Each local government prepares and maintains its own planning scheme as the main ‘rule-book’ for determining what new developments should occur in their local government area and how.

The planning scheme sets a future vision for the city and can directly influence the way our city grows and changes, while also helping to protect the things that matter most.

The planning scheme achieves this by planning for and regulating what development should occur where and when, how development should occur and what assessment process is required.

Essentially, the planning scheme is the legal set of documents and maps that guides the way land, buildings and structures are used and developed in the Ipswich local government area and forms council’s legal framework for assessing development applications.

Planning schemes help shape our neighbourhoods, towns and cities. The draft new planning scheme for Ipswich, Ipswich Plan 2024 (draft) sets out the future vision for our council area over the next 20 years in line with the themes below. The draft new planning scheme aims to identify areas to protect, areas to build on, places to set up businesses, shops and services, types of housing for people to live in and transport options to move around the city.

You can view Council’s current planning scheme, the 2006 Ipswich Planning Scheme here.

Council is preparing a new planning scheme, Ipswich Plan 2024, to help us plan for our growing city.

No city stays the same.

Cities grow and change to respond to changing people, and opportunities, and respond to challenges.

Our City of Ipswich is a key regional growth area in South-East Queensland that is growing and changing at a fast pace. The current population of our local government area is approximately 247,000 people and is expected to grow to 535,000 by 2046.

We need a planning scheme to meet the challenges for the future, while protecting and maintaining the things our community love about life in Ipswich.

The draft planning scheme identifies where future growth and development should occur.

Planning aims to manage how our city grows and changes in a way that benefits people, the environment and the economy.

The planning scheme can influence what you, your neighbours, or others can and can’t do or build on a property.

This includes things like:

• what you, your neighbours or others can and can't do or build on a property
• the types of developments around you
• management of natural hazards including flood and bushfire
• building heights
• boundary setbacks
• density and zoning
• carparking requirements
• protection of certain types of land and building

A planning scheme does not change the current existing lawful use of a property, however, it can affect changes that you might want to make in the future.

It is important to understand what planning controls affect you and where you live, your local area and your neighbourhood.

You can undertake a "Property Report" to determine the proposed zoning of your property and any overlays.

Overlays are areas identifying set aspects in the planning scheme, such as land which may be impacted by bushfires, known as a bushfire hazard layer.

You can look at the Table of Assessment relevant to your zone, applicable Zone Code and any Overlay Code relevant to your property to gain an understanding of the intended land uses and built form of the zone, the constraints that apply and when a development application is required.

Search for a property in the draft Ipswich Plan 2024 and then select "Download Property Report (PDF)" in the menu on the left.

Any interested member of the community (such as a person, group or organisation) provided a written comment about the draft planning scheme during the public consultation period. Written comments were provided by using the online submission on this page, email or posted.

The public consultation was held between 15 May and 16 July 2023.

All submissions included:

• name and residential or business address of all submission-maker/s (person/s who makes the submission)
• ‘grounds’ for the submission, and the facts and circumstances relied on to support the grounds
• one (1) postal or electronic address for service relating to the submission for all submission-maker/s
• the signature/s submission-maker/s who made the submission
• addressed to the Chief Executive Officer, Ipswich City Council
• received on or before the last day of the public consultation period which closed on Sunday 16 July 2023
• grounds for the submission, and the facts and circumstances relied on to support the grounds.

In 2019, council undertook early engagement on a Statement of Proposals (including a draft Strategic Framework) to gain the communities views and aspirations to inform the drafting of the new planning scheme.

Formal public consultation on the draft new planning scheme was undertaken following completion of the State Interest Review between 15 May to 16 July 2023.

To find out more about the consultation, click here.

Preparing a planning scheme is a lengthy process involving multiple steps and follows a process set out by state legislation.

The plan making process is anticipated to take four to five years to complete noting that the timing of certain steps in the process, such as state interest reviews, are not within council’s control.

The draft new planning scheme (Ipswich Plan) and draft LGIP is now in the adoption stage of the plan making process having received State Government approval to proceed to adoption, with conditions, on 14 February 2025.

Council officers will now review the Ministerial conditions and prepare an updated draft planning scheme for Council’s consideration to adopt at a future meeting. Further updates will be shared when available.

Council received 506 submissions on the draft planning scheme and 35 submissions on the draft Local Government Infrastructure Plan (LGIP).

