Next step for new Planning Scheme for the Tablelands

Extensive feedback from community meetings held throughout the region to discuss a new planning scheme for the Tablelands will now be used to take the plan to the next stage.

Tablelands Regional Council has received a summary of the outcomes of the community and key sector meetings which will now be used to prepare a draft Statement of Proposals. The results of the online survey are still being collated.

The Statement of Proposals is an important document as it:

• Provides an opportunity for the community to gain an insight into the major challenges and opportunities for managing growth and change which face the Tablelands Regional Council
• Sets out Tablelands Regional Council broad land use strategies to address these challenges and opportunities, and
• Provides the opportunity for the community to contribute to the process of deciding how the identified challenges and issues for Council can be addressed through the new planning scheme.

Under Queensland’s Integrated Planning Act (1997) preparation of a Statement of Proposals is a legislative requirement of drafting a planning scheme.

The draft Statement of Proposals will be circulated early in the new year amongst the community and workshop participants and their comments will be invited. After submissions have been collated and the document has been amended accordingly, the final Statement of Proposals will be adopted by Council.

The community and key sector workshops held from July to September revealed that there was great concern about the lack of aged care accommodation on the Tablelands.

With the median age in the region standing at 41, compared to the state median average of 36, there was clear anxiety amongst Tablelanders they may be forced to leave the region purely due to the lack of appropriate accommodation and health facilities.

Others commented that when they were "too old to manage their property, we'll move to a unit near the hospital".

"These types of comments reflect the need to co-locate or cluster higher density residential accommodation around health services and existing facilities to cater for the Tablelands ageing population," the report says.

• Other interesting feedback gathered through the workshops were:
• Tablelands residents across the region highly value the natural environment and want the new plan to reflect that. In areas such as Kuranda and Malanda, residents specifically wanted re-vegetated areas protected by the scheme.
• A lack of services and facilities were reported in rural towns and villages. It was stated that the new planning scheme must carefully identify the level and location of social services throughout the region, with the view to co-locate services wherever possible, and increase residential densities around these service clusters so as to ensure that the maximum number of residents have ease of access to essential health and social services.
• Road standards were considered to need improvement in places, particularly in Malanda and Mareeba.
• The need for better recreational facilities such as parks and gardens was raised, particularly in Kuranda, Mareeba and Julatten. The feedback was that the planning scheme must retain and integrate quality “people space”.
• For the most part, tourism, agricultural diversification, food processing and value adding of local produce were identified as key economic drivers and sources of future employment generation. Centres like Dimbulah and Millaa Millaa, that have less developed tourist industries, would like to see their local areas assets better promoted to attract more tourists in the future.
• The need for more tourist infrastructure, like signage, dump points and facilities to support camping and recreation vehicles was highlighted on many occasions.
• The need for light industrial areas to attract jobs and services came up in many centres which currently do not have one, including Kuranda, Ravenshoe, Herberton, Mt Garnet and Yungaburra. Concerns were also raised that the planning scheme must ensure that adequate land is available for the commercial expansion of Atherton.
• A major source of concern expressed across the region that there was not enough jobs and opportunities in the region to retain young people and young families. There was also concern regarding the lack of facilities and activities available to teenagers. This concern was particularly expressed in Julatten, which felt they needed better sports and recreational facilities to provide the youth population. Even in areas were basketball and skate parks have been provided, such as Mareeba, it was felt that these facilities needed to be upgraded to adequately cater for Tablelands youth.
• A key theme that emerged from the workshops was that each and every regional centre, town, village and district was quite unique from its neighbouring districts, with its own particular atmosphere, economy, history and community. It is very important that the new planning scheme also recognises the characteristics and elements which make each area distinct from the others, and which the community feels so strongly about, and provide mechanisms for protecting these from inappropriate or incompatible development.

The Statement of Proposals is expected to be ready for a public notification period in February next year.