Gympie council expected to approve final changes to town plan

Long-awaited changes to Gympie’s town plan intended to further open tourism and fix controversial zoning issues are on the table in what is expected to be the last gasp for the document before it is replaced in 2024.

Long-awaited changes to camping on private land and the rezoning of confusingly zoned land at the Southside are on the cusp of becoming reality as part of a final update to Gympie Regional Council’s planning scheme.

Councillors will vote on whether to make a final amendment to the scheme on Tuesday, June 28, at their general meeting.

Initial plans to remove a Local Development Area boundary at East Deep Creek have been removed from the proposed changes.

The staff report being tabled before councillors said this was done as the area still did not have a structure plan in place, opening the door to “fragmented” development which made installing infrastructure more challenging.

Staff recommended this be addressed as part of the new planning scheme now in the works.

It is expected to be in place by 2024.

Gympie councillors are expected to endorse these final changes to the town plan, ahead of a new scheme expected to be in place by 2024.

Plans to double the number of camps, caravans or cabins allowed on private land without need of a development application are included in the amendment, with some changes.

These include sound regulation in line with the Environmental Protection Act, as well as limits to lighting and how long campers can say.

A maximum of 48 campers will be allowed at any given time, and all camps must be at least 50m from a property’s boundary.

A much-vaunted and long-developing RV strategy outlining where new free camping sites on council-owned land will likely be built.

Other changes include rezoning light industrial land along Eel Creek Rd and Eucalyptus Ave at the Southside to residential, in line with the wider structure plan on place for the area, to remove any confusion about its future development,

If approved the amendment would then be submitted to the state government for review, and 20 day public consultation on the changes would begin.