4-3 vote backs two new Scenic Rim planning forums

Scenic Rim Regional Council has conditionally supported two new planning forums in a 4-3 vote, setting up a possible new pathway for development matters across the region.

The proposed bodies are a Planning and Development Panel and a Planning Standing Committee. Neither has been established. Council must first review and endorse their terms of reference, agenda structures and meeting dates for the 2026-2027 financial year.

The Planning and Development Panel must align with Council’s Meetings and Other Forums Procedure. The proposed standing committee would also require governance processes consistent with the Local Government Regulation 2012.

Cr Tom Sharp, Cr Amanda Hay, Cr Kerri Cryer and Cr Stephen Moriarty voted for the Planning Standing Committee. Cr Jennifer Sanders, Cr Marshall Chalk and Deputy Mayor Cr Duncan McInnes voted against it.

The resolutions do not specify which development applications would go to either forum or how the arrangements would affect existing delegated planning decisions. The forums’ roles, agendas and meeting schedules remain subject to further Council approval.

The vote followed consideration of several major development proposals at Tamborine Mountain. Council refused application MCU24/025 for a proposed 141-dwelling retirement facility at 30 Kidd Street, citing conflicts with the Scenic Rim Planning Scheme 2020 and the Rural Residential Zone Code.

It also refused application MCU24/174 for a proposed 59-dwelling retirement facility at 24-34 Macdonnell Road on the same grounds.

Council officers must prepare the terms of reference, governance arrangements, agenda structures and proposed dates for councillors to review. The proposed forums cannot be established until those details are endorsed.

The planning changes will be watched by developers, planners, planning consultants and community groups, particularly as the council considers future development applications in places such as Tamborine Mountain. The new forums would provide a defined setting for planning matters to be considered and reported to Council, but their eventual scope has not yet been set.