Mid-year update: LGIP an advocacy win
Toowoomba Branch President, Stephen Bowers recently provided a mid-year update and summarised the branch achievements of 2020. This year’s update had a strong COVID-19 theme and how the industry was going to bounce back.
The Institute’s State President, Warwick Bible and CEO Kirsty Chessher-Brown were also in attendance to provide a broader update on state related matters.
To date, the branch has:
- Successfully advocated for Toowoomba Regional Council to pursue a new planning scheme and undertake a full review of their Local Government Infrastructure Plan in light of future employment and population projections
- Advanced the branch’s advocacy including by writing to Toowoomba Regional Council on three separate occasions regarding industry assistance during COVID-19
- Signed a new member to the branch broadening the depth and expertise of our local membership, despite the uncertainty of COVID-19
- Had over 60 attendees for Branch events, including our webinars.
Our successful advocacy behind inspiring council to pursue a new planning scheme and LGIP review can be credited to the hard working members of the committee and the effectiveness behind our working group meetings with council. The signed MOU allows our members to put forward the important issues and now the fruits of the efforts can be seen.
The Toowoomba branch will continue to work with council including:
- Seeking changes to infrastructure charges for industrial development to ensure the region remains competitive and continues to attract investment
- Engaging with council in developing the new Regional Growth Plan which will guide future development and infrastructure delivery
- Our involvement with the Development Industry Reference Group to improve council’s customer service to the property industry and seek more efficient assessment processes and shorter timeframes
- Driving council to provide infrastructure charge incentives for all development in the region including residential projects.
The branch has also been invited to speak in front of the full council and is awaiting confirmation from the Mayor’s office. We’ll update members accordingly once this has been confirmed.
We take this opportunity to thank our hard working members and the committee on persisting and engaging with council to ensure the local property industry can continue grow, particularly during COVID-19. If you have any questions relating to the committee efforts in 2020, please contact the branch.
Contact the branch