Flinders Ranges and Outback Integrated Strategic Tourism Plan

Final Plan
Planning Policy That Facilitates Sustainable Tourism Development
Commission with the power to assess development applications against the provisions
contained within local Development Plans.
In most areas, development applications will be assessed by the local Council’s planning
officer or its Development Assessment Panel (which includes Elected Members and
independent experts). However, in the case of much of the Flinders Ranges and almost all
of the Outback areas, the State’s Development Assessment Commission is the authority
which assesses development applications. This is because the majority of these regions are
not within the boundaries of a local Council. It is also important to note that the
maintenance and review of planning policy within these regions is the sole responsibility of
the State Government with the administrative assistance of Planning SA.
12.3 The Planning Strategy
The Planning Strategy is an expression of policy which sets out the State Government’s vision
for development in South Australia and the regions within it. The Planning Strategy covers
the full range of social, economic and environmental issues. When preparing and reviewing
their Development Plan, local councils are required to maintain consistency with the visions
contained within the Planning Strategy.
The Planning Strategy is comprised of three volumes – the Metropolitan Adelaide volume,
the Outer Metropolitan Adelaide volume and the Regional South Australia volume.
Currently, the Flinders Ranges and Outback areas are covered by the Planning Strategy for
Regional South Australia. This document is under review and is being replaced by a series of
‘Regional Land Use Frameworks’ which will apply to smaller geographic areas. Planning SA
has advised that the Far North and Mid North Regional Land Use Frameworks (within which
the Flinders and Outback areas will sit) are currently being prepared and should be released
in draft form later in 2008. Until this time, the existing Planning Strategy for Regional South
Australia will continue to provide guidance for the preparation of new planning policy.
The Planning Strategy lends strong support for the further development of the tourism
industry. It summary, it advocates:
• Undertaking area specific tourism planning in order to develop appropriate policies.
• Linking tourist development to environmental attractions.
• Developing policies to guide the type, scale and design of tourist accommodation.
• Ensuring tourist accommodation is linked to appropriate infrastructure.
• Identifying existing tourist attractions and developing policies to ensure
development respects these attractions.
• Ensuring that this Strategy informs the Development of a new Planning Framework.
Urban & Regional Planning Solutions
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