Queensland's State Planning Policy was one of the first policy instruments in Australia to set statewide targets for urban stormwater quality and waterway stability. The policy has been in place for over 15 years. Since that time there has been a significant advancement in our understanding of stormwater quality and waterway erosion issues, and the efficacy of treatment measures, however the policy has remained static and not been reviewed.
This review finds that the waterway stability aspects of the policy are rarely implemented in private development projects and local and state government infrastructure projects. Similarly, the stormwater quality provisions are often not implemented, and if they are it is primarily via proprietary stormwater treatment measures which are inconsistent with the original policy intent.
The Business Case that underpinned the policy has been reviewed, and several fundamental assumptions around zero land take, cost, efficacy, and the mandatory use of rainwater tanks are no longer valid. The policy was widely promoted as a way to mainstream exemplar examples of water sensitive urban design like Coomera Waters, but there have been no developments like that since 2010.
The policy was implemented at a time when the community ranked waterway heath ranked above housing affordability as an issue of concern. As urban development pressure on waterways increases and the demand for fast and cheap development grows, it's important to have well-designed policy that meets is objectives.