Gladstone

In December 1993, approximately 6,800 hectares of land at Aldoga, north-west of Gladstone, was declared a state development area. The declaration followed an extensive review of land in the Gladstone region suitable for future large-scale industrial development.

This land was considered broadly suitable for large-scale industrial development on the basis that it conformed to acceptable engineering, environment and social criteria, as identified in the Gladstone Industrial Land Use Study. A social infrastructure strategic plan has been developed for the Gladstone Region.

Over time the Gladstone State Development Area (GSDA) has been amended and now comprises approximately 29,000 hectares.

Amendments include:

  • 1997 - inclusion of the existing Yarwun Industrial Estate and a materials transportation and services corridor linking the Aldoga and Yarwun areas to Fisherman's Landing and the proposed Wiggins Island wharves
  • 2001 - inclusion of 4,600 hectares of State owned land adjacent to the Aldoga and Yarwun areas
  • 2002 - inclusion of 7,355 hectares of land at Targinnie
  • 2007 - inclusion of three areas to facilitate more effective management, planning and control over industrial and infrastructure development (both existing and proposed) within the state development area
  • 2008 - inclusion of the Curtis Island industry precinct for the establishment of liquefied natural gas facilities; the designation of Kangaroo Island as a restricted development precinct; and the designation of an environmental management precinct on Curtis Island to recognise, protect and maintain areas of high ecological significance

In December 2010, amendments were made to support industrial development and to protect the environmental values of the GSDA.

These changes include:

  • extending the materials and transportation services corridor, and creating four sub-precincts:
    • Boat Creek corridor sub-precinct, linking the Port of Gladstone with GSDA industry precincts and areas external to the GSDA
    • western corridor sub-precinct
    • northern infrastructure corridor sub-precinct, a linear infrastructure corridor through the mainland GSDA, with an extension to the coastline
    • Curtis Island corridor sub-precinct, a linear infrastructure corridor on Curtis Island
  • redesignation of Kangaroo Island as an environmental management precinct
  • realignment of the environmental management precinct on Curtis Island, adding an additional 85 hectares to the environmental management precinct.

Major industries currently established in the GSDA include:

  • Rio Tinto (formerly Comalco) alumina refinery
  • Orica chemical manufacturing complex
  • Transpacific Industries waste management and recycling facility.

GDSA Development scheme

A development scheme for the GSDA prepared by the Coordinator-General was approved by the Governor in Council in 2000. The scheme has been reviewed on a number of occasions to reflect increases in the size of the state development area.

The latest amendments to the development scheme were approved by the Governor in Council on 2 December 2010. These amendments modified the development scheme and precinct plans to include additional areas for the GSDA, changes to the materials transportation and services corridor and its sub-precincts, redesignation of Kangaroo Island and other changes to improve the operability of the development scheme.

The development scheme, which is supported by a number of policies formulated by the Coordinator-General, is a land use planning instrument which is administered by the Coordinator-General for the purpose of guiding future development in the GSDA.

The role of the Coordinator-General is to assess and determine all applications for land use development (material change of use) within the GSDA.

Material change of use applications are subject to fees. For more information, read the Guideline for material change of use application fees (PDF, 148 KB).

Precinct map

A precinct map forms part of the development scheme. This precinct map divides the GSDA into a number of land use precincts. The precinct map identifies those parts of the GSDA considered broadly suitable for various types of industrial and infrastructure development. It also identifies the dedicated materials transportation and services corridor, and the sub-precincts of the corridor and buffer area separating the corridor from land use outside the GSDA.

In addition to guiding future development in the GSDA, the development scheme and policies will also ensure that development is well planned and balanced in a way that meets the needs of industry, the Gladstone community and the environment. This is made possible through continued investigations and detailed planning for the GSDA.

As part of the decision-making process, a detailed assessment will be undertaken (consistent with contemporary environmental standards) for all new development proposals.

The assessment of new development proposals will, in appropriate cases, be assisted by the use of the Gladstone Air-shed Modelling System developed by the Coordinator-General in consultation with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection . The use of this model to predict the likely impact of future industrial emissions on air quality as part of the assessment process will help to ensure that the region's air quality remains within acceptable standards.