Planning scheme defence

Gutwein hoses down fears of over-development on public land

PLANNING Minister Peter Gutwein says the statewide planning scheme will not result in over-development on public land after conservation and community groups raised fears over its impact on Tasmania’s parks and reserves.

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust and Planning Matters Alliance have both claimed that the statewide planning scheme — intro- duced earlier this year — could result in development in up to 48 per cent of the state permitted without the public having a say.

They say this could occur through the scheme’s Environmental Management Zone allowing any tourism developments to occur, with many of the locations among some of the state’s most iconic.

Mr Gutwein said this was not the case.

“Even within Environmen- tal Management Zones, tourism developments are only permitted if an approval is granted under the National Parks and Reserved Land Regulations,” he said.

But Planning Matters Alliance co-ordinator Sophie Underwood said the public would now have no say on what they wanted in their national parks and reserves.

“It [the regulations] is all an internal government process, it essentially lacks rigour,” she said. “The public firstly needs to know about what is planned and then be able to have their say on it.

“They [tourism developments] should at least be discretionary and allow public comment on them.”

Tasmanian Conservation Trust director Peter McGlone said communities might not find out about developments until they began. “We have the right to have a say on development on public land,” he said.

“Not all development should be refused but we should have a say, it’s about what is appropriate.”

Despite being provided with $300,000 from the State Government to assist with the task, only the Meander Valley among Tasmania’s councils has drawn up its local provisions schedules as they struggle with the new scheme — which Mr Gutwein had previously said would be in place from July 1 last year.