Northeast Business Park

Project overview*

EIS status: EIS complete

Northeast Business Park Pty Ltd proposes to develop a major integrated business, residential, commercial and light industrial precinct including marina, golf course and conservation areas on a 769 hectare site on the southern bank of the Caboolture River.

The project includes development of 169 hectares of industrial land and more than 100 hectares of mixed density residential development. Around 55 per cent of the site would be set aside as open space. Significant marine works are proposed including the construction of a major marina facility and dredging of the navigation channel in the lower reaches of the Caboolture River.

The project is to entail a capital investment of approximately $628 million and is estimated to create up to 1500 jobs during the 15-year construction phase of the project, with a total of more than 13 600 fulltime jobs during operation.

Environmental impact statement (EIS) process

On 21 June 2006 the Coordinator-General declared the Northeast Business Park project a 'significant project' for which an environmental impact statement (EIS) is required in accordance with Part 4 of the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971.

On 12 July 2006 the Federal Minister of the Department of Environment and Heritage determined the project constitutes a controlled action pursuant to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The project could affect listed threatened species and/or ecological communities.

The terms of reference and initial advice statement for the project are available below.

The EIS process was coordinated by the Department of Infrastructure and Planning on behalf of the Coordinator-General.

The EIS was released for public comment on 18 February 2008 and the public notification period closed on 4 April 2008. A total of 29 submissions on the EIS were received.

The proponent prepared a supplementary report on the EIS (the SEIS) addressing the substantive issues raised in the submissions.

Coordinator-General's evaluation report

The Coordinator-General's report evaluating the EIS for the Northeast Business Park project was approved on 31 October 2009. In evaluating the environmental effects, the Coordinator-General considered the documentation provided during the EIS and SEIS process for the project and the input of advisory agency and public submissions.

The Coordinator-General determined that the project can proceed subject to specific recommendations and conditions to manage potential adverse impacts as outlined in the evaluation report.

• The Coordinator-General's evaluation report (inclusive of figures 1-3) (PDF, 1.26 MB)
• Figure 1 - Overall project layout (PDF, 625 KB)
• Figure 2 - Key coastal attributes of the project area (PDF, 518 KB)
• Figure 3 - Proposed works area (PDF, 262 KB)

Subsequent approvals required under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 would be dealt with by Moreton Bay Regional Council through the implementation of the Northeast Business Park Area Plan(PDF, 2.96 MB) , which provides a statutory framework to ensure the orderly development of the project.

The Coordinator-General's report will now be provided to the Federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, to be evaluated under section 133 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Resources

• Initial Advice Statement - Part 1 (PDF, 1.4 MB)
• Initial Advice Statement - Part 2 (PDF, 2.4 MB)
• Terms of Reference (PDF, 445 KB)
• EIS Executive Summary (PDF, 249 KB)
• EIS Executive Summary - Figures (PDF, 3.1 MB)
• The Coordinator-General's evaluation report (PDF, 1.26 MB)
• Northeast Business Park Area Plan (PDF, 2.96 MB)

The complete EIS and the supplementary report can be downloaded from the proponent's Northeast Business Park website.

* Project information supplied by proponent and subject to change.