Planning and Development (Planning Court) Bill 2015

Overview

This bill would have created a separate Act to govern the Planning and Environment Court, which hears disputes about planning, development and environmental decisions. It moved the court out of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 into its own legislation, and expanded the powers of an Alternative Dispute Resolution Registrar to handle simpler matters cheaply. The bill was part of a 2015 LNP planning reform package and did not become law.

Who it affects

Mostly affects developers, councils, State agencies, community submitters and planning lawyers who use the court to resolve disputes about development approvals and enforcement. Ordinary Queenslanders are indirectly affected when neighbours, councils or developers take planning disputes to this court.

Key changes

• Pulls the Planning and Environment Court out of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and puts it in its own stand-alone Act
• Confirms the Chief Judge of the District Court is responsible for running the court, which continues to use District Court judges and registry staff
• Expands the ADR Registrar's power to hear and decide minor change applications and small technical matters, with each side paying their own costs
• Keeps appeals as a full rehearing ('de novo'), so the court re-decides the case on the evidence rather than just reviewing the original decision
• Keeps the court's broad discretion over costs and confirms it can order security for costs, including against non-parties who are really driving the litigation
• Sets the penalty for breaching ADR confidentiality at 50 penalty units and caps regulation-made penalties at 20 penalty units