FORSALE

A simple guide to making a submission.

From Brisbane City Council

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You have the power to influence what's built in your street and how your city grows.The best way to have your voice heard is to make a submission. A submission is a written statement made to Council that outlines your support for or objection to a proposed plan or new development. This booklet will show you how and when to make a submission

SUBMISSIONS GIVE POWER TO THE PEOPLEYou can directly influence the way Brisbane grows and what’s built in your street by making a submission. A submission is a written explanation of why you either support or oppose a proposal. People sometimes think submissions are only for negative input, but they can be positive too.

Submissions are a powerful tool for the community.

MAKE A SUBMISSION ON A DRAFT PLANAll development in Brisbane is directed by plans that show where new development can go and what can, and cannot, be built. Council doesn’t change these plans without first consulting with the community.

Council will listen to what you have to say about proposed plans. Sometimes, Council will ask you to make a submission about a plan more than once during its preparation. During the drafting of the plan, your submissions are used to check that work is on track and give Council the

The State Government’s South East Queensland Regional Plan and the Brisbane City Plan are the two main plans that control how properties in Brisbane can be developed. Some properties are also covered by a Neighbourhood Plan.

Property owners have rights too. When assessing a proposed development, Council considers everyone’s views. If you highlight specifically what you are unhappy about through a submission, Council has a better idea of the likely impacts of the proposal and may require the developer to make changes to their original concept, if the project goes ahead.

Making a submission during the nominated time periods also gives you the legal right to appeal Council’s decision on a development application through the Planning and Environment Court.

opportunity to make changes before going through the formal process required by the Queensland Government. Council will then ask for submissions again, when the plan has been formally drafted, to ensure that legal requirements are met and to allow you to comment on any changes since you last saw the plan.

The formal part is called a statutory process whereby Council is legally required to report to the Queensland Government on the submissions and how they are dealt with. Submissions must be written a certain way, and be received by Council during the formal public consultation period, to be given full weight in this process.

The sooner Council understands your views, the easier it is for Council to amend the plan. Council will give you plenty of notice about when you need to make a submission and how to go about it. Council publishes notices about new plans or proposed changes to existing plans in a local newspaper. If you’re affected, Council will also try and let you know by writing to you directly or placing information in your letterbox.

For more information on the plans that could affect you and the rules they contain, download the booklet in this series called ‘A simple guide to the plans that affect your home and neighbourhood’ from Council’s website. You can also call Council on (07) 3403 8888 to have a copy sent to you.

MAKE A SUBMISSION ON A PROPOSED NEW DEVELOPMENT

You can also formally support or oppose some proposed developments by making a submission. You don’t have to be a neighbour or even live in the area to make a submission.

Submissions can be made on proposed developments that are listed in the City Plan as ‘impact assessable’. Normally, these are complex developments, or those that Council thinks might impact on neighbours or be potentially unsuitable for an area. Developments that are straightforward, or considered generally suitable, are listed as ‘code assessable’. You cannot make a submission on these developments. They just need to satisfy City Planning’s rules to be approved.

There’s an easy way to find out about a proposed development. Go to Council’s website and look for the PD Online tool. Click on ‘Application Enquiry’ and enter the address (or ‘lot description’) of the property you want to know about. If a formal request for approval, called a development application, or DA, has been submitted to Council, you’ll be able to access the application and supporting

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information, as well as correspondence between Council and the applicant. You can also use this tool to track its progress through Council’s assessment system.

If an ‘impact assessable’ development is proposed (one you can make a submission on), the proponent is also legally obliged to publicise their proposal by:

sending a registered letter to all adjoining land owners

placing a notice in a local newspaper

installing a sign on their property.

These materials will tell you the closing date for submissions, who they should be addressed to, and where you can view a copy of the application.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?At the end of the formal public consultation period, Council will send a response to everyone who made a submission. Where a submission is signed by a number of people, the response will be addressed to the main or first person listed. If it is a petition, the response will go to the person whose name appears first on the petition.

HOW AND WHEN TO WRITE A SUBMISSIONYou can’t just make a submission at any time. Legally, there is a correct way to write a submission, and a correct time to send it, to make it count. Submissions must:

be in writing and signed by each person who is listed as supporting it

include the name and address of each person who signs it

state what aspects of the plan or proposed development you support or oppose and why

be received by Council during the formal public consultation period.

Submissions about a proposed plan, or a change to a plan, must be posted to Council. Submissions about a proposed development can also be lodged online.

PREPARING YOUR SUBMISSION

You can use the framework below as a guide to help you prepare your submission.

