February 2021

Message from the Chair of the State Planning Commission

The Panel identified serious issues within the planning system including that there were too many plans and too many versions of the same rule; planning documents were convoluted and cumbersome; it took too long to update plans and rules; the system was straining under the burden of assessment with assessment taking too long and too much effort, and finally that planning was not integrated with other government plans and policies.

We are now only six weeks away from the culmination of over 7 years of dedicated efforts to fix these issues and deliver a nation leading planning system in a way which respects where we have come from but is also driven by the needs of the people who use it.

In preparation for ‘go live’, a suite of training sessions, business readiness support and resources are available for our stakeholders—across councils and industry—to ensure they are well equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to work within the new planning system. I strongly urge everyone to access these resources, to familiarise themselves with the new system, to be trained and business ready.

The delivery of the final stage of the planning system follows more than six months of public consultation, resulting in nearly 2400 submissions. The Commission’s review of the most recent round of consultation submissions will bring further refinements to the Phase Three Code. These Code refinements will be included in our recommendations to the Minister and detailed in the Phase Three Code Engagement Report to be released closer to the go-live date.

The Commission is committed to delivering local, regional and state policies that emphasise practical and innovative responses in many policy areas. One aspect is climate change, with initiatives that range from alternative energy production right down to increasing and encouraging urban tree canopy and planting, and water sensitive urban design in our individual suburban streets. As with many State Planning Policies, this is the first expression of the policy, allowing for further refinement as the science evolves.

A good example of this is the recent proposal for an Urban Tree Canopy Off-set Scheme (Scheme) by the State Government, which aims to increase urban green cover while using the proposed fund to maintain and preserve trees in reserves and public land.

On 29 January 2021, a stakeholder forum on the Scheme was attended by the Minister and representatives from council, industry and community. The forum resulted in valuable discussions on how the draft scheme can facilitate the replacement of trees lost due to construction and a proposed fund payment of up to $1200 for when trees cannot be planted due to certain circumstances (i.e. in areas with acidic soils).

As I’ve said before, our new planning system preserves the best of our past and looks ahead in a balanced but sure-footed way. Thank you for your continuing interest and participation. My best wishes to everyone for a promising New Year!

Michael Lennon
Chair, State Planning Commission

Message from the Executive Director

Our Business Readiness team is delivering a training program, co-designed in partnership with councils, which in the lead up to the launch of the new planning system has recorded over 3000 in total program registrations. Our service desk and business readiness teams are at hand to support stakeholders to familiarise themselves with all aspects of the new planning system via this comprehensive schedule of training events and substantial resources. I expect it will be a busy and rewarding 6 weeks.

I want to recognise councils and our service desk team for working in close collaboration to complete over 1489 user registrations in preparation to work on the new planning system; with 31 out of the 35 metropolitan and large regional town councils having completed user provisioning, an incredible outcome in the lead-up to go-live.

In addition to launching the new planning system, Planning and Land Use Services will focus on progressing the following strategic priorities throughout this year:

• support the Code amendment process and ensure the code is working well
• work with the Commission to complete the MGM plan to ensure target growth areas are identified and planned for
• work with regions to support regionalisation and commence regional planning
• focus on reforms to the LG Act and ensure implementation measures are in place
• focus on new elements of the planning system such as design standards, off-set schemes, local design review and infrastructure scheme.

I extend my thanks and acknowledge the incredible amount of hard work and effort by all staff and a huge amount of stakeholders last year and look forward to continuing the momentum in 2021.

For now, we build toward the successful launch of a brand new planning system for the whole of South Australia. What an amazing achievement this will be!

Sally Smith
Executive Director, Team PLUS

February to April 2021 ‘Ready, Set, Go Live!’ training program announced

In preparation for the release of the new planning system, councils and industry representatives are strongly encouraged to register for the ‘Ready, Set, Go Live!’ business readiness and education sessions, which will be delivered face-to-face with some sessions only being offered online.

