In mid-June 2018, the Brisbane City Council (Council) released a Retirement and Aged Care Amendment Package (Package) detailing proposed amendments to Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan) to better plan for Brisbane’s ageing population.
The Package seeks to ensure a more streamlined approach to building, extending or upgrading aged care and retirement facilities. The Council’s website says the amendments contained in the Package will provide greater encouragement for new aged care and retirement facilities in preferred locations which meet best-practice
design requirements.
City Plan defines “retirement facility” to mean a residential use of premises for accommodation for older or retired members of the community in independent living units or serviced units with ancillary amenity and community facilities, health care and support services. A retirement village is an example of a retirement facility.
City Plan defines “residential care facility” to mean the use of premises for supervised accommodation, with medical and other support services for persons who cannot live independently and require regular nursing or personal care. Examples of a residential care facility include convalescent homes and nursing homes.
In August 2016, the Council announced a number of retirement living and aged care accommodation incentives. You can read further about these incentives here.
Some of these incentives are reflected in the Package, although it is important to note that the Council is no longer progressing the policy to co-locate retirement facilities and residential care facilities on privately owned sport and recreation zoned land.
The Package includes the following notable proposed amendments to the City Plan, together with City Plan map amendments, showing changes in zoning for 16 specific sites to CF7 Community facilities (health care purposes) to reflect development or use of the specific sites for urban retirement facility, retirement facility and or residential care facility:
- Recognition in the Strategic Framework and various zone codes with respect to:
- supporting the co-location of small-scale complementary uses with retirement facilities and residential care facilities;
- development for retirement facilities and residential care facilities occurring on well-located sites in Suburban Living Areas (of a scale and built form proportionate to the size of the site and character of the area); and
- Suburban Living Areas allowing for retirement facilities and residential care facilities to support aging in place and aging in neighbourhood.
- The creation of a new Retirement and Residential Care Facility Code (replacing the Residential Care Facility Code) with specific design considerations for such uses.
- Inclusion of the ‘Retirement and Residential Care Facility Code’ as a prescribed secondary code for the Centre or mixed use code.
- Changes to the tables of assessment for each of the residential zones, centre zones, mixed use zone, community facilities zone and some neighbourhood plans to identify instances where care co-located uses are accepted development, subject to compliance with identified requirements or assessable development- code assessment.
The new Retirement and Residential Care Facility Code is significantly longer and more detailed than the current Residential Care Facility Code. Where the existing Residential Care Facility Code contains one additional table regarding air quality (planning) criteria, the proposed new Retirement and Residential Care Facility Code contains (in addition to a table relating to air quality planning criteria) tables detailing maximum building heights, building height transitions, boundary setbacks, siting requirements for car parking, landscaping and deep planting and maximum building length.
It will be interesting to monitor the progress of the Package and whether it will be accompanied by other previously announced retirement and aged care incentives such as, discounts on infrastructure charges for qualifying aged care and retirement facility developments, and a fast tracked development application system including free pre-lodgement advice and a dedicated assessment manager.
For more information or discussion, please contact HopgoodGanim Lawyers' Planning team.