GHD were approached by Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) to
help resolve some complex planning issues with far-reaching
community implications.
The residents of Hope Vale in far north
Queensland live on land that is owned and managed by a community
council. The community council owns the dwellings and leases them
to community members for a small rent. Members of the community
realised that, while there is relatively high employment in the
community, members do not participate in the broader economy
through the ownership of dwellings, making it difficult for
local people to raise collateral for loans or businesses.
The local community, through a grant from the
Queensland state government, purchased approximately 400ha of
freehold land to subdivide and provide housing blocks of about
1000sq m metres for purchase by community members.
There are, however, a number of housing
complications. The land is nearly 2km from the existing
village, making reliance on the existing village infrastructure,
schools, shops and community facilities, difficult. It is also
covered in vegetation types that are of concern to the Department
of Natural Resources and Water, meaning they are under threat from
caring activity, which subdivision activity will
accentuate. In addition, the land requires re-zoning for urban
use, which in turn requires a number of specialist studies to be
undertaken.
There are also a range of other issues
relating to different understandings of the federal and state
planning processes by the stakeholders. And the Indigenous Council
now has local government status and therefore a new-found
responsibility for planning, building and infrastructure management
– matters in which it has had little experience
to date.
Part of GHD's innovative thinking around this
project involved setting up a series of workshops with the referral
agencies to pre-empt potential project conflicts and issues. The
new local council was directly involved in the workshops to
establish a Plan of Development or Planning Scheme for the subject
land that will set development standards and controls for the
Hope Vale community.
The next stage of the process will be to provide a
sustainability assessment prior to the lodgement of the next set of
planning approvals that will assist the Hope Vale Council and IBA
to promote the principles of sustainable development through a
formal planning process. This project is a perfect example of the
challenges in Queensland’s planning legislation.
The Integrated Planning Act guides ecological
sustainability in Hope Vale, but this project is providing the
social sustainability critical to any human settlement.