Dick invited for scheme discussions

TOOWOOMBA Mayor Paul Antonio will invite State Development Minister Cameron Dick to discuss fast-tracking the development of a new council planning scheme.

Cr Antonio will write to the minister today, saying he wanted to open the dialogue about a new document that would dictate Toowoomba’s direction for the next decade.

“It’s a good time now for the TRC and the State Government to sit down and have a talk about the unique growth potential in our region,” he said.

“Council has already signalled it will renew the current policy setting.”

The invitation comes on the back of comments from the Mayor last week, who said the council and department had some “relationship issues” to work on.

Cr Antonio said the council had already started a full review of the current scheme, which planning and development general manager Stewart Somers admitted was getting “a bit long in the tooth”.

“We’ve already commenced the process to review the planning scheme, and that is based on surveys we’ve handed out to the community and development industry,” he said.

“That is step one on what could be a two-year process.”