Planning law change - places of worship

Eligibility - Queensland residents
Principal Petitioner:
Ronald Hutchins
PO Box 794
BUDERIM QLD 4556
Total Signatures - 391
Sponsoring Member: The Clerk of the Parliament
Posting Date: 11/8/2017
Closing Date: 8/2/2018
Tabled Date: 15/2/2018
Responded By: Hon Cameron Dick MP on 19/3/2018
TO: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland

Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House that the new Sustainable Planning Act 2016 (SPA2016) details provisions to protect the “cultural, economic, physical and social wellbeing of people and communities. Conserving or enhancing places of special aesthetic, architectural, cultural, historic, scientific, social or spiritual significance”.

 

However many ‘place of worship' applications have been approved without these considerations, and despite safety concerns and strong community opposition. The ‘Precautionary Principle' dictates actions should not be taken where there is a suspected risk to the public and that the ‘burden of proof' falls on those approving decisions.

 

Communities must be part of the approval process however in many cases current legislation does not permit this. There is evidence that some places of worship are detrimental to communities. It is therefore imperative that legislation reflects the new SPA2016, is consistent across Queensland, and puts community safety, cohesion, social health and wellbeing first and foremost in the approval process for all ‘place of worship' applications.

 

With respect to the new provisions under the SPA2016, your petitioners request the House legislate to require all applications relating to ‘places of worship' be Impact Assessable. In addition, your petitioners request that community consultation, safety risk screening and an independent ‘Social Health Impact Assessment' (SHIA) be required for all such applications in Queensland.