Land and Access Planning
The industry supports land access and planning regimes that are certain and streamlined and ensure the efficient delivery of strategic resources, while managing local communities and the environment.
A streamlined and certain planning regime requires the following:
- Timely and transparent decision making
- Consistent and predictable outcomes
- Proportionate and risk based approvals
- Coordinated decision making that balances social, environmental and economic interests
- One-stop-shop for dealing with development applications
Access to construction materials is vital as communities grow, as materials are the single largest cost component of new infrastructure projects.
Resources must be protected from incompatible land use as their location is determined by geological conditions, which cannot be changed.
Resources must be located close to their market as transportation is a significant cost of operations.
Resource protection is vital and can be achieved through the following:
- Extractive resources must be located, mapped and included in strategic planning frameworks
- Transport routes from resource to market must also be mapped and provided with PBS access
- Processing sites and buffer zones must be considered and supported
- These areas must be protected from incompatible land use, such as housing developments
- A lead agency must advocate for construction materials in the planning process, linking their importance to infrastructure delivery