Draft Planning Scheme for agricultural buffers

UPDATE: On Tuesday 24 November Council resolved to adopt the Planning scheme policy for agricultural buffers. The updated parts of the Planning Scheme are available here.

The agricultural industry is a key contributor to the Bundaberg Region’s economy. The State

Planning Policy recognises the importance of agriculture and agricultural land resources

to the Queensland economy by ensuring this state interest is protected and appropriately

integrated within local planning instruments.

The Planning Scheme currently addresses this state interest through a number of

mechanisms, including the mapping of agricultural land and through requiring

vegetated buffers between an existing agricultural use and any encroaching urban

development. While the requirement for developers to provide agricultural buffers is

specified within the current Planning Scheme it puts the onus of design on the developer,

which has resulted in inconsistent standards across the region. This has become a source

of frustration for the agricultural sector, the development industry, and Council.

To address these concerns, Council prepared a draft Planning Scheme policy

for agricultural buffers to better inform the implementation of these buffers into the

future. Submissions on the draft Planning scheme policy closed at 4.45pm 13 October, 2020.