A schedule of sessions for January and February 2021 for local and state government professionals and industry partners and professionals respectively, were released in January 2021.

The latest schedule of sessions for March and April 2021 are now available, and will cover:

• Planning and/or Building Consent
• Code mechanics
• Support for New Starters (planning and building professionals)
• Transitional Development Applications
• Using SAPPA for Development Assessment

Stakeholders can register for these sessions on Eventbrite.

New community information and training sessions will be made available in the lead up to the go live date – 19 March 2021 – and will cover key topics such as: how to submit a development application, fee payments, and how to track an application.

New schools and redevelopment projects

Whyalla Secondary College

During 2019-2020, a series of development applications were received for both new builds and major upgrades to government schools across metropolitan and regional South Australia. These developments are part of a $1.3 billion capital works program by the State Government to ensure that new and upgraded educational infrastructure are ready to support the transition of year 7 students to high school in 2022. Around 67,000 students across the state will benefit with around 1 in 5 schools having their facilities upgraded, with around 10,000 additional places needed across the state to accommodate both the predicted growth in public school students and the transition.

For the majority of these projects, Crown development applications were lodged with the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) and assessed by the Crown and Major Development Team. This included three new schools at Whyalla, Aldinga and Angle Vale; and significant redevelopments of existing facilities at Norwood Morialta, Kapunda, Seaton, Adelaide, Glenunga International, Unley, Gawler & Districts, Glossop, Urrbrae Agricultural, John Pirie and Port Lincoln High Schools.

Each of these projects were subject to a pre-lodgement process, and where appropriate, a design review with the Office of Design + Architecture SA, to streamline assessment processes and provide practical and focused technical feedback prior to lodgement of the formal application.

The project also involved working closely with Building Projects, Across Government Services team from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, who managed the majority of these developments on behalf of the Department for Education, to ensure the timely delivery of these projects to meet 2022 commencement dates.

Due to the range of different architects and builders, PLUS-AGD ensured the assessment process was both seamless and transparent, and that comprehensive advice from the SCAP was conveyed to the Minister for Planning and Local Government to enable decisions to be made within statutory timeframes.

Grant round for Open Space and Places for People is now open for 2020-21

Wigley Reserve, Glenelg North

The 2020-21 grant round for the Open Space and Places for People Grants (grants) is now open and will receive applications until 5.00 pm, Friday 19 February 2021.

The current grant round has so far received three applications with the total value of funds sought standing at $1,187,500. Councils are encouraged to lodge their applications before the closing date via SmartyGrants.

The grants continue to support projects that provide a diverse range of high quality public open spaces that focus on being more sustainable, accessible, safer and healthier, particularly in areas of growth and renewal. 

For more grants information visit PlanSA or email PublicSpaceGrants@sa.gov.au.

Tree fund offset scheme to help plant more trees

The clear intent of the draft Planning and Design Code is to plant more trees, and for that reason contains a set of residential infill policies that include the requirement to plant trees when new dwellings are built in urban residential areas. 

In those limited cases where planting a tree is not feasible (e.g. when soil types are prohibitive), the draft Urban Tree Canopy Off-Set Scheme enables contribution into a Fund which can be used to plant trees in parks, reserves and nature strips, or to create new parks.

The proposed Fund contributions are $300 for a small tree (4m mature height), $600 for a medium tree (6m mature height) and $1,200 for a large tree (12m mature height). The payments are not mandatory as an applicant may choose to plant a tree or elect to pay into the Fund in lieu of planting a tree.

The Scheme will apply only where a proposed dwelling is located in specific Zones outlined in the draft Planning and Design Code for metropolitan areas. These include:

• Housing Diversity Neighbourhood Zone
• Urban Renewal Neighbourhood Zone
• City Living Zone
• or an area with a ‘Designated Soil Type’.

