Legislation | Statewide

What is this about?

The State Planning Office (SPO) is seeking broad public input on the draft Land Use Planning and Approvals (Amendment) Bill 2022 (draft Bill), which seeks to improve the major projects assessment process with a series of proposed amendments to the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (LUPAA).

Applying the new major project process to the New Bridgewater Bridge major project identified a need to improve the major project process. Improvements are needed in a range of areas that relate to sensitive material, use of digital technology, impacted landowners, site investigations, time frames, correction of administrative errors and other matters. The draft Bill proposes seeks to address these key themes.

Consultation with the public and key stakeholders will inform any further amendments to the draft Bill. Once finalised, the Bill will be tabled and debated by the Tasmanian Parliament.

What is not included?

The draft Bill does not propose any changes to the powers of the independent Assessment Panel, which must be established by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.

While this draft Bill seeks to address procedural issues that arose relating to the commencement of the New Bridgewater Bridge major project, it is not a review of the New Bridgewater Bridge major project itself.

Who is involved?

The SPO is the lead agency in the project. Parliament makes the decisions on changes to legislation.

Background

The Act was amended in 2020 to introduce the major projects assessment process. Building on existing processes, the new process provides a coordinated and transparent process for large scale or complex developments in Tasmania.

The new process was first applied to the New Bridgewater Bridge development, which was declared by the Minister as a major project on 23 Dec 2020.

Lifecycle

Proposed amendments
State Planning Office

This amendment proposed a number of changes to the major projects process, resulting from the lessons learnt during the early stages of the New Bridgewater Project. This included:

  • treatment of sensitive cultural material
  • use of digital technology
  • updating references
  • impacts on landowners in a declared project area
  • site investigations
  • land outside a declared project area
  • no response from a regulator
  • timeframe for the Assessment Panel
  • correction of administrative errors
  • amendment process for a  major permit.
Land Use Planning and Approvals Act Amendment (Tasmanian Planning Scheme Modification) Bill 2021 Briefing Pack
Land Use Planning and Approvals Act Amendment (Tasmanian Planning Scheme Modification) Bill 2021 Briefing Pack
Have your say
State Planning Office

The SPO sought public input into the proposed legislative amendment.

The consultation draft is below.

LUPAA Amendment Bill - 2022 - draft for consultation
Land Use Planning And Approvals Amendment Bill 2022

Supporting documents

Review of submissions
State Planning Office

The consultation occurred over a five week period. During this period 17 submissions were received. Feedback was also sought from a range of stakeholders who are regularly engaged with the planning system, including all councils and a number of state agencies and state authorities. Informal feedback was also received from the Tasmanian Planning Commission and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRET). All submissions made are available below.

LUPAA Amendment Bill 2022 - consultation report
Report on consultation regarding LUPAA Amendment 2022
Consultation report released
State Planning Office

The State Planning Office has released its Consultation Report on the draft Bill. The report includes a summary of the issues raised and outlines the revisions made to the draft Bill in response to those issues. It also includes information about a series of other amendments made to clarify the intent of the draft Bill.

The Consultation Report is available below.

LUPAA Amendment Bill 2022 - consultation report
Report on consultation regarding LUPAA Amendment 2022
Bill goes before Parliament
Tasmanian Parliament

Parliament approved the Bill in late 2022. It was proclaimed on 17 May 2023 and is now in effect.