Email thread between Sarah from Friends of the Earth FNQ and Brian Connellan – Senior Project Officer – Coordinated Project Delivery – Office of the Coordinator-General regarding the input of the Mareeba Shire Council in the KUR-World EIS process.
Subject: RE: Local Council Input
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2016 02:31:58 +0000
From: Brian Connellan
To: Sarah Friends of the Earth FNQ
CC: Russell Davie, Karen Oakley, Jaclyn McKirdy
Hi Sarah,
Thank-you for the email. Please see below for a response to your queries.
The assessment manager for the purposes of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA) is the local council. The conditions of approval in the Coordinator-General’s report on the EIS will gain legal affect when they are attached to the development approval by council.
Assessment managers decide whether development approvals are granted for the project. These assessment managers:
– must attach the Coordinator-General’s conditions to any development approval that is granted
– are not limited in their ability to refuse a project, even if the Coordinator-General’s report on the EIS has recommended the project be approved
– can impose additional conditions on the development approval, provided they are not inconsistent with the conditions stated in the Coordinator-General’s report.
Regarding the relationship between the Planning Act 2016 and the SDPWO Act with respect to environmental impact assessment, you should seek your own planning/legal advice on this matter, however it appears that the Planning Act 2016 may not impact on this relationship.
In relation to what grounds a council have to refuse an application, this is not a matter for the Office of the Coordinator-General but a matter for council to consider. You may wish to discuss this with the Mareeba Shire Council.
Regards
Brian Connellan
Senior Project Officer
Coordinated Project Delivery
Office of the Coordinator-General
Department of State Development
———————————————-
P 07 3452 7405
Level 17, 1 William Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
PO Box 15517, City East QLD 4002
www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au
From: Sarah – Friends of the Earth FNQ
Sent: Wednesday, 19 October 2016 2:59 PM
To: Brian Connellan
Subject: Re: Local Council Input
Hi Brian,
Thank you for that information.
Just a few more questions:
For the EIS process, will the Co-ordinator-General be the assessment manager for the purposes of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 or will that role remain with Council?
What impact will the new Planning Act 2016 have on the EIS process under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971?
What grounds would a council have to refuse an application which had been approved by the State government with conditions?
Can the local council can add additional conditions before they too approve it?
Many thanks for your help.
Sarah Isaacs
FoE FNQ
Kuranda
4881
On 6/10/2016 3:40 PM, Brian Connellan wrote:
Hi Sarah
Thank-you for the conversation earlier and your follow-up email. Please see below in regard to your queries.
Queries related to the EIS process:
I have attached Part 4 of the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (the Act) which refers to the EIS process. In particular I note the following sections:
– Sections 29 and 33 detail the comment/submission stages of the process
– Section 34D specifies what is required in the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report
– Division 4 outlines the relationship with the Sustainable Planning Act process
The following link to the department’s webpage has a summary of the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report process, in particular, conditions and recommendations.
http://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/assessments-and-approvals/coordinator-generals-evaluation-report.html
Villa description:
The preliminary economic assessment (attachment E to the Initial Advice Statement) deciphers 200 double storey chalet villas to be 200 units/rooms and therefore the term is interchangeable. This can be found on page 8 of the economic assessment.
The Office of the Coordinator-General will seek to ensure the description regarding accommodation in the environmental impact statement is clear. As more information is provided, our website may be updated.
Thank-you
Brian Connellan
A/Principal Project Officer
Coordinated Project Delivery
Office of the Coordinator-General
Department of State Development
———————————————————————————————————————————————
P 07 3452 7405
Level 4, 63 George Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
PO Box 15517, City East QLD 4002
www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au
This email and any attachments may contain confidential or privileged information and may be protected by copyright. You must not use or disclose them other than for the purposes for which they were supplied. The confidentiality and privilege attached to this message and attachment is not waived by reason of mistaken delivery to you. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, disclose, retain, forward or reproduce this message or any attachments. If you receive this message in error please notify the sender by return email or telephone, and destroy and delete all copies. The Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage that may result from reliance on, or use of, any information contained in this email and/or attachments.