Council has finalised the review and consideration of each submission and prepared a Public Consultation Report. Any person that lodged a submission on the draft planning scheme, draft LGIP or in response to a proposed ‘planning change’ in the draft Feasible Alternatives Assessment Report (FAAR) received a written notification directing them as to how they can access information on how council has addressed the key matters raised in their submission.

The draft planning scheme, including supporting mapping, and draft LGIP have been amended in response to the detailed review of the submissions, with the revisions primarily related to clarification improvements, minor updates and minor corrections.

The draft new planning scheme (Ipswich Plan) and draft LGIP is now in the adoption stage of the plan making process having received State Government approval to proceed to adoption, with conditions, on 14 February 2025.

Council officers will now review the Ministerial conditions and prepare an updated draft planning scheme for Council’s consideration to adopt at a future meeting. Further updates will be shared when available.

Ipswich is growing, and doing so quickly. Our population is forecast to grow from approximately 247,000 residents in 2023 to over 535,000 residents in 2046.

The State Government, through the South East Queensland regional plan (ShapingSEQ), sets the region-wide policy framework for managing our forecast population growth.

Council has a clear vision for growing sustainably, reflected in our corporate plan, and current planning scheme.

The new planning scheme will build on this existing policy framework, and will set the vision for the future of Ipswich, and guide growth and development to help achieve that vision.

This includes identifying where development can occur, and where it is not preferred.

The Queensland planning framework is governed by the Planning Act 2016.

Local councils prepare local planning schemes but must follow the state’s rules and guidelines and incorporate state interests.

Council must consider state interests and associated mapping when preparing a new planning scheme (including the state planning policy and South East Queensland regional plan (ShapingSEQ)).

Flooding is a concentration of water that could cause damage or injury, in an area that is usually dry. Although floods can be caused by different events, such as king tides or storm surges, most flooding in Australia is caused by rainfall. Floods occur at irregular intervals, and they vary in size, area of extent and duration, and can occur suddenly or slowly.

Sudden, heavy intense rainfall can cause floods to quickly rise in the minutes or hours following the rain. This type of flash flooding is often found along overland flow paths and is typically associated with small catchment areas that offer little escape for the rainwater.

Floods can also occur slowly in large catchment areas, where rainfall can build up over hours, days or weeks. The runoff from this rainfall concentrates and may create significant floods over larger areas of land for days, weeks or even months.

Rainfall is the most important factor in the generation of a flood event.

However there are many other contributing factors such as:

• the concentration of rain over a period of time
• the location where rain is falling
• if there has been previous rain that has saturated the ground
• and if there is a dam that can be used to manage the amount of water in the catchment

When rain falls onto a catchment, the amount of water that reaches the waterways depends on:

• characteristics of the catchment
• its size
• shape (particularly how much it is contained)
• the land uses within it
• soil characteristics and type
• and amount of vegetation

Some rainfall is absorbed by soil and vegetation and the remainder enters waterways. Creek and river characteristics such as size and shape, vegetation along the banks and structures (in or adjacent to the waterway) all affect the level of floodwater.

Flood risk includes both the chance of an event taking place and its potential impact. One of the holistic ways utilised in planning land use is by incorporating floodplain management plans. This can reduce risk for new development in affected areas. Flood risk is much harder to manage in existing developed areas. However physical mitigation measures such as dams or levees can change the behaviour of floodwaters. In many cases, physical mitigation measures move or alter the risk of flooding, but do not remove the risk of it happening again.

Where existing risk exists, land use planning seeks to maintain or reduce exposure to that risk. It will also improve the resilience of development to the future impacts of flooding. Property modification measures such as using resilient building materials can minimise against harm caused by floods to individual buildings.

Traditionally, flooding has been mapped as a combination of frequency and area. A line is then drawn on the flood map to identify the limits of where a flood can be expected once every 5, 20 or 100 years. Usually, the depth of that flooding is known too, given that the height of both floodwaters and the ground below is known.

The term Annual Exceedance of Probability (AEP) was developed to improve this understanding of flooding. The AEP is used to make it clearer that it is not that a flood is guaranteed every 5, 20 or 100 years, but that there is a 1 in 5, 1 in 20 or 1 in 100 chance each year of these defined flood events occurring.

