As the baby boomers move increasingly into the ‘aged’ sector, the demand for more flexible retirement accommodation and care choices has never been greater. Many planning scheme provisions can make it hard to establish these facilities in the right places.
That is, it has been far easier to establish aged care and retirement living in new ‘greenfield’ areas on the suburban outskirts, than in existing communities where established family, health and social networks are already in place.
As a result, Brisbane City Council is proposing an amendment to the planning scheme that reduces red-tape and encourages retirement and aged care accommodation near shops, transport and key services.The amendment, once adopted, will:
- Make it easier to redevelop or upgrade existing facilities, as well as change between aged care and retirement village (and visa versa);
- Allow retirement and aged care facilities to be located near each other;
- Be assessable against a single assessment code, rather than multiple assessment codes, which is currently the case. And the assessment criteria will be more relevant to the use of the facility;
- In many zones, lower the level of assessment from impact (requiring public notification) to code assessment;
- Allowing additional height (an extra two storeys) as code-assessable in the medium and high-density residential zones;
- Allow integration with other forms of development (small-scale shops, cafes, health care services) as code-assessable development within the facility.
Council is seeking feedback on the proposed amendments. Submissions must be received by close of business, 21 September 2018. Please contact us if you need further details or if we can assist you to make a submission.
For further information please contact us on telephone 5443 2844.