UXB233 Planning Law

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

You will be provided with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the basic political, policy, and legislation essential for planning professionals, whether they work in the public or the private sector, and the capacity to apply this understanding to basic development assessment related problems. Your capacity to understand the law as it relates to the regulation of development and the planning of infrastructure is integral to being a built environment professional. Your grounding in the legal framework surrounding planning and development is an important aspect of professional development, particularly with respect to employment that requires skills related to development assessment, and urban policy development.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Identify the roles of different levels of government, the private sector and civil society in the making, amending, and implementing planning policy.
2. Research and analyse implementation processes of legislation related to the Queensland planning system.
3. Observe, interpret and explain the development assessment process in Queensland.
4. Critically analyse development assessment guidelines and legislation for proposed developments and make land use recommendations.
5. Evaluate issues related to the application and development of planning legislation.
6. Collaborate with a team to communicate strategically with diverse stakeholders, including clients.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit employs authentic, experiential learning to provide you with practical learning experiences that develop your capacity to understand and apply the relevant legislative and procedural guidelines that support and enable development in Queensland.

Your participation in the unit will include:

Independent engagement with online learning resources to introduce new concepts of the legal framework that governs development in Queensland, the processes around making and amending planning schemes, and the procedures and techniques of development assessment.

Attendance at lectures to review and discuss the nature of the laws that exist around development the development of your understanding of the legal framework that governs development in Queensland, the processes around making and amending planning schemes, and the procedures and techniques of development assessment.

Engagement in tutorial workshops to provide opportunities for you to apply the laws to the issues that surround the assessment of development applications

Visits to the Queensland Planning and Environment Court to provide experience of the operation of the court in applying legislation in the assessment of development applications.

Collaboration with a team utilizing in person and online collaborative tools.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Self-Feedback: tutorials for the first half of semester have a component organised around a set of cumulative practice exams that allow students to gauge the progress of their learning and assimilation of legislation.

Peer feedback:
Peers will provide feedback on the group work.

Expert feedback: The course has components that are taught by expert development assessment practitioners, and the nature of the Planning and Environment Court means that the visit results in high levels of interaction between the students, legal representatives, and judges.

Teacher feedback: feedback and advice during tutorials and consultation hours. Formal marking of assessment items.

Assessment

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Report

In this assessment, you will go to the Queensland Planning and Environment Court, observe a case, and produce a report that describes and critically examines your observations of the processes and events.

Criteria: Structure and presentation, observations, description of proceedings, analysis.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Examination (written)

You will undertake an exam that demonstrates your ability to recall and critically analyse the information that is presented during lectures, or in the form of readings. The exam will enable you to apply and evaluate your knowledge of legislation and procedures related to development assessment in Queensland.

Assessment: Project (applied)

Assuming the role of a consulting planner, you will outline the relevant development assessment guidelines and legislation to provide advice to a client on the implications for a proposed development. Your report will translate the information in planning schemes and other related documents into implementable design and land use recommendations.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

All commencing Faculty of Engineering students are required to complete the Mandatory Safety Induction

There are no extraordinary risks associated with the classroom/lecture activities in this unit.