From our beaches and waterways to our hinterland ranges, ecological corridors, wetlands, and bushland - a healthy environment is central to what makes our city a great place to live, work and visit.

These natural assets shape our identity, support liveability and are highly valued by the community.

They also provide essential benefits, like improving water quality, supporting wildlife, cooling our suburbs and helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change, floods and other natural hazards.

As our population grows, we need to carefully manage the impact of new housing, employment lands and infrastructure on these environmental values and natural systems.

The planning scheme plays a key role in this by guiding where and how we grow while helping to protect and enhance biodiversity and the natural systems we rely on, now and for future generations.

This is your city. By having your say, you can help shape how it grows and ensure it remains a place with natural spaces that support us and the plants and animals that rely on them.

The planning scheme plays a key role in safeguarding and preserving our important environmental areas as the city grows.

Our community has been clear, the natural environment is central to what makes our city a great place to live, and growth must be sustainable, with strong environmental standards, well-designed neighbourhoods and access to green space.

Getting this right means protecting and enhancing habitats, waterways and landscapes as the city grows.

Our current planning scheme protects important environment and biodiversity values through:

• setting overarching long-term environmental aspirations and outcomes for the city
• identifying the purpose of land (for example open space, environmental management and conservation, employment or residential etc.) and which land uses should occur where
• rules for vegetation clearing (in addition to Federal and State requirements)
• mapping that shows where important environment or biodiversity value areas are, which can trigger further assessment checks for development.

Planning schemes in Queensland must identify matters of environmental significance and seek to avoid or minimise development that may impact on them. They must also maintain or enhance ecological processes and connectivity.

Our current planning scheme is aging and will need to be updated to accommodate new information, and more contemporary approaches for the conservation of our biodiversity.

We need to look at ways to better protect the biodiversity and ecological functions of the natural environment, while supporting growth. To do this effectively, an updated approach to protecting and enhancing our environment will be required.

The new planning scheme could include:

• improved mapping of important environmental areas for further review during the assessment of new development
• improved clarity and guidance on how the city’s important ecological corridors, waterways and native habitats and species will be protected
• more contemporary requirements to better integrate outcomes for important environmental areas with urban development, including more urban greening
• greater clarity in the use of environmental offsets so development does not result in a net loss of biodiversity values across the city.

Download this information sheet from the document library.