Most of the decisions about land use and development on private land are made by the local council, frequently with advice from relevant government departments and infrastructure providers.
For development on public land, the responsibility is divided according to the industry. Forestry and mining can occur on private land as well, and they are still governed by the industry acts.
The table below summarises this.
Industry | Legislation | Who |
|---|
Forestry | Forest Practices Act 1985. Forest Management Act 2013 | Sustainable Forests Tasmania |
Mining | Mineral Resources Development Act 1995 | Mineral Resources Tasmania, Department of State Growth |
Parks | National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 Nature Conservation Act | Department of Natural Resources and Environment |
Marine farms | Marine Farming Planning Act 1995 Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 | Department of Natural Resources and Environment |
All other land uses or developments are assessed under the LUPAA and the primary decision maker is local government.
Environmental impact
Larger projects may also trigger an environmental impact assessment process, for example, threatened species. This assessment is managed under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 and related policies and plans.
Heritage
Aboriginal and other heritage assessments have separate assessment processes under different legislation.
Summary
Regardless of what the development is or which act it is assessed under, the RMPS has the same goal: ‘to promote the sustainable development of natural and physical resources and the maintenance of ecological processes and genetic diversity’. To read the full description of the aims, see Schedule One of the Land Use and Planning Approvals Act.
Want to know more about this topic?
The remainder of the planning systems section of the website provides more detail on many aspects of the planning system.
You can also read our Who Does What? page for more detail about the organisations listed on this page.
