EVER wondered whether the community’s opposition to land use changes in southeast Queensland is reasonable?
It could be community reaction to a multi-story, multi-dwelling complex that appears next door unannounced, the traffic jams on our roads, the cyclist or scooter rider running into you on the footpath, or your visitors not being able to park outside your place.
Planning for change is complex
Clearly planning for change is complex, involving consideration of economic, social and ecological issues within a society of competing interests, and requiring a degree of subjectivity.
Depending upon who you are, change can be perceived as having negative and positive consequences.
But when attempting to get information on a planning issue of concern, have you ever received a straight answer to your question?
How often did a site inspection by council staff result when one was clearly needed? When you have asked an elected state or council representative a specific planning question, did you get the impression they did not understand planning or are reluctant to answer you?
You need think no further than the Taringa Tricare development or the Mount Coot-tha ziplines as emblematic of planning proposals that have provoked community outrage and opposition with insufficient meaningful public engagement.
Consultation often fails
Meaningful engagement is not about marketing but about providing the information the community seeks before conflict arises.
Information needs to be expressed in plain English, be factual and be based on legitimate needs rather than wants and rather than the sometimes questionable motives of the person supplying the answer.
Why is it a surprise to councils that when things don’t go the way that residents expect, conflict arises between them and the Council?
Unfortunately, the blame is often put on residents, accusing them of being anti-development, and of not wanting to support the local economy and employment.
Perhaps the blame should be directed at the engagement process itself, a process that doesn’t seem to play by the usual rules of engagement.
Planning needs meaningful community engagement
Typically such so-called engagement comprises avoiding listening to contrary views, never explaining why a decision has been made, and just telling the community that “it is what we have decided”.
Surely there needs to be a legal requirement for a local council to provide an adequate response to a legitimate inquiry relating to a policy change, a planning scheme, or a development application?
Not all of the blame for conflict lies with councils.
The State Government also needs to explain the reason for certain provisions in its planning legislation that appear to be in conflict with its accountability to the community.
Examples include: the level of discretion allowed when determining development applications; performance-based assessment that is ill-defined and open to interpretation; removal of the requirement for neighbours of many proposed developments to be notified and to have the right to object and to lodge an appeal, especially where the development is not in keeping with existing residences.
While councils such as the Brisbane City Council go to extraordinary lengths to communicate with the general public on planning matters, it has much to learn about meaningful engagement as opposed to public relations.
Better processes lead to better outcomes
The current community engagement process is expensive and flawed and needs to be reviewed.
Maybe it is time for a third party without any vested interests to undertake a review.
Remember, when regional planning was initiated within southeast Queensland in the early 2000s there was extensive media and community involvement.
Isn’t it time for the State and Local Governments to lift their game?
Howard Briggs
Land-use Planner (retired)
Editor’s note: A version of Mr Brigg’s article was published recently by the Courier Mail. We appreciate Mr Briggs making a version of his article available to Redlands2030.
For some time Redlands2030 has been advocating for planning reforms and joined other community organisations across SEQ to establish the SEQ Alliance, which is advocating and petitioning for reform of the Queensland planning system.
Redlands2030 – 16 April 2019
Please note: Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted. If offended by any published comment please email thereporter@redlands2030.net
5 Comments
On the subject of politicians I find it hard to believe that some of them expect us to take them seriously. We have a past Federal Environment Minister, now Treasurer, who openly ignored his own environment department on a flawed proposal to dredge 42 hectares of the protected wetland zone of Toondah Harbour in Moreton Bay. Is it just a coincidence that the wealthy developer behind the proposal donated $225,000 to the current Federal Government? We have a current PM, one in a succession, who fought tooth and nail against a Royal Commission into the disgraceful behaviour of the Big Banks. Why? We can only assume that he was supporting the big end of town as they ruined the livelihoods of farmers and normal citizens. We have a Finance Minister with a distinct Belgian/German accent who sounds like a broken record and we know what he is going to say. “Give billions of dollars to major corporations and it will trickle down as higher wages to workers.” What a load of nonsense. In order to maximise profits many of these big corporations are actually sacking Australian workers and replacing them with low paid staff in India and Philippines. Such corporations include Jet Star, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Budget Insurance and many more. At the same time some big multi national companies like Chevron, Google and Facebook are paying virtually no tax. We have just had a political blunder with water management during a major drought in Australia and the current government refuses to acknowledge any mismanagement. Menindee Lake was a dustbowl when I photographed it in March 2019. Now we learn that one of the pollies organised a water buy back of almost $80 million in 2017 from a company he had earlier ties with. That is tax payers money but according to our current PM there is no need to be concerned. It is all transparent.
