Amendments to the Planning Regulation 2017 commenced on the 4th of October, placing additional financial reporting requirements in respect of the LGIP on Queensland local governments from 1st January 2020. Integran has reviewed these changes relating specifically to infrastructure charges notices and registers in order to understand the implications upon Council’s current processes and reporting requirements.
The significant new and augmented requirements of these amendments pertain to Local Government’s with an LGIP in place. Such matters include:
These new requirements have significant implications for local government’s internal reporting and record keeping processes (such as development approval management systems, capital works and/or long term financial forecast documents), which may not be established in a manner that facilitates simple extraction of the required information.
While Integran strongly supports the implementation of transparency measures in relation to Council’s planning, charging, and delivery of trunk infrastructure, we are concerned about the level of clarity regarding some of the new requirements and assessment triggers, and that local governments have not been provided adequate time to implement the measures, which are likely to require significant process changes across a number of internal local government systems. Key areas of concern include:
1. Under Schedule 22(3A), increased frequency of reporting requirements is triggered by:
Annual budgets and annual reports (as defined within the Local Government Regulation and the City of Brisbane Regulation) do not mandate local governments to report trunk infrastructure expenditure separately to non-trunk infrastructure, and therefore this aspect of the trigger may not be able to be assessed. While some Councils have adopted this as practice some will be unprepared for the change. It is also unclear whether the values associated with these trigger points are intended to include:
The lack of clarity around this trigger may result in inconsistent assessment and application of the requirements, as well as inconsistent reporting of data.
2. The extent of the proposed changes are likely to require significant changes to several internal Council processes, particularly for larger Council’s, including:
Integran is concerned that local governments will be unable to rapidly change these processes to incorporate the necessary detail associated with trunk infrastructure revenues and expenditure. In larger local governments, where processes are established within complex software systems and workflow processes, the timeframes provided to Council’s to implement these changes appear unreasonable.
3. Unfortunately, the amendments have not addressed several practices currently employed by a number of local governments that undermine good planning and run contrary to good governance. These include for example:
Integran has investigated these matters and will seek to publish these findings in due course.
4. Some other concerns of the new regulation that Integran believes should be further clarified or refined, include:
Not a great deal. The amendments put forward in the Planning (Infrastructure Charges Register and Other Matters) Amendment Regulation 2019 require Councils to act swiftly and commence on 1st January 2020. There are some requirements that Councils need to respond to quickly in order to meet the statutory timeframes, while others will require processes to be established now in order to facilitate future reporting at the latter end of 2020. The key milestones are summarised below for convenience:
Integran has been developing a range of ‘off the shelf’ registers and processes to assist Council’s in adapting to these changes quickly. Integran has extensive experience in the preparation and management of infrastructure delivery frameworks, and can provide solutions to meet your specific needs, from simple through to sophisticated, including:
Give us a call now to see how Integran can assist your Council
After nearly three months in the role as Cheif Executive at Infrastructure Australia, Romilly Madew AO, reflects on the key milestones achieved to date and what to expect in the upcoming 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit and 2020 Infrastructure Priority List.
Queensland was mentioned throughout the address, in particular, the approval of the business case for future major upgrades to Queensland’s Bruce Highway and M1 Pacific Motorway. This was given the green light and The Priority List now includes three new Priority Projects for Queensland: Bruce Highway – Cairns Southern Access Corridor – Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale, M1 Pacific Motorway (Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill) and M1 Pacific Motorway (Varsity Lakes to Tugun).
These upgrades are essential to communities across the state and are warmly welcomed. The Bruce Highway – Cairns Southern Access Corridor is a critical link to other parts of Queensland and to other interstate areas. The M1 Pacific Motorway projects propose improvements to one of the busiest roads in Queensland. Much of this traffic growth is being driven by population growth in South-East Queensland (SEQ), with an expected increase of 1.7 million people in this area between 2016 and 2041.
For more details of Romilly Andrews newsletter updates for July 2019, click on the link provided:
Integran is proud to announce that our Director Mr Jason Natoli will be delivering a white paper at this years #IPWEAQ19 Annual Conference in Brisbane. Mr Natoli will discuss the importance of collaboration in strategic place-based land use and infrastructure planning. The conference presents an opportunity for delegates to hear from a diverse, relevant and informative list of speakers and presenters. Keynote speakers this year include Marita Cheng, Mick Colliss, David Bartlett and Mr Hengky Tay. We look forward to the October conference, and seeing many of you there!
#IPWEAQ19#BCC#infrastructure#SEQ#cityshaping#2032olympicbid#reform#planningforthefuture
Great news today, as Infrastructure Australia announced that more than $2 billion worth of planned upgrades to the Bruce Highway and M1 Pacific Motorway have been given the green light by Infrastructure Australia, after the business cases for three Queensland projects were approved by the nation’s independent infrastructure advisor and added to the Infrastructure Priority List.
Two of Integrans’ experienced advisor’s Simon Bentley and Stephen Bennetts recently travelled to South Burnett Regional Council to facilitate a Local Government Infrastructure Plan implementation workshop with Council managers, planners, and engineers. Integrans’ workshops have been delivered to a variety of Councils and provide a great forum to improve understanding and discuss the impact of LGIP/AICR documents on the Council’s day to day processes. During the day, real-life examples of more complex development applications were reviewed along with some potential development scenarios that may come in the future. This allowed for officers to work through the use of the documents and process to apply the LGIP/AICR framework and to seek advice on the most effective and compliant pathways for decision making.
The workshop format focusses on issues of specific importance to Council officers to maximise interest and retention of key information. The workshops are also designed to be highly interactive allow questions and responses from the attendees to guide discussions on the day.
If you believe your team may benefit from such a session feel free to contact our office to arrange a time.