An AEP is expressed as a percentage or probability that a particular event will occur in any year. A flood with a 1% AEP has a “one in a hundred” chance of being exceeded in any year. Traditionally, the 1% AEP event is designated as having an 'acceptable' risk for planning purposes nearly everywhere in Australia. However, good planning needs to consider more than just the 1% AEP flood.

After the flood event of 2011, The Brisbane River Catchment Flood Study produced the most comprehensive flood modelling of its kind in Australia. The study showed 11 flood events ranging from highly likely (1 in 10 AEP) through to extremely unlikely (1 in 100,000 AEP).

Mapping today shows a range of risk categories (from very low risk to extreme risk). The word ‘risk’ being the likelihood of damage to people or property as a result of flooding or overland flow. This use of risk mapping follows from the Brisbane River Catchment Flood Study which analysed and assessed combinations of flood events and their possible levels of hazard that could result from water velocity or depth. In the study, the possibility of risk of flooding is called ‘Potential Hydraulic Risk’ (or PHR).

Five categories of PHR are used to describe likely consequential risk of flooding across Ipswich:

• PHR1 – Extreme risk
• PHR2 – High risk
• PHR3 – Moderate risk
• PHR2 – Low risk
• PHR1 – Very low risk

Zone changes to the Limited Development Zone (identifies land that is significantly affected by 1 or more development constraints) have only been made where a flood can present the most serious of risks to life and property. Properties in the Limited Development Zone are in the most heavily flood impacted areas.

These areas are not suitable for further development, but existing uses can remain. Extensions to existing dwellings need to be built above the defined flood level to contemporary building requirements. Vacant land cannot be built on, but existing lawful use rights remain under section 260 of the Planning Act 2016. This means a site can continue to be used as it has been used in the past (provided that use is lawful). For example, if a house located in a Limited Development Zone burns down, a new house can be built at the site. However, the new house must be built above the defined flood level for habitable rooms and to contemporary building standards.

A Feasible Alternatives Assessment Report (FAAR) relates to:

• the properties mapped within the draft planning scheme's Flood Risk
• Overland Flow Overlay
• and the Bushfire Risk Areas Overlay

This report outlines how we manage the potential impacts from natural hazards in our city.

Water, whether caused by a flooding river, overland flow, burst water pipe, or storm, can cause extensive damage to your home, contents and other assets. As such, it’s important to understand the different types of floods and other water-related incidents and how they may be covered under your insurance policies.

Flood insurance is often built into a range of insurance policies, including home and contents, strata title, motor vehicle and business insurance policies. The risk of a flood occurring is usually reflected in the cost of the premium. Property owners with a high risk of flood will pay a higher premium than other property owners.

Insurers treat flood in different ways in their policies:

• Many insurers include flood cover as a compulsory part of taking out a household policy
• Some insurers include flood as a standard inclusion but allow the policyholder to remove it. This is known as opt-out flood cover
• Some insurers exclude flood as a standard inclusion but allow the policyholder to add flood insurance cover. This is known as an optional cover
• Some insurers will cover flood in policies only up to very low defined values — for instance, damage of $5,000 or less
• Some insurers will not cover flood under any circumstances.

Insurers make their own assessments of the flood risk of your property based on a range of factors. These factors are used to determine their risk when offering you insurance cover. In response to the increasing frequency of severe storm and flooding events, premiums are rising. In some cases, these premiums may be impacting on the viability of property ownership.

Floods bigger than those we have experienced are inevitable. We have less than 200 years of formal flood records in Australia. While there may be no living memory or formal record of your property flooding, it does not mean that the land has not flooded in past centuries nor that it won’t flood in the future.

Hills are not always free of floods. Floods on sloping land can happen in two ways:

• Creeks and rivers can rise several metres when they flood which means that land we think would be high and dry can end up being well under water.
• When water is running down the hill to the creek or river it will find the easiest path to follow. Sometimes during a severe storm, the pipes or kerb and guttering cannot handle all the water. The water will find its own path which might be through properties on hills.

Even if your property is not flooded, you may not be able to leave or enter your property safely until the floodwaters have subsided.

Floods can go higher than we plan for. In Australia, the flood planning level is usually defined by what is often colloquially referred to as a ‘100 year flood’. Flood events can go higher than this level. This is not a flood which happens only once every hundred years but one which has a 1 in 100 or 1% of occurring in each and every year. In a 70 year lifetime there is a 50/50 chance of a 1 in 100 (1% AEP) flood being exceeded at any location, and two such floods can even occur one immediately after the other.