Subdividing Land in the Rural Zone

Subdividing land in the Rural Zone is regulated under the Tablelands Regional Council Planning Scheme and the Planning Regulation 2017.  Subdivision of land is defined by the Planning Act 2016 as reconfiguring a lot and generally includes creating new lots by subdividing an existing lot and realigning the common boundaries of two or more existing lots.

Rural Zone

The Far North Queensland Regional Plan 2009–31 separates the FNQ Region into three land use categories — Urban Footprint, Rural Living Area, and Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area (RLRPA). Generally speaking, land within the planning scheme’s Rural Zone will also be within the regional plan’s RLRPA. The RLRPA includes good-quality agricultural land and other productive rural areas and the objective is to protect this land for future agricultural production.

The planning scheme also identifies five precincts within the Rural Zone:

• Broadhectare Precinct — broadly encompasses the Savannah lands in the southern, western and northern parts of the region where grazing on very large rural holdings is the dominant rural activity.
• Agricultural Investigation Precinct — similar to the Broadhectare Precinct but has the potential to be high-quality agricultural land subject to water availability.
• Agricultural Land Precinct — includes land identified as good quality agricultural land and is considered to be the most suitable for agricultural purposes.
• 8ha Precinct — provides for a range of smaller-scale agricultural and rural lifestyle uses on smaller rural holdings.
• General Rural Precinct — encompasses the balance of land within the Rural Zone used for grazing, agriculture and a range of rural activities.

The planning scheme also identifies land within a Rural Residential Zone, which provides for residential development on large lots where there is limited infrastructure and services and where the density of residential development is generally dispersed.

Importance of Rural Land

Rural land is a finite resource that needs to be sustainably managed. The planning scheme recognises the importance of primary production to the economy of the region and seeks to maintain and strengthen the range of primary industries that contribute to the rural economy. The Rural Zone provides for a wide range of rural uses including cropping, intensive horticulture, intensive animal industries, animal husbandry, animal keeping and other primary production activities. Opportunities for non-rural uses that are compatible with agriculture, environment, and landscape character where they do not compromise the long-term use of the land for rural purposes.

Development within the Rural Zone should not result in the loss, alienation or fragmentation of good quality agricultural land or diminish existing rural uses or rights to farm.  Development for non-rural uses can create adverse impacts on new and existing uses in the zone. Intensive cropping operations, for example, may potentially generate off-site impacts related to dust, noise, smoke, odour, spray drift and haulage. It is also acknowledged that land with the Rural Zone has very limited infrastructure and services.

Planning Approval for Subdivding Rural Land

Planning approval is required for subdividing land in the Rural Zone and the requirements are in the planning scheme, generally in the Rural Zone Code, Reconfiguring a Lot Code, applicable Local Plan codes, applicable Overlay codes and Works, Services and Infrastructure Code

The Reconfiguring a Lot Code prescribes the minimum lot sizes for the Rural zone precinct as:

The application will be code-assessed when the proposed subdivision creates lots that meet the minimum areas specified and be assessed against the requirements of the relevant codes.

The subdivision of land within the Broadhectare or Agricultural Investigation precincts that creates an additional lot or where the proposed subdivision creates lots that do not meet the minimum areas will be impact assessable. Impact assessable subdivision applications are assessed against the entire planning scheme and are subject to public notification.

Subdivision of land within the Broadhectare and Agricultural Investigation precincts that creates lots of 60ha may be supported depending on the demonstration of water availability for agricultural purposes.

Subdivision of rural land below the minimum lot areas is not typically supported unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. There are limited circumstances under which rural subdivision proposals that seek to create lots below the minimum lot area are supported by the planning scheme. Generally, these exceptions apply when the application successfully demonstrates that the subdivision would:

• improve agricultural efficiency
• facilitate agricultural activity
• facilitate a conservation outcome
• resolve a boundary issue, for example, where a structure is built over the boundary line of two lots
• ensure long-term agricultural activity is not compromised.

Applying

Lodge your planning application and pay the assessment fee. Some applications will require referral to the Queensland Government’s State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) and/or a relevant service provider for the assessment of matters relating (but not limited) to:

• potential impacts on the State-controlled road network
• potential impacts on the transmission network (Ergon or Powerlink)
• clearing of vegetation regulated by the Vegetation Management Act 1999
• land contaminated by Unexploded Ordinances (UXO)
• development on land that is, or adjoins a site, listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

TRC and SARA offer free pre-lodgement services for applicants looking to obtain further information on aspects such as:

• application requirements including fees and forms
• technical reports and plans to be lodged with the application
• issues regarding compliance with the planning scheme or other planning instruments
• likely conditions and infrastructure charges
• suggested changes to the application.

Under circumstances where the officers’ assessment determines that a reconfiguration proposal fails to achieve compliance with the assessment benchmarks, they will present a report to Councillors to decide the application. The officers’ report will include information summarising the outcome of their assessment and will include a recommendation for approval or refusal based on their assessment. When making their decision, Councillors may support or override the officers’ recommendation should they be satisfied that sufficient grounds exist to do so.

It is always advisable that you engage the services of a suitably qualified town planning professional to assist in the preparation and carriage of your application.

After Approval

Once you have an effective development permit to subdivide your land, you will need to engage a qualified surveyor to  prepare a survey plan in the format acceptable to the Queensland Titles Registry. Survey plans associated with TRC-issued reconfiguration approvals must be submitted to us for approval before they can be submitted to the Titles Registry.

Survey plans cannot be endorsed until all conditions contained in the development permit have been satisfied and all rates and charges on the land have been paid, including infrastructure charges. Infrastructure charges are levied on development for the delivery of trunk infrastructure and are payable upon the endorsement of a survey plan. Infrastructure charges are calculated in accordance with our Adopted Infrastructure Charges Resolution.