Flood Risk Planning Policy Response

What are Planning policy responses?

With all the work that Townsville City Council has done to understand flooding and flood risk in Townsville, we now need to make some decisions about how we use this information to plan for a more flood resilient city.

The Townsville City Plan (sometimes referred to as ‘the planning scheme’) sets out the standards that new development in Townsville is expected to meet. We are now looking at ways that we can improve flood resilience standards in our planning scheme. Some of these new ways to address flood risk are Queensland Government requirements or industry best practice which we have to use, but there is still some flexibility in our approach.

What are the ways we can respond?

Depending on the level of flood risk there are different ways that we can respond to flood risk.

Lower Risk Moderate Risk Higher Risk
Accept or Manage the Risk Built Form Mitigation Stop Risk Increases in Existing Areas
Clarify Existing Policy Settlement Scale Mitigation Led Growth Avoid the Risk
   Transition Away from the Risk

An explanation of these responses:

Infographic explaining Planning Policy Response
Source: Meridian Urban, 2024, 'Townsville Inundation Hazards Risk Assessment and Planning Scheme Review – Planning Scheme Response for Flood', p. 48.

How have the responses been drafted?

Townsville City Council has engaged external experts in this field to make recommendations to Council of about how the new flood risk mapping can be effectively incorporated into our planning scheme to maintain and enhance flood resilience. Our teams have considered these recommendations to help shape our policy responses, thinking of what will work best for Townsville.

These planning policy responses are set out in the Townsville Inundation Hazards Risk Assessment and Planning Scheme Review – Planning Scheme Response (PDF, 5.8 MB).

What are the proposed planning policy responses?

Generally, the higher the risk category the stricter the controls will be on development, in lower category risk levels more responsibility to manage the risk will be place on individual landowners. The proposed planning policy responses cover a wide range of options from retaining existing provisions to restricting development in higher hazard areas. Some of the more significant change options that are being considered are outlined below. It is important to note that these positions have not been finalised and Council is seeking community input on some of these proposed responses to flood risk.

How will community views be considered?

In late 2024, Townsville City Council sought feedback from the community and development industry about some of the proposed planning policy responses. To do this, we created a survey with questions about ways we can improve flood resilience. The survey period ran from 4 November 2024 until 15 December 2024.

View the survey results on Have Your Say Townsville.