Future of the region
The current regional plan for the Wide Bay Burnett area was released in 2011 and is the next region to undergo a review, with the North Queensland Regional Plan being finalised. The Department for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure, and Planning (DSDMIP) is creating an Industry, Community and Environment Working Group. The working group aims to provide a forum to discuss the WBB Regional Plan review with representative groups.
It also provides the opportunity for stakeholder groups to raise issues or suggestions to DSDMIP regarding the review and ensure DSDMIP can deliver important information to a broader network through working group members’ respective membership bases.
The review could include:
- Urban development boundaries
- Development assessment benchmarks
- A tailored economic strategy which aligns land use, infrastructure and industry development to help support the expected growth in this region
- Priorities that build upon the region’s competitive advantages in aviation, advanced manufacturing and aquaculture and tourism, while also addressing any possible barriers to economic growth
- Proposals to build on existing strengths in the sector and will support new and emerging industries and build a thriving economy over the next 25 years
- Identification of key infrastructure and servicing needs for each local government area
- Integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, culture and tradition
- Input from key stakeholder groups.
This is only the commencement of the review that will include:
- Review of existing plan
- Scoping and drafting of new plan
- Economic development and other workshops
- Release of a draft new plan for public consultation
- Finalisation of the plan.
The Wide Bay Burnett area comprises the Fraser Coast, North Burnett and South Burnett council areas as well as Bundaberg, Gympie, and Cherbourg.
Further information on the new plan can be obtained here or contact our Policy Executive Robert Tily.