MBRC Planning Scheme - Limited development zone
The Limited development zone comprises land known to be affected by extremely unacceptable flood and/or storm tide risks that pose severe restrictions on the ability of the land to be developed for urban purposes.
The Limited development zone is considered to have an important role in the MBRC planning scheme and is valuable in removing uncertainty about the suitability of highly constrained land for development.
What is the purpose of this zone?
Natural hazards whether flooding, bushfire, landslide or coastal hazards, can cause loss of life, property and infrastructure and environmental damage. They can also result in the use of significant resources as communities respond to and recover from natural hazard events.
When preparing a planning scheme the state government requires local governments to assess the risks associated with natural hazards and avoid or mitigate those risks to protect people and property and enhance the community's resilience to natural hazards.
The Limited development zone is a zone under state government guidelines on preparing a planning scheme. The purpose of the Limited development zone is to identify land known to be significantly affected by one or more development constraints, particularly natural hazards.
The 2011 Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry handed down a number of recommendations on how councils should approach their management of flood risk through land use planning.
Recommendation 4.6 states that "Councils should consider using the limited development (constrained land) zone in their planning schemes for areas that have a very high flood risk".
The Limited development zone is to ensure:
- development is compatible with the constraints on a property;
- people, property and infrastructure are safe from flood hazard and storm tide flood events;
- essential community services are located and designed to remain functional during and immediately after flood events;
- flood-storage capacity and flood-carrying capacity of a waterway is not reduced;
- hydraulic characteristics of land are preserved.
Many councils throughout Queensland including Moreton Bay Regional Council use the Limited development zone in their planning scheme to appropriately manage natural hazard risks.
More information
View information sheets:
Assessment benchmarks (requirements) for development (material change of use) in the Limited development zone can be found in Part 6, section 6.2.8 Limited development zone code. Refer to Part 5 of the planning scheme to determine the category of development and assessment (type of application required, if any) for development in the Limited development zone. Section 5.5.8 Limited development zone Table of assessment identifies the category of development and assessment for a material change of use. Section 9.4.1.8 Limited development zone identifies the category of development and assessment for reconfiguring a lot.