Media Release - TLPI

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Published
3rd May 2022

A vote by Councillors at last week's Council meeting to adopt a Temporary Local Planning Instrument (TLPI) for the protection of biodiversity values was passed.

The TLPI will be effective from 23 February 2022, which was the date that it was presented to Council for endorsement before progressing to the State Minister for Planning for review and approval.

The new TLPI will replace two TLPIs that were repealed by Council in December 2020.

Mayor Glen Hartwig said that the two previous TLPIs were repealed by Council after a number of concerns were brought to Council’s attention.

“At the time, Council was concerned about the accuracy of the data upon which the mapping was based; the potential “over-reach” regarding levels of assessment and additional requirements for development applications; the application of TLPI designations to areas flagged for future development; and additional complexity of the development assessment process,” he said.

Mayor Hartwig said that repealing the TLPIs raised concerns among some sectors of the community who were particularly concerned about the potential impacts on koala populations in the region.

“We listened to our community and have implemented what I believe is a more balanced approach moving forward.”

The key differences between the revised TLPI and the two (2) former TLPIs are:

  • the use of simple language to make the TLPI more user friendly
  • the new TLPI applies to the Gympie region as a whole
  • altered levels of assessment including
    • ‘accepted development’ (i.e. no development approval required) for accepted vegetation clearing, minor building work and for boundary realignments outside of core ecological linkages; and wetlands and waterways
    • ‘accepted development subject to requirements’ for the clearing of vegetation for the construction of a dwelling and an associated driveway
    • code assessment (i.e. development approval required but no public notification) for all other development for operational work, material change of use or reconfiguring a lot where not ‘accepted development’ or ‘accepted development subject to requirements’; and
    • no development is subject to impact assessment (i.e. requiring public notification), which previously was not the case.
  • the new TLPI applies to all zones including the rural zone, however, the definition of “property maintenance activity” has been expanded to allow for general rural operations and management without the need for council approval
  • the new TLPI expands the definition for accepted vegetation clearing to provide for additional property management activities.


The new TLPI will remain in effect for two years with the intention that it will be incorporated into council’s new Planning Scheme, which is in the early stages of preparation.