South Australia’s Minister for Planning and Deputy Premier John Rau has introduced legislation that will result in the state’s biggest planning reform in 25 years.
The bill that has been tabled in the South Australian parliament seeks to streamline the assessment processes and a complicated zoning system.
Key parts of the legislation include:
- The establishment of a new State Planning Commission. The commission will be a peak advisory and assessment body that combines the existing Development Assessment Commissioner and Development Policy Advisory Committee. It will be responsible for assessing significant projects and will provide greater independence and transparency in planning decisions as the minister cannot direct or advise the commission.
- The establishment of an environment and food protection area. Essentially an urban growth boundary, the environment and food protection area seeks to curb urban sprawl and limit development with an urban growth boundary to meet the government’s targets for urban infill. It also seeks to limit the encroachment of residential developments on peri-urban farmland.
- Homeowners will be required to pay an infrastructure levy. Under the proposed reforms, the State Planning Commission will work in consultation with the community to develop an infrastructure plan. The cost of the infrastructure will be fixed and spread among new homes in an area under development for a fixed period. The levy will be paid through council rates in a similar way to the Natural Resources Management Levy.
- The minister and elected councillors will no longer have a part of Development Assessment Panels. Panel members can only be made up of built environment experts including planners, architects and engineers.
- The community will have an opportunity to contribute ideas on how future developments in their area should proceed and what criteria should be applied to their assessment.
- Residential rezoning will require parliamentary approval.
The minister also stressed the new legislation will focus on design quality. “The Bill will enable the establishment of design standards for the public realm and infrastructure,” said Rau.
The government also introduced a new planning framework document, Renewing our Urban Future – Unlocking South Australia’s Potential, which emphasizes using more mixed-use urban infill in its plan for better cities, towns and regions.
