The council will begin analysing a “large volume” of public feedback on the Sunshine Coast Council’s new planning scheme ahead of the next stage in the process.
Preliminary public consultation on the proposed planning directions closed on March 31.
Mayor Mark Jamieson said many steps were involved in preparing a new planning scheme and the council was still in the early stages of that timeline.
“Submissions were invited from February 10 and council’s non-statutory consultation period has now closed,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“I would like to thank our region’s residents who took the time and opportunity during the seven-week preliminary consultation period to provide their feedback on the planning topics that were important to them.
“Council has received a large volume of direct feedback about its proposed new planning directions and it will take the project team many months to process this data.”
Feedback was received through online surveys, written submissions, and face-to-face information events — including out-of-hours evening and weekend sessions, school and university engagement times, online information discussions and a variety of other feedback channels.
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“Council’s planning team was conscious of the day-to-day time demands of the region’s community members and worked hard to ensure as many groups and individuals as possible were given the opportunity to provide their feedback,” Mayor Jamieson said.
“We wanted to hear what was important to our community so their views could help shape our future plans, well before any detailed drafting of the new planning scheme begins.
“Through careful planning, and in partnership with our community, council aims to protect the places we love, preserve our natural environment, maintain the lifestyle we enjoy and shape the built environment to support the region’s future.
“We know people love living here on the Sunshine Coast and thanks to this feedback, we will soon have a much clearer picture of what our region’s residents want the Sunshine Coast region to look like in 2041.”
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor with your name and suburb at Sunshine Coast News via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au
Community members will have further opportunity to provide feedback when a draft version of the new planning scheme is released for formal public consultation.
More information on the new planning scheme can be found at on council’s website.
Search for “new Sunshine Coast planning scheme”. The site also provides information on the project process.