This morning Andrew Becker Integran Advisor for Planning, Development and Infrastructure attended the industry breakfast on SEQ on the Global Stage, featuring Scott Smith (Council of Mayors), Jason Van Paassen (SMEC) and Tan Yigitcanlar (QUT), talking particularly about the potential 2032 Olympic bid for the SEQ Region.
The key points discussed were:
Scott Smith talked specifically around the Olympic bid and how the infrastructure required to deliver an Olympic Games is either in place, or already in the development pipeline in SEQ. A bid would only be put in place if it would provide a positive outcome for the region and a lasting legacy that would continue to improve the economy for SEQ.
The IOC are changing the way they are selecting cities and looking to regions that already have infrastructure in place to ensure that hosting the event creates a legacy for that city/region rather than debt and abandoned infrastructure. Smith stated that “a bid would be a great way of creating a formal deadline to deliver this infrastructure that SEQ already needs to service future growth, such as transport, accommodation (particularly for the tourism sector), and upgrades to major sporting facilities”.
He reiterated that the focus needs to be around the transport requirements and connecting regional centres using a “faster rail” network, as discussed by Jason Van Paassen. Funding will be one of the key barriers, as the proposal suggests a faster rail network from the Gold Coast, through the Brisbane CBD up to the Sunshine Coast, and from the Brisbane BCD through Ipswich and out to Toowoomba.
There was no discussion around the provision of other major infrastructure (e.g. water and wastewater services) which will also be required to cater for SEQ growth. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is if SEQ bid and how quickly infrastructure can be funded and delivered should they be successful!
The Challenge
Australian cities continue to grow exceeding the capacity of their infrastructure. The ABS predicts that within the next 50 years, Australia’s population will increase by 18 million people to over 42 million. Growth on this scale will transform our cities and regions, therefore, managing population growth will be critical as every year passes.
Growth management policies are inadequate with reform advocated at each level of government. Managing the growth of our four largest emerging metropolitan cities Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, in particular, has become particularly challenging in the last ten years. It is essential that governments are equipped with the necessary tools and processes to deliver the land use and infrastructure planning and funding required to respond to growth.
Emerging Findings
Evidence suggests that the current governance models are no longer adequate to respond to these complex challenges. Therefore, Australia needs to look for and adopt new tools to manage cities and regions and avoid long-term economic and social impacts. Pragmatic land use and infrastructure planning is exacerbated by an absence of collaborative tools needed to plan across multiple service providers and jurisdictions.
The 2018 Property Council of Australia “Creating Greater Australian Cities” report, recommended planning systems that were more adaptive, and data led, in order to optimise the impact of infrastructure investment. This was supported by Infrastructure Australia’s “Planning Liveable Cities Report” 2018 which recommends the use of new and existing data sources to provide more integrated and timely information on asset and network quality, capacity.
The key messages from both reports include the need for:
These are essential to drive outcomes around Australia and the ambitious goals championed within the proposed SEQ City Deal Proposition and the 2032 Olympic bid.
In recent weeks Brisbane hosted the 2019 Asian Pacific Cities & Mayors’ Forum with a focus on driving the transformation of cities through business and innovation. This was a key platform for cities, businesses, industry and emerging leaders to connect and shape the region’s urban agenda.
World-renowned scholar, advocate and advisor to the Queensland Cities Transformation Task Force, Professor Greg Clarke CBE FAcSS, returned to the summit this year to offer his expertise around city economies, investment, technology and innovation, urban governance, strategic planning, place leadership and national policy. Prof Clarke spoke of advancing our understanding of what is needed to help governments make improved decisions for long term urban sustainability. The Summit reinforced the need for technological systems that are data led and innovative to optimise infrastructure investment and support the growing and changing needs of our Australian way of life.
Delivering Innovation
As an infrastructure adviser operating nationally to provide policy and strategy to government and industry, Integran has independently developed the innovative software Outvye® that empowers governments to meet these challenges. Outvye® provides a comprehensive solution to many of the reform recommendations advocated by Infrastructure Australia and the Property Council of Australia.
Investment in technological solutions like Outvye® within the planning and infrastructure sector will build capability back into government decision making. The ability to rapidly understand the current and future capacity of infrastructure networks, make better use of existing assets and plan for growth in housing and jobs is critical. By investing now in tools and processes, we can collaboratively plan for the long-term, make evidence-based decisions and ensure that our cities are liveable, thriving urban environments.
In April 2019, the IAQ released their Spotlight Infrastructure Sentiment Survey, proudly sponsored by Logikal Projects. We have provided a link to the article written by journalist Charlie Peel, summarising the findings. An insightful report highlighting the current sentiment, of a positive outlook for Infrastructure activity in Australia. However, the picture is not so bright for Queensland with confidence weakening in the business sector due to political instability and delays in approvals to major projects.
Integran’s Director Jason Natoli presented on behalf of #QELA last night at the Infrastructure Development and Charging seminar. He was joined by industry experts Kelly Alcorn and Matthew Fritzsche to discuss key areas such as:
– The LGIP planning process and how this relates to the land use planning process, including State and local drivers;
– Conversion applications, conversion criteria and the alignment between the LGIP and the planning scheme;
– Infrastructure costing, infrastructure charges and offsets; and
– Challenges arising where planning expectations are misaligned with LGIP assumptions; conversion criteria resulting in ‘big’ infrastructure being classified as ‘non-trunk’
Each of the speakers shared their insights on providing transparent, evidence based regulation for the delivery of infrastructure as one of the key elements in supporting a sustainable property market. The rapid growth of Australian cities requires a coordinated approach to land use planning, infrastructure and investment within an aligned vision for the future as highlighted by Mr Natoli last night.
#infrastructure#QELA# #sustainable
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