The draft Scheme has been established in response to feedback received during the Planning and Design Code consultation periods. The proposed Scheme was developed after a cost-benefit analysis was commissioned by Planning and Land Use Services and the State Planning Commission.

For public comment: addendum to the KI Plantation Timbers deep water port facility

The Minister for Planning and Local Government has released a second Addendum to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) proposed by Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) for public consultation on its proposed deep water port facility at Smith Bay.

The first addendum to the EIS was prepared in response to the public submissions from the initial consultation period (28 March to 28 May 2019) and was released for a second round of public consultation from 7 November to 20 December 2019.

On 30 October 2020 further information was sought from KIPT in relation to transport matters, marine pest management, design and engineering.

The newly prepared Addendum to the EIS provides additional information addressing these matters and has now been released for a third round of public consultation, which commenced on 14 January 2021 with written submissions invited until 12 February 2021.

Planning and Land Use Services convened a COVID-safe public information session on the Addendum to the EIS on Tuesday, 2 February 2021 (10.00 am to 3.00 pm) at Kingscote Town Hall and Kangaroo Island Council Chambers.

Written submissions can be sent no later than 12 February 2021 to Planning and Land Use Services or emailed to majordevadmin@sa.gov.au. Submissions received during the consultation period will be made available for public information following the closure of the consultation process.

Oaklands Park Renewal DPA

The Oaklands Park Renewal Development Plan Amendment (DPA) was approved by the Minister for Planning and Local Government on 24 December 2020. The DPA rezoned approximately 17 hectares of residential land to enable the redevelopment of South Australian Housing Authority (SAHA) housing stock at Oaklands Park in the City of Marion, and is part of a larger State strategic program to upgrade social housing assets.

The rezoning was based on a detailed master plan and separate agreements between SAHA, Council and Housing Renewal Australia. The redevelopment project will replace approximately 255 ageing SAHA dwellings with one-for-one, fit for purpose dwellings to be utilised for ongoing social housing purposes. The redevelopment will also enable approximately 425 additional new dwellings (15 percent of which will qualify as ‘affordable dwellings’) that will be put to market and provide a modern, medium density, ‘mixed tenure’ residential development that helps address residential land supply shortages in Southern Adelaide. Much of the infrastructure servicing the affected area, including open space, stormwater, roads and electricity will be expanded and / or upgraded as part of the project.

The Master Planned Renewal Zone that now applies to the area is proposed to be transitioned as a new zone within the Planning and Design Code. This Zone will then be available for future amendments that support similar housing outcomes.

Aldinga Neighbourhood DPA now released for public consultation

The Aldinga Suburban Neighbourhood Development Plan Amendment (DPA) has been released for public consultation by the Minister for Planning and Local Government. Consultation commenced on 28 January 2021, with submissions invited until 25 March 2021. A public hearing is also planned for 7 April 2021.

The DPA seeks to rezone approximately 94 hectares of land that has been identified for many years for future residential and community development to meet the growing demand for housing in southern Adelaide. The affected area is bound by Quinliven Road, Main South Road, Aldinga Beach Road and How Road.

In addition, the DPA proposes a policy framework that will provision for a simpler and quicker approval process—where development approval will be granted upfront rather than having to go through a separate development process later—providing increased assurance to both the community and developers.

Submissions can be sent via email no later than 25 March 2021 to saplanningcommission@sa.gov.au.

Working to keep supermarket shelves well-stocked

Regulations aimed at ensuring South Australian supermarkets remain well stocked while the COVID-19 pandemic still poses a threat will continue for at least the next few months.

Planning restrictions around the delivery of groceries to supermarkets were first eased in March last year in response to the pandemic.

The extension will give certainty to supermarkets, grocery stores and consumers. Continuing to allow the delivery of goods outside the hours contained in planning approvals will ensure the supply of essential products to South Australians can continue.

The government has indicated these restrictions are likely to be eased for the duration of the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020 which is currently set to expire on 31 May 2021.