HELP THE EAST COAST ALLIANCE

Stop the SAP

The beautiful Tasmanian coastal community of Swansea and its irreplaceable natural environment is under threat from inappropriate and unsustainable development.

The East Coast Alliance is challenging the rezoning and changes to planning laws proposed in the Cambria Estate Draft Amendment, which includes the Specific Area Plan (SAP) and other planning scheme amendments. If approved, the SAP will override existing planning schemes and create over 3,100 hectares of quarantined development (that’s 31 square kilometres).

Is this the East Coast we want? Is this the Tasmania we want for future generations?

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Development Assessment Panel Bill 2025

We're reaching out to encourage you to forward a submission on the Tasmanian government’s proposed Development Assessment Panel Bill 2025. In November 2024, the Legislative Council (Upper House) voted against the 2024 version of this Bill. While it has been revised, the changes aren't substantial, and it's now open for public comment until 5pm on 24 April 2025.    

Please act now by making a submission before COB 24 April 2025!

How to prepare a submission:

1. Click here for a submission guide on the Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania website.

2. Read the ECA’s submission here.

3. Click here to read the Local Government Association Tasmania (LGAT) media release announcing the united rejection by all Tasmanian councils of the revised DAP Bill 2025.

The ECA expresses deep concern over how this alternative development assessment and approval process could affect various developments, including Cambria Green. This concern arises from the elimination of merit-based planning appeal rights and the community’s right to have a say, as well as the circumvention of local government as the Planning Authority.      

This means neither you, the community, nor elected councillors, would have a say over the approval of developments assessed by Development Assessment Panels.

Particularly relevant for Cambria Green are the Minister for Planning’s concerning and excessive powers under the DAP Bill. For example, should a council Planning Authority refuse a planning scheme amendment (ie a SAP or rezoning as per Cambria Green), the Minister has the power to instruct that Planning Authority to initiate the planning scheme amendment. This was challenged in Version 1 of the Bill, but this Ministerial power has been retained unchanged in Version 2.

On 16 October 2023, the Tasmanian Planning Commission rejected the Cambria Estate Draft Amendment

At 3pm on 16 October 2023, the Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) brought down a decision to reject the Cambria Draft Amendment. Read here the media release.

“The East Coast Alliance welcomes this decision by the independent Tasmanian Planning Commission,” said Anne Held, President of the East Coast Alliance (ECA). “The planning amendment was lodged with Glamorgan Spring Bay Council by Cambria Green Agriculture and Tourism Management Pty Ltd over five years ago, in April 2018.

After such a long, drawn-out process, while we at the ECA are, of course, very pleased with this decision, we are also cautious about what might happen next,” said Anne. “We acknowledge this is possibly not the end of the road for this campaign.”

As stated in the TPC decision:

The full TPC decision can be found here.

470. In summary, the Commission finds that the draft amendment:

·       is not in accordance with section 32(4)(a) or (b);

·       does not further objectives set out in Schedule 1;

·       is not consistent with the relevant parts of the State Policy on the Protection of Agricultural Land 2009, the State Coastal Policy 1996 and the State Policy on Water Quality Management 1997;

·       is not, as far as practicable, consistent with the Southern Tasmania Regional Land Use Strategy 2010-2035.

471. The Commission rejects the draft amendment.

472. Having considered the alternative draft amendment, the reasons for rejecting the draft amendment apply equally to consideration of the alternative draft amendment. While lessening the impacts of the uses and potential developments that were proposed, the Commission is not satisfied that the alternative draft amendment addresses the fundamental zoning considerations or meets the criteria for the establishment of a SAP.

Visit the About the SAP page and scroll to the end for an overview of what’s happened to date. Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or need further information.

Major Projects Bill passed

The contentious Major Projects Bill (Land use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Major Projects) Bill 2020) passed on 24 September 2020.  The Department of Justice confirmed 1,755 people made submissions - 98% of those submissions opposed the Bill, with less than 1% in support. Read more here.

Regardless of the outcome of the current Supreme Court appeal, with the passing of the Bill Cambria Green could be declared a Major Project, bypassing ordinary council planning processes and taking the application out of the planning system altogether, with minimal opportunity for the public to comment and no rights of appeal.