Planning decision sidelines local government

The Queensland Local Government Association says the State Government risks "opening the floodgates to unregulated development" by moving to exclude councils from the planning and approval process for new buildings or building extensions in schools and hospitals.

LGAQ  Chief Executive, Greg Hallam, said the decision, rammed through just before the government went into caretaker mode, cuts communities out of the decision making process.

Mr Hallam said the change allowed large developments to occur on prominent sites in communities without any regard for the impact on surrounding residents and businesses or the road, water and other infrastructure needed to support them.

He warned the change would give schools a blank cheque to build what they wanted without the obligation to consult neighbouring property owners who were likely to wear the cost in the long run.

Mr Hallam said the decision displayed an appalling lack of regard for community consultation and a willingness to lump councils and their communities with the burden of working out what such developments meant for future council finances.

He said the LGAQ would continue to lobby the incoming government, following the 24 March election, to scrap the decision and allow communities more influence over the shape and scale of development on school and hospital grounds, so the full implications of such decisions were better understood.