Moranbah Priority Development Area revoked, Isaac council wins back planning control

Development rules put in place during the mining boom when homes were renting for as much as $2000 a week have been lifted in a win for a regional Qld council.

Road sign, Moranbah. Picture: Janessa Ekert

The final decision on what gets built in Moranbah will be put back into local council hands, with a state-government development scheme now fully revoked.

The Moranbah Priority Development Area designation was put in place in July 2010, during the height of the mining boom and was a controversial decision at the time.

The Queensland government took control as the planning authority of Blackwater and parts of Moranbah from Isaac Regional Council with the intention of speeding up housing.

At the peak of the mining boom, homes in Moranbah were being rented for as much as $2000 a week.

Isaac council notes the PDA also inadvertently fast-tracked large-scale worker’s camps and removed local council as the approval authority.

According to Economic Development Queensland, the government body responsible, the PDA helped deliver over 340 residential lots, 4,000 workforce accommodation units, and 200 multiple dwelling units.

EDQ also noted the success of Bushlark Grove estate, which included 175 homes near community facilities, schools and childcare services and was fully sold out by 2021.

While approval for assessments was given back to Isaac Regional Council after the mining boom ended, the council still needed to assess developments against the PDA rather than its own strategies.

Now, Isaac’s locally developed strategy released in 2021 will be the final determinate.

Council is confident the revoking of the PDA will support development opportunities and allow for a more consistent responses to developers.

Isaac Regional Council mayor Kelly Vea Vea.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Planning Jarrod Bleijie said the LNP will back councils to plan for their local needs.

“The LNP is resetting the planning relationship with local councils, who know their communities best,” Mr Bleijie said.

“This is the first ever PDA that’s been completely revoked in Queensland.”

Mayor Kelly Vea Vea said the revocation marks an important milestone, and the council will work closely with developers to make sure growth is responsive to community needs.

“It has been a much harder process to remove the PDA from our community than it was to implement it. Over the last decade, our planning team has been working towards the revocation.

“On behalf of Isaac, I’d like to thank the Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie for addressing this long-burning issue and allowing local people, with local knowledge, to be the masters of our own destiny again.”

The PDA was officially revoked on February 14, 2025, the first of its kind in Queensland.