Thanks to Howard Briggs. The scope of consultation can stretch from Sherry Anstein’s Ladder of Participation 1969 to Citizen Participation in Planning by Michael Fagence in 1977 to the benchmark Harbinger Report or Greater Brisbane in 2011. The missing Consultation for the SEQ Regional Plan 2017 relates to the missing items including the minutes of 5 Committees DLGIP ran, the 2 Consultation reports and the Longitudinal Report 2010- 2017. The Harbinger Report with the help of Griffith University covered over 200 critical responses across multiple land use actions and different legislation and is a twist on absence of Best Practice Planning and the Environment before things went catastrophic for public servants, Committees, the Environment and the public consultation in 2012. The widespread downslide in EIA and Planning Outcomes in Qld varies in lowpoints,types and extents between Local Authorities because great differences in Planning Schemes and Governance and perhaps corruption? However because of the gutted Planning Legislation 2009 (2017) and gutted SEQ Regional Plan 2017, Residents and the Environment now have little Planning Scheme protections and near nil for PDAs. All the expensive and sometimes extensive consultations over thirty years are out the door. It is all lost in intractable layers, and codes, offsets and X files.It is timely that another similar study (with a code kit) to Harbinger is initiated.
Dr Tafe says we have in Redlands one of the highest crime rates in Australia but a development driven council would not notice. Mayor has been successful in purchasing the Commonwealth land in Birkdale on Capalaba border for some $4.1 million, for the people? One local stated developers will be lining up which reminded me of photo in Bayside Bulletin some years ago of well known local developers jumping up and down on the land, desperate to build on it. Considering the community have no say…perhaps after powers-that-be in Council have made decisions for us, one can only wonder what happens next. Recall Member for Bowman emailing me to say the land was ‘saved’ for the people, but following one was for 400 houses, latest is part zoo, and whatever further plans have been made, or in process of being made, for we the people of Redland City. Driving past the 6-storey apt bldg. on Mt Cotton Rd Capalaba across from Capalaba Park shops, noted increasingly cluttered corner seeing a long, long row of units being built directly beside it. Locals predict crime and traffic chaos increasing and voices are growing louder and more frequent of Capalaba being future slums. Yesterday there was yet another traffic accident at the deadly 4-way intersection in Capalaba..Finucane/Old Cleveland/Moreton Bay Rds where we have seen deaths and crashes over the years. We need open space on the Commonwealth land as buffer against road pollution since developers can build up to roadsides leaving no pollution barriers. Most vehicles are powered by cancer causing diesel fumes, killing people where Dept Cardiology Professor Munzel, Uni Med Centre Mainz, Germany said pollution increases oxidative stress and damages blood vessels, leading to increased blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart attack. I survive on heart medication and neighbour recently suffered blood vessels bursting in brain. We live in a high pollution zone by 4-way intersection Capalaba. One despairs over what the end result will be now that the open natural bushland space we have appreciated having over the years, could be bulldozed to please local developers, after decisions are finalised behind closed doors …the way our local government has operated in the 30+ years I’ve lived in Capalaba. Will it be more of the same…or will State and local government genuinely give the community an opportunity to ‘have a say’?….decisions made behind closed doors with RCC all-powerful heavyweights together with outside interests?
I refer back to the R2030 article of 16/10/2014, which concluded that “Consultation about the draft development schemes for the Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek PDAs was a shoddy and deceptive exercise which resulted in the final schemes lacking any social licence.” Since that time the consultation process has deteriorated further and all too often councillors will blame residents for being opposed to development or they will say that the process may have been deceptive but now it’s too late to pull out of a shoddy deal with a developer. One councillor concluded that to pull out now would leave the rate payers with huge recompense debt. Many residents attended that particular Wednesday morning Council meeting. Before the last Redland Council elections the current Mayor advertised that she would improve traffic congestion on the Redland roads. They have become markedly worse over the last three years, with increased medium to high density development and little change to our roads. Now the Council is blaming the State Government. Both are to blame but it is the Council that is allowing so much development without considering infrastructure. The Walker Proposal for Toondah is a prime example. We need Council to consider the proper planning of the Redlands or to get out and give someone else a go. We don’t want the Redlands to become like the Gold Coast, with very high rates of crime and major road congestion. It has one of the highest crime rates in Australia.
Excellent letter by Mr Briggs who has neatly summarised the key issues with ‘planning’ and meaningful community enegagement. Apart from the Taringa Tricare and Mt Cootha zip line fiascos in Brisbane City Council, the massive, billion dollar so-called Toondah Harbour development in Cleveland fails on all measures. It’s a proposal being rammed down the throats of Redlands residents and other citizens with a genuine interest by a development driven council, a thoughtless State government (both LNP and Labor) and multi-billion Mr Walker greedy for yet more profit at the expense of the environment, social impact, and resident/State rate and tax payers. Just not good enough. The State planning framework needs a serious re-work, and upgrading the Toondah Harbour for improved Straddie ferry services back to the drawing board for a fresh start.