The Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy (DNRME) recently requested talks with Whitsunday Regional Council regarding the future of 181 state reserves that Council is currently trustee of.
Director of Planning and Development Service Neil McGaffin said DNRME requested the talks as part of the major amendment to the Whitsunday Planning Scheme.
Mr McGaffin stressed the identified lots are not currently owned by Council and are not Council’s to sell.
“Council is purely trustee of these lots and the discussions were to explore better uses for these land parcels,” he said.
“We are also aware that some of the state reserves listed do have assets on them that were not installed by Council,” he said
“Council was asked to review the zoning of these lots, with particular reference to 50 that were identified as not appropriately zoned.
“Of those 50 there are a couple needing further negotiations with DNRME.
“Council’s resolution as per the Council report on August 28 enabled these negotiations with DNRME to commence,” Mr McGaffin said.
“At no stage did Councillors discuss the sale of any land as we are only the trustees, so any sale call would be a DNRME decision.
“Council’s planning team simply started talks to discuss options of state reserves being rezoned to a more appropriate zone or for Council to remove itself as a Trustee.
“All adjoining landowners will be notified well in advance if Council is recommending a zoning change,” Mr McGaffin said.
Anyone seeking further information can read the Council report of August 28 on Council’s website or contact the Strategic Planning team on 4945 0263.
Source: Whitsunday Regional Council.
Nerida Conisbee Ray White Group Chief Economist When it comes to Australia’s most expensive locations, the old money suburbs aren’t budging. Bellevue Hill, Point Piper and Rose Bay continue to top the list of most expensive suburbs for luxury homes in Australia. The top 10 per cent of these markets … Read more
Inflation is now within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range, coming in at 2.8 per cent for the September quarter and 2.1 per cent for October. Despite this, the RBA remained on hold today. The hold is disappointing but reflects the relative strength of our economy, particularly compared to … Read more