Submissions to State government

In response to the Draft ‘Shaping SEQ’ South East Queensland Regional Plan 2023 Update (draft SEQ Regional Plan) and supporting documents prepared by the State Government, Council provided a submission on Friday 6 October 2023:

• Letter to the Director-General, Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (PDF, 229KB)
• Council submission to draft SEQ Regional Plan (PDF, 2339KB)

Purpose

The draft SEQ Regional Plan is the Queensland Government’s draft plan to guide the future of the South East Queensland region to 2046 and beyond. The plan has policies and strategies including growth targets that Council is required to address in its planning.

Community engagement

Statutory consultation was undertaken by the Queensland Government for the draft SEQ Regional Plan for a period of 30 business days between 2 August 2023 and 20 September 2023. Council and the community were invited to provide feedback on the document. 

Through consultation with the community over many years, Council has developed robust policy positions and was well-placed to continue its advocacy to the Queensland Government on the key issues for the Sunshine Coast, including housing supply, economic development, infrastructure delivery and environmental protection. Council’s submission reflects these positions and advocates for the SEQ regional plan to provide a strong level of alignment to protect the liveability of the region.

To inform the SEQ regional plan review 2017, council undertook a range of investigations outlined in the planning for growth to 2041 summary report (PDF, 2347KB).

Key findings of council investigations:

• the Moreton Bay to Sunshine Coast regional inter-urban break (PDF, 524KB) should be maintained and preserved in its current state. It contributes more than $5 billion to the SEQ economy and supports key economic policy objectives of the State, particularly in the context of tourism and agriculture. A (separate) joint submission (PDF, 469KB) from both Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast regional councils on the inter-urban break to the state government further highlights its importance
• the Beerwah East identified growth area (IGA) rather than the Halls Creek IGA, is the preferred long-term growth area for the Sunshine Coast given its location (PDF, 9366KB) and proximity to major road and rail transport infrastructure and the CAMCOS corridor. The Beerwah East IGA also poses less risk to water quality in the internationally-recognised Ramsar protected Pumicestone Passage, and
• the Sunshine Coast can accommodate its long term growth needs to 2041 by supporting growth in and around the railway townships, planning for growth in Beerwah East and supporting urban renewal along the Maroochydore to Caloundra priority transit corridor as depicted in the planning for growth to 2041 concept plan (PDF, 1148KB).

Preliminary submission to the SEQ regional plan review

Council wrote (PDF, 2360KB) to the then Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning on 4 December 2014 outlining how growth is intended to be managed on the Sunshine Coast to 2041. The letter provided a preliminary submission to the SEQ regional plan review, for the State government’s consideration in preparing a draft SEQ regional plan.

A submission was made by council to the Queensland Government on the draft South East Queensland regional plan in March 2017.

Purpose

The South East Queensland (SEQ) regional plan 2017 ‘ShapingSEQ’ is the Queensland Government’s plan to guide the future of the South East Queensland region to 2041 and beyond. The plan has policies and strategies including growth targets that council is required to address in its planning.

Community engagement

The state government ran an extensive community consultation program for the draft South East Queensland regional plan that involved engagement activities over a 15 month period. The statutory consultation period was held between 20 October 2016 and 3 March 2017 and attracted 3,324 submissions.

Through consultation with the community over many years, council was well-placed to advocate to the Queensland government on the key issues for managing the future growth of the Sunshine Coast. These positions are further outlined in the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 and the preliminary submission to the SEQ regional plan review 2014.

During consultation on the draft plan, council encouraged the community to make a submission having regard to council’s planning documents. A video was also produced outlining council’s planning for the region and why we need to protect the inter-urban break in perpetuity (as opposed to aspects of the draft SEQ regional plan vision).

Council submission

Download council’s submission to the draft SEQ regional plan 'ShapingSEQ’ (PDF, 5529KB).

A range of issues raised in council’s submission were addressed in the final SEQ regional plan. In the final plan, the inter-urban break was increased in size and provisions relating to potential future growth areas were further strengthened to ensure that that there wasn’t an expectation that Halls Creek would be investigated for urban development during the life of the plan. Some modifications were also made to regional economic clusters to better align with council policy intentions. The Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade project was included as ‘priority region-shaping infrastructure’.

Where to from here?

After considering the submissions, the state government finalised the SEQ regional plan in August 2017. The SEQ regional plan is reviewed by the State government every 5-7 years.

For many years the people of this region, supported by local councils, have argued for the protection of the inter-urban break between the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay.

The Moreton Bay to Sunshine Coast Regional inter-urban break (PDF, 524KB) is a non-urban area which roughly follows the boundary of the Pumicestone Passage catchment.

The inter-urban break includes:

• the Glass House Mountains
• the Pumicestone Passage and parts of Bribie Island, and
• small townships of Elimbah, Beerburrum and Glass House Mountains.

The South East Queensland (SEQ) Regional Plan 2009-2031 protects the Moreton Bay to Sunshine Coast Regional inter-urban break as a valuable non-urban space separating Greater Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.  The State government commenced a review of the SEQ regional plan in 2014. It is understood the State government has previously considered potential growth areas within the inter-urban break around the upgraded Elimbah rail station and at Halls Creek.

Moreton Bay Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Council have raised concerns about development of new, large urban areas in the inter-urban break. Both councils can accommodate growth to 2041 without impacting on the inter-urban break (refer to Sunshine Coast Council submission to SEQ regional plan review).

Joint council submission

Moreton Bay Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Council wrote (PDF 2279KB) to the then Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning on 3 December 2014 to highlight the importance and values of the inter-urban break.

The joint submission confirms Moreton Bay Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Council’s commitment to the protection of the Moreton Bay to Sunshine Coast Regional Inter-urban Break in its current state.  It seeks the state government’s commitment to mapping and protecting this space in any revised SEQ regional plan.

Key findings of council investigations

The key findings of the investigations carried out by Moreton Bay Regional Council and Sunshine Coast Council are that the regional inter-urban break in its current size and extent:

• makes a contribution of more than $5 billion to the SEQ economy with significant opportunity for higher contributions in the future
• provides an invaluable tourism opportunity for SEQ which could play an even more important part in the branding of the region
• provides a range of scenic amenity and recreation opportunities which contribute to active lifestyles and healthier communities
• provides opportunities for local agricultural production and forestry, increasing food security and local employment
• plays a key role in protecting water quality in the Pumicestone Passage with development in this area more expensive and riskier than development in other more suitable locations, and
• is valuable for the sum of its parts, meaning that erosion of parts of the regional inter-urban break will have a significant impact on the values of this area for the region.

The outcomes of this research are summarised further in the Moreton Bay to Sunshine Coast regional inter-urban break project summary paper (PDF, 469KB).

Next steps

Council made a further submission to the draft South East Queensland regional plan (draft 'ShapingSEQ' 2016) advocating for further protection and recognition of the inter-urban break. A copy of council's submission is available here.