Give your submission a title. This helps Council to sort the many submissions it receives. If your submission is about a development application, include the Application Number, site address and lot description in the title (you’ll find this in the ‘acknowledgement notice’ and other correspondence from Council to the applicant, which you can view using PD Online).

For example:

• Submission on the draft Lutwyche Neighbourhood Plan.

• Submission on the proposed development at 129 Grey Street, South Brisbane, Application Number A000134A.

State what you support or oppose. Be as specific as possible.

For example:

• I support the proposed zoning change of the residential land at Wattle Street to parkland (see Item 2.2, page 6 of the draft Neighbourhood Plan).

• I oppose the proposed height of three storeys because it will overshadow my garden.

Outline why you support or oppose certain aspects, using your own words.

It may be tempting to copy the content of someone else’s submission. While this is still acceptable, a submission using your words will have more impact. For example:

• I believe the land is unsuitable for a park because there are inadequate access and surveillance opportunities.

• I think the height of the proposed development is excessive as it would block sunlight and breezes to neighbouring properties.

• The proposed development is needed as there is currently insufficient housing for older people, which means locals have to move out of the neighbourhood when they retire.

State any specific changes you would like made to the draft plan or development proposal.

For example:

• The draft Neighbourhood Plan should be changed to allow for new developments of up to five storeys above the shops, rather than three, because this would maximise residents’ access to the shops.

• The proposal should be reduced in scale and set back further from the rear boundary as this part of the proposal is directly adjacent to my bedroom.

Sign and date the submission.

Include your name and address (and, if you want to, your phone number).

If more than one person signs the submission, make sure you also include their name and address.

Send your submission to Council so that it is received before the end of the public consultation period.

Brisbane City Council Information

GPO Box 1434Brisbane Qld 4001

For more information visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au or call (07) 3403 8888

N2010-02554© Brisbane City Council 2010

Printed on recycled paper

FIND OUT THE RULES FOR YOUR PROPERTY Check out Council’s website and use the tool called ‘PD Online’ to complete the six steps below. You can also call Council for help on (07) 3403 8888.

Step one Find out your property’s zone. Zones (also called ‘area classifications’) tell you what you can and cannot do with the property. The zone is the key to unlocking the planning rules for your property.

Step two Check if your property is a small lot.Different rules apply to properties that are smaller than standard, known as ‘small lots’.

Step three Find out if your property is in a ‘Demolition Control Precinct’. You cannot demolish or remove a building built before 1947 in a Demolition Control Precinct without approval. There are also rules about renovating or building in a DCP.

Step four Check whether the property or a neighbouring property is heritage-listed.Both Council and the Queensland Government have heritage registers and you should check both. Heritage-listed properties are protected and specific development rules apply to them or those directly adjoining.

Step five Look at the Neighbourhood Plan (or local plan) for the area. Some Neighbourhood Plans contain specific rules about new development.

Step six Check whether the property has other development constraints. Your property may have things that act as ‘constraints’ to development such as a waterway corridor, a patch of native bushland or an overland water flow.

Start your search now. Go to www.brisbane.qld.gov.au and click on ‘Planning and Building’, then ‘Tools and forms’.

OTHER SIMPLE GUIDES INCLUDE:A simple guide to planning and development in Brisbane.

A simple guide to the plans that affect your home and neighbourhood.

A simple guide to building and renovating in Brisbane.

A simple guide to the way your neighbourhood could grow.

A simple guide to Brisbane’s heritage places and character homes.

Download copies from Council’s website or call Council on (07) 3403 8888 to have copies sent to you.

YOU CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGECouncil considers all submissions when finalising a proposed plan or assessing a development application. Your ideas and comments have the power to influence the final outcome.

After reviewing submissions on the draft Wynnum Manly Neighbourhood Plan, for example, Council changed the plan to restrict development in the Wynnum CBD to eight storeys, rather than allowing 12 storeys as originally proposed. Council also reduced proposed building heights near the Guardian Angels’ School, in Wynnum, from eight to five storeys, after 144 submissions were received on the issue.

Community submissions caused Council to clarify proposed regulations about industrial activity in Archerfield and just one submission was enough to make Council remove a regulation from the draft Nudgee Beach Neighbourhood Plan that would have prevented new commercial development in the area.

Submissions on development applications routinely shape Council’s final decision on developments. Legally, Council can’t stop developments that meet the City Plan’s rules. However, Council can often use submissions to ask developers to make changes to the project that benefit neighbours and the surrounding community. For example, developers can be required to put up window screens and fences to improve privacy or submit a plan to manage local traffic.

Council has to balance everyone’s views, so you may not always get everything you want. But, by making a submission, you can help Council to make the best decision for everyone.