Hundreds call for coordination and scrutiny not rushed planning reform

The vast majority of the 571 submissions made to the Parliament about the Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) Bill, which would allow Olympic venues to bypass planning laws and introduce sweeping changes to renewable energy approvals, raise significant concerns or call on the Bill to be scrapped entirely.

Today Queensland Conservation Council Director Dave Copeman gave evidence at the Committee Public Hearing, where he called for a complete rethink of the Bill to achieve better outcomes for nature and communities.

Regarding the Olympics, Dave Copeman said

The submissions on this Bill show that there is deep concern among individuals, First Nations, community and environmental groups about the Government’s plan to allow unchecked development for the Olympics.

No type of development should get a free pass to override our planning laws, which are in place to protect things like cultural heritage and threatened species habitat.

This Bill sets a dangerous precedent. If anything gets bulldozed, it should be this legislation, not the precious remaining koala habitat we have left in South East Queensland that's at risk if the Olympics development isn’t rigorously assessed.

Regarding the proposed renewable energy reform, Dave Copeman said

We agree that a successful transition to renewable energy hinges on good community engagement and benefit sharing. But the submissions on this Bill highlight that local councils and industry have serious concerns about whether these rushed reforms will improve outcomes for communities.

A number of submissions, including ours, called for the Government to get on with delivering Renewable Energy Zones. These zones are vital for coordinating development in a region to maximise community benefits and manage cumulative impacts of projects.

As it stands, if the Crisafulli Government moves forward with these reforms it will likely stifle new clean energy supply, which is bad news for our environment, power bills and energy reliability.

The submissions, especially from regional councils, show that this Bill actually creates more questions than it answers and fuels further uncertainty for regional communities. We’re calling on the Crisafulli Government to go back to the drawing board and do better consultation of its own on these reforms.

Image: Queensland Parliament House, CC BY-SA 4.0 by Chris Olszewski

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