Statutory land use planning in Cape York: the make or brake of the local and regional economy

Land use planning should be a collaborative project between government, industry and community that culminates in a map with a set of strategies to describe the appropriate location, type, scale and intensity of land uses within a defined area. These plans can make or put a brake on an economy. This presentation will review the permitted land uses in Wujal Wujal, Hopevale and Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Councils and the state interest overlays that define their respective economic future. The review then describes the Cape York Regional Plan (2014) outcomes to highlight the relationship between the levels of planning and the economic future for the region as a whole.

The results of the review illustrate how land use planning for local government and the Cape York Region pays scant attention to the relationship between the permitted land uses; state interests; and the roles and responsibilities of the RNTPBC/PBC. It is this lack of attention that impairs economic development. The presentation concludes that a place based approach to planning be pursued that focuses on the creation of strategic plans for NTBC/PBC’s as the foundation of development as opposed to the dysfunction of the prevailing top down approach.