Blog Post Two: Summary of planning system in Australia

The planning system in Australia is very diverse, ranging from the national level to a more local community level. Each jurisdiction has a different form of responsibility in the context of strategic and social planning. I'll be further elaborating on the national, regional and local levels of planning and their level of authority in the field of planning.

National level of Planning
The Australian Commonwealth government has been increasingly playing their role in planning in Australia through the implementations of regulations in development which relate to national environmental significance such as conservation and heritage. It is through this approach they ought to provide strategic guidance and oversight in urban policy through the recent National Urban Policy 2011. This framework provided by the Australian federal government provides initiatives and goals for the national cities in the context of achieving its primary objectives in make it them more productive and sustainable. The main legislative framework impacting urban planning decisions is the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This piece of legislative enactment allows the government to estimate the impacts of listed world heritage sites etc.

State/Regional Level of Planning
Each state has their own legislative framework to work around with. They are much broader since larger parts of the planning responsibilities lies within state or territorial jurisdictions. An example I like to use is New South Wales. NSW planning department aims their planning responsibilities to assure employment and economic growth whilst aligning infrastructure provision to growth priorities. Regional parts of NSW have been broken up into eight strategic areas based upon location and they are drafted together in collaboration with the local councils to create direction plans for long term regional growth in these areas. These areas include the Illawarra, the South Coast and the Murray region.

Local Level of Planning
Local councils also have a vital role to play in ensuring successful planing initiatives become reality. In NSW (again my example) the main framework for which local councils use as a guide to successful planning decisions is the Local Environmental Plan (LEP). This framework legislated by the NSW government is designed to allow local councils to manage the way in which land is used through zoning and development controls. This is considered as the primary tool in shaping communities in the long term.

References
Standard Instrument . 2014. Standard Instrument . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/en-us/planningyourlocalarea/standardinstrument.aspx. [Accessed 31 March 2014].