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 (PDF icon) commenced on 18 December 2009, and supports the operation of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.

A number of recent sustainable planning amendment regulations amend the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009:

  • Amendments commencing 15 March 2013

    The Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 was amended by the Sustainable Planning Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2013 on 15 March 2013.

    The amendments result in significant improvements to referrals and other development assessment processes under the Sustainable Planning Act framework. Some amendments commenced on 15 March 2013, including:

    • simplified and reduced transport related referrals for relevant development applications (to commence on 25 March 2013)
    • simplified referrals for applications involving contaminated land
    • simplified and reduced referrals for applications for coastal development
    • removal of referrals for applications involving declared significant projects on strategic cropping land
    • removal of referrals for applications under regional plans other than the South East Queensland Regional Plan
    • reduced public notification periods for certain development so that it aligns with the general notification requirement of 15 business days
    • the chief executive under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 prescribed as the assessment manager for applications involving an environmentally relevant activity and vegetation clearing
    • removal of redundant provisions, including those relating to evidence of state resource allocation
    • the regulation made consistent with assessment categories that may be prescribed for development under an airport land use plan.

    Amendments to simplify and reduce transport related referrals for relevant development applications commence on 25 March 2013.

  • Amendments commencing 14 December 2012

    On 14 December 2012, the Sustainable Planning Amendment Regulation (No. 8) 2012 amended the Sustainable Planning Regulation 2009 to repeal Statutory Guideline 03/09—Declared master planned area structure plans.

    This means that structure plans for declared master planned areas will now be required to be transitioned into local government planning schemes by following the process outlined in Statutory Guideline 02/12 - Making and amending local planning instruments (MALPI) (PDF icon 376 KB). The amendment also includes new definitions in the regulation for terms that are no longer defined in the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA), due to the removal of the planning partnership arrangements.


Materials currently available

Subscribe to updates

Subscribe to our regular eNews updates to get the latest information as it becomes available.