Update: May 2024
The Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) held their final hearing at Huon Valley Council (HVC) on 16 February 2024 and they are now in the final stages of preparing their report and recommendation.
It is likely that the TPC will soon recommend that HVC transition to the Tasmanian Planning Scheme (TPS) in the coming months.
When the TPC formally advises HVC to transition to the TPS, HVC will only have 7 days to transition before the TPS comes into effect.
Once the transition has happened, HVC will commence assessing planning assessments under the new Tasmanian Planning Scheme (TPS).
What does this mean for you?
If you already have a valid application under assessment at Council, there will be no change to your assessment process. Your valid application will still be assessed under the Interim Planning Scheme (IPS) which is the Scheme that was in place when you submitted your application.
Valid and Invalid Applications
If you have recently lodged an application, please make sure you pay the application fee when you receive the invoice. The date of payment can impact the date the application becomes valid.
There are also other requirements that inform whether an application is valid or not, these are listed here and are found under Section 6.1.2 of the TPS.
An application must include:
- A signed application form;
- Any written permission and declaration of notification required under s.52 of the Act and, if any document is signed by the delegate, a copy of the delegation;
- Details of the location of the proposed use or development;
- A copy of the current certificate of title for all land to which the permit sought is to relate, including the title plan; and
- A full description of the proposed use or development.
If you have lodged an application and been advised in writing by Council that it is not yet ‘valid’ – then the scheme (IPS or TPS) that is in effect once the application becomes valid will apply.
Please make sure you contact the planning officer on any correspondence you have received to discuss how to make your application valid.
Background
The Huon Valley Council agreed to endorse the report containing representations and recommendations made on the exhibited Draft Huon Valley Local Provisions Schedule (LPS) at its meeting on Wednesday 25 January 2023.
The report under Section 35F of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 was submitted to the Tasmanian Planning Commission for consideration.
Representors had a further opportunity to engage in the process and raise their concerns at the Commission’s public hearings which were held between 4 April 2023 and 16 February 2024.
There will be no further public hearings on this matter.
Please contact the Tasmanian Planning Commission if you have any questions about this process – Contact Us – Tasmanian Planning Commission Website
Planning Reform
The Tasmanian government is reforming the State’s planning system by introducing a single planning scheme for the State – the Tasmanian Planning Scheme.
This process started a number of years ago.
In 2014 amendments were made to the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (LUPAA) that enabled the Council as a Planning Authority to commence the process of implementing the current planning scheme, the Huon Valley Interim Planning Scheme 2015 (Interim Planning Scheme) which became effective on 31 August 2015.
Further amendments were made to the LUPAA effective from 17 December 2015 for the introduction of a single planning scheme for the State – the Tasmanian Planning Scheme (TPS).
These amendments enabled the State Planning Provisions to be implemented and commenced in 2017.
Tasmanian Planning Scheme
The Tasmanian Planning Scheme comprises two parts:
- The State Planning Provisions (SPPs), and
- The Local Provisions Schedules (LPSs)
Further information
- Current Interim Planning Scheme
- New State Planning Provisions
- Tasmanian Planning Scheme FAQs and Fact Sheets
Huon Valley draft Local Provisions Schedule, maps and overlays (LPS)
The Council, as planning authority, has been responsible for preparing the draft LPS for the Huon Valley municipal area.
The draft LPS includes zone and code provisions and overlay maps, local area objectives, particular purpose zones, specific area plans, site-specific qualifications, and other local planning provisions.
Current provisions of the LUPAA and some former provisions of the LUPAA that applied before 17 December 2015, apply to the draft LPS and its preparation and its content.
Structure and form of the LPS
The draft LPS is required to be in accordance with the structure and form set out in the Local Provisions Schedule Requirements (LP1.0) of the SPPs, Guideline No.1 – Local Provisions Schedule Zone and Code Application and relevant Practice Notes issued by the Commission.
Further information is set out below and also on the Commission website about these requirements.
Huon Valley Draft Local Provisions Schedule (LPS-HUO-TPS)
At its meeting on 22 May 2019 the Planning Authority endorsed a previous version of the draft LPS.
Following that decision, the former draft LPS was referred to the Commission for its consideration.
The Commission then arranged for post lodgement conferences to be held in 2019 with Council officers to discuss the draft LPS documentation and maps submitted to the Commission.
The agenda of these conferences are displayed on the Commission’s website.
Another conference was held in January 2021.
The Council (as planning authority) endorsed a revised version of the draft Huon Valley Local Provisions Schedule (draft LPS) at its meeting on 19 May 2021.
In May 2021 after the meeting, the draft LPS, maps and overlays were sent to the Tasmanian Planning Commission (Commission).
The draft LPS was on exhibition during 24 January 2022 and 28 March 2022.
The Council (as planning authority) submitted a section 35F report and copies of all representations to the Commission.
The Commission’s public hearings were held between 4 April 2023 and 16 February 2024.
Representations
The Council received 415 representations throughout the public exhibition period in early 2022 which raised several issues and concerns around the Draft LPS, particularly the application of the Landscape Conservation Zone and the Agriculture Zone.
Follow this link to find the Council meeting report and attachments, including Council’s position regarding each representation:
Council has acknowledged that the Huon Valley has unique topography, land title structure (with a large proportion of lots between 1ha and 10ha in size), historical land use and a broad Valley landscape that makes application of the Landscape Conservation Zone difficult.
Part of the new council’s process for the progression of the 35F report, was the development of principles related to the application of the Landscape Conservation Zone and the Agricultural Zone.
These principles can be viewed on pages 12, 13 and 20 of the section 35F report (link provided above) and were put to the Tasmanian Planning Commission for consideration.