Bushfires and land use planning in peri-urban South East Queensland

Bushfires pose a significant threat to Australia's peri-urban development. They are likely to intensify in the coming decades, reflecting drier conditions and reduced rainfall. Continued development and expansion at the city fringes has implications for the level of risk to property and life although it is now widely accepted that land use planning can help mitigate the risks of bushfires. This paper examines the extent to which bushfire planning legislation and regulations in South East Queensland provide for the reduction of risk for development in bushfire-prone peri-urban areas by exploring their 'on the ground' implementation. The paper uses case studies from the Gold Coast City Council, Ipswich City Council and Sunshine Coast Regional Council. It explores the ways that Queensland's State Planning Policy (SPP)1/03 (Mitigating the Adverse Impacts of Flood, Bushfire and Landslide), which was in effect from 2003 until 2013, was incorporated into development assessment decision-making. The investigation is based on development assessment data and semi-structured interviews. SPP1/03 was found to provide for the incorporation of key bushfire planning elements into development assessment intentions, reducing the risk posed by bushfires, although significant differences were apparent amongst the local authorities studied and a number of implementation problems were identified.