What you need to know about the Coorparoo and Districts Neighbourhood Plan

Place Design Group is committed to keeping you informed of industry updates. Brisbane City Council (Council) have recently adopted the new Coorparoo and Districts neighbourhood plan that will soon form part of an amendment package altering certain provisions of the Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan).  On 28 May 2019, Council adopted the neighbourhood plan which spans from the Pacific Motorway in the west to Boundary Road in the east, and from Holland Road in the south up to Old Cleveland Road at its northern most extent.

The key outcomes sought by the neighbourhood plan include:

• Protecting the traditional building character of the locality and its character streetscapes;
• Further protection of ecological and landscape values of Stephens Mountain;
• Establishment of new centre precincts along the Logan Road Corridor, the Greenslopes Private Hospital, and near the Greenslopes busway station;
• Protection of an additional 13 pre-1911 buildings and 10 new local heritage places;
• Introduction of additional built form provisions to support sub-tropical designs; and
• Confirmation of development opportunities for the Energex Depot and Former Ekibin Quarry.

To achieve the above outcomes, the neighbourhood plan includes four (4) precincts and four (4) sub-precincts, including:

• Logan Road precinct;
• • Logan Road 5-6 storey sub-precinct;
  • Logan Road 3 storey sub-precinct;
• Greenslopes Private Hospital Precinct
• Stephens Mountain Precinct; and
  • Stephens Mountain Reserve sub-precinct;
  • Stephens Mountain West sub-precinct;
• Earl Street precinct.

The most notable changes introduced by the neighbourhood plan are outlined further below:

Summary of Key Changes in Zoning:

• Substantial areas of the neighbourhood plan are to be rezoned.
• The majority of existing Low – medium density residential zoned land is to be down-zoned to the Infill housing precinct of the Character residential zone.
• The Earl Street precinct is identified to be up-zoned from the Low-medium density residential to Medium density residential zone.
• The Logan Road precincts are proposed to be up-zoned from the Neighbourhood centre zone or the Low-medium density residential zone to either the Mixed use zone or District centre zone.

Ramifications of Changes in Zoning:

• Where land has been down-zoned to the Infill housing precinct of the Character residential zone, development opportunities have generally decreased. This is evident by any development for Multiple dwellings triggering Impact Assessable development. Similarly, small lot subdivisions (i.e. where creating lots less than 450sqm) will also trigger Impact Assessable development.
• Where land has been up-zoned to Medium density residential, such as within the Earl Street precinct, development opportunities have been increased. For example, Multiple dwelling developments can now be proposed to up to 5 storeys in height (depending on site area) as a Code Assessable development application.
• Where land has been up-zoned to either the Mixed use zone or District Centre zone, development opportunities have also increased, with allowable building heights ranging between 3 to 6 storeys, and an increased diversity of suitable uses being achievable (i.e. Shopping centres, Multiple dwellings, Child care centres, Food and drink outlets, etc.).

Changes to Heritage Places, Pre-911 Buildings, and Traditional Building Character

• An additional 13 buildings have been identified as being constructed prior to 1911, and are therefore protected by more stringent provisions of the City Plan. This will restrict the extent of work able to be carried out to the building (i.e. partial demolition, extensions, etc.).
• An additional 10 sites have been listed on the Local Heritage Register and are thereby protected from demolition. This will greatly restrict the extent of work able to be carried out onsite as the integral components forming part of the cultural heritage of the site will need to be protected.
• There have been changes in the extent of Traditional building character areas throughout the neighbourhood plan. Areas envisaged for higher densities of development (i.e. the Logan Road and Earl Street precincts) have been removed from the Traditional building character overlay. This removes protection of pre-1947 buildings and encourages development to occur. Where areas have been down-zoned, the land has been included within the Traditional building character overlay, which protects pre-1947 buildings from demolition, and aims to maintain the character of the locality and streetscape.

Introduced Built Form Provisions to Encourage Sub-Tropical Design

• The neighbourhood plan introduces stricter controls to protect existing established vegetation during development.
• The neighbourhood plan also encourages the provision of sub-tropical design principals into new buildings (i.e. cross-ventilation, building orientation, improved streetscape and pedestrian amenity etc.).
• Where within the Logan Road precinct and adjoining a residential site, development will be required to provide a 5.0m vegetated buffer along rear and side boundaries. The neighbourhood plan also provisions the incorporation of landscaped screens capable of reaching 10m to 12m in height to provide visual privacy to residences.
• The neighbourhood plan introduces building height transitions for the Greenslopes Private Hospital precinct.
• The neighbourhood plan requires 6.0m landscaped setbacks to all frontages within the Greenslopes Private Hospital precinct.
• Whilst the neighbourhood plan does not introduce additional site cover provisions, the level of assessment tables for a Material change of use within the neighbourhood plan, where also within the Low-medium density residential zone, Medium density residential zone, Mixed use zone, or Centres zones states that where “involving a new premises or an existing premises with an increase in gross floor area, where development exceeds 45% site cover” the development will trigger Impact Assessable development. This provision is not restricted to particular uses and may result in generally lower risk developments (i.e. Dwelling houses) triggering Impact Assessable development if exceeding 45% site cover.

The above amendments are due to be incorporated into the City Plan on 26 July 2019, however can be considered by Council during their assessment of current development applications.

If you believe that your land or a development site may be impacted by the new Coorparoo and Districts neighbourhood plan, or you would like to discuss any of the information provided above, please get in touch with the Brisbane Planning Team on (07) 3852 3922 or [email protected].