Amendments

The Economic Development Act 2012 was amended in March 2020 to make applicable events declared under the Planning Act 2016 apply in Priority Development Areas (PDAs).

The Minister for Economic Development Queensland has given the following applicable event notices:

The Economic Development Act 2012 was amended in March 2020 to enable declared uses under the Planning Act 2016 apply in Priority Development Areas (PDAs).

The Minister for Planning has issued the following declaration notices:

Event name	Date of declaration	Period of effect	Declared uses	Notice
COVID-19 emergency	20 March 2020	From 20 March 2020 for the applicable event period	Shop, warehouse, transport depot, as defined	Declaration of use notice ( 167 KB)

Any person is able to apply for a temporary use licence during the COVID-19 applicable event to either:

• change or vary existing conditions of a PDA development approval, or make other operating constraints which may prevent them from operating
• establish a new use that does not involve physical works.

For enquiries about seeking a temporary use licence within a Priority Development Area read the temporary use licences fact sheet ( 257 KB) or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

A temporary use licence authorises the use of premises within a PDA under the jurisdiction of the Economic Development Act 2012. A temporary use licence does not remove the need to obtain any other approvals that might be required by local, State and/or Commonwealth jurisdictions and will only last for the length of the applicable event.

The new temporary use licence arrangements recognise that businesses may need to innovate or change how they operate in unprecedented circumstances.

To apply for a temporary use licence for a use within a PDA you will need to:

1. download the PDA application form
2. send the application form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To apply for a temporary use licence for multiple sites where those sites are both within and outside PDAs, you will also need to make a temporary use licence application under the Planning Act 2016.

A register of each temporary use licence given by the Minister for Economic Development Queensland under the Economic Development Act 2012 for the COVID-19 applicable event can be viewed below.

No temporary use licences in PDAs have been given yet.

The Minister for Economic Development Queensland can extend or suspend periods, such as statutory timeframes, under the Economic Development Act 2012. This will provide certainty that planning and development activities can continue despite the impacts of COVID-19, ensuring that community and industry confidence in the planning framework can be maintained.

The Minister for Economic Development Queensland has given the following extension notices or suspension notices, for an applicable event under the Economic Development Act 2012:

Event name	Date of extension notice	Period of effect	Nature of notice	Notice
COVID-19 emergency	21 July 2020	21 July 2020 to 31 October 2020	Six month extension of currency periods	Extension notice ( 84 KB

The additional time provided through the extension notice applies to PDA development approvals in effect on 21 July 2020 or which come into effect between 21 July 2020 and 31 October 2020. For example, a PDA development approval that would have ordinarily lapsed on 1 August 2020 now won’t lapse until 1 February 2021.

On 8 July 2020 the Minister for Planning also issued an extension notice to extend currency periods of development approvals under the Planning Act 2016 by six months. Find out more about the extension and suspension of periods under the Planning Act 2016.

The Economic Development COVID-19 Emergency Response Regulation 2020 commenced on 26 June 2020. This regulation modifies the requirements for public notification of PDA development applications and for the viewing of planning and development related documents in response to COVID-19 by:

• providing for alternative arrangements for public inspection and purchase of hard copy documents
• providing additional options for public notification of PDA development applications if a local newspaper is not circulating in the locality of the application.

The regulation was due to expire on 31 December 2020. This expiry date has been extended to 30 April 2021.

The ED COVID-19 Regulation temporarily modifies requirements under the Economic Development Act 2012 for registers of applications, approvals and other documents related to planning and development assessment, that are published on a government website, to be kept available for inspection by the public during office hours on business days. A person may search and take extracts from a register and obtain a hard copy.

The ED COVID-19 Regulation allows access to registers to be by appointment only, if the protections for public health and safety or disruption to public administration due to the COVID-19 emergency are in effect.

These modified provisions only apply until the ED COVID-19 Regulation expires on 30 April 2021.

The ED COVID-19 Regulation temporarily modifies the Economic Development Act 2012 by providing additional options for notifying PDA development applications if a local newspaper is not circulating in the locality of the application.

If there is no local hard copy newspaper in circulation, but an online local newspaper for the locality is available, then that local online method of notification is to be used. In circumstances where there is neither a hard copy nor online local newspaper available, an applicant may choose one of the following three options:

1. publish a notice in a state or national hard copy or online newspaper:
   A state or national newspaper means a newspaper that is published in Australia, primarily publishes news in relation to the state or Australia, and is intended for a state-wide or nation-wide readership, or
2. option 2: give a notice to the occupier of each lot in the identified area for the application
3. option 3: publish a notice on the relevant State or local government website of the decision-maker for the application.

The availability of options 2 and 3 will depend on the entity responsible for deciding applications in the PDA having, or establishing, necessary processes or procedures for:

• option 2: giving notices to occupiers of lots in the identified area – identifying the area of interest for the application
• option 3: placing a notice on the relevant State or local government website– providing access to the website.

Economic Development Queensland provides an online public notification service for specific PDAs. Find out more about publishing an online notice of public notification.