Question to Councillor Adam Allan, Chair for Planning and Suburban Renewal Committee, (delivered to the Lord Mayor as Cr Allan was absent)

26th November, 2024

It's great to see the Council proposing an amendment to our City Plan of increasing the deep planting target to 15%, from the existing 10%, as was advocated by my former Greens colleague.

This proposed change is currently going through a City Plan amendment process, within the amendment package ‘Major L’.  Of course this 15% will also just be a target as an ‘acceptable outcome’ - within our performance-based planning system.  Councillor Allan, you would have heard me in previous weeks in these chambers, table our research, that for the last 7 multi-dwelling development applications in the high-density part of Milton, the average deep planting was only 4%. 

Nowhere near the 10% target. 

Councillor Allan, through the Chair, as you have also highlighted, in these chambers, 1 or 2 applications have reached the 10% - but you have not acknowledged that many applications are also resulting in zero percent (0%) deep planting.  Councillor Allan, this is clearly an uneven playing field where some developers are trying to meet the 10% target.

While many other developers would rather spend the money on lawyers and consultants to haggle their way out of providing important greenspace, vegetation and tree canopy for our neighborhoods.

Councillor Allan, what will this council do to ensure that the hundreds of large multi-dwelling developments approved, every year in Brisbane, actually result in sufficient ‘deep planting’ that is consistent with the 10% target, to ensure we have a sustainable, healthy, green city - and not unlivable concrete jungles?