Queensland Council Planning Guides

Select your council for planning scheme summaries, DA requirements, and local assessment benchmarks. All 78 Queensland councils, each with a detailed DA guide.

Find your council — enter a Queensland address

Tip: click any council area on the map to see its planning guide. 0 Queensland councils — boundaries: ABS ASGS 2021 LGAs.

Aurukun Balonne Banana Barcaldine Barcoo Blackall Tambo Boulia Brisbane Bulloo Bundaberg Burdekin Burke Cairns Carpentaria Cassowary Coast Central Highlands (Qld)Charters Towers Cherbourg Cloncurry Cook Croydon Diamantina Doomadgee Douglas Etheridge Flinders (Qld)Fraser Coast Gladstone Gold Coast Goondiwindi Gympie Hinchinbrook Hope Vale Ipswich Isaac Kowanyama Livingstone Lockhart River Lockyer Valley Logan Longreach Mackay McKinlay Mapoon Maranoa Mareeba Moreton Bay Mornington Mount Isa Murweh Napranum Noosa North Burnett Northern Peninsula Area Palm Island Paroo Pormpuraaw Quilpie Redland Richmond Rockhampton Scenic Rim Somerset South Burnett Southern Downs Sunshine Coast Tablelands Toowoomba Torres Strait Island Torres Townsville Weipa Western Downs Whitsunday Winton Woorabinda Wujal Wujal Yarrabah

Every Queensland council now has a detailed planning guide — 78 councils covered. Select yours below or use the map to find your council area.

Why planning schemes differ between councils

Queensland has 78 local government areas, each with its own planning scheme. While all schemes operate under the Planning Act 2016, the rules that apply to a specific property — the zone, overlays, and assessment category — are set by the local scheme, not by State legislation.

The same project can be accepted development in one council area and code assessable in another. A secondary dwelling accepted in Brisbane may be code assessable in a regional council. A shed that meets the size thresholds in one scheme may exceed the site cover limit in another. This is why checking your own council's specific tables of assessment is the essential first step.

Council planning schemes are living documents — most are amended several times a year. Always check the current version on your council's website before lodging a DA.

What to check on your council's planning scheme

1. The zoneThe zone sets what uses are permitted, what assessment category applies, and which development codes are triggered. A residential zone and a rural zone have different accepted development rules for the same project.

2. The overlaysOverlays are the single biggest reason an otherwise straightforward project needs a DA. Flood, bushfire, heritage and character overlays are the most common. A single overlay can move a project from accepted to code or impact assessment.

3. The tables of assessmentThese tables assign every type of development in every zone to one of the assessment categories. Find your project type and your zone — the cell tells you whether you need a DA and which level.

4. The development codesThese contain the quantitative standards — setbacks, height, site cover, landscaping. If your project does not meet a standard, it may need a DA even if the use is permitted. Your planning report must address every applicable code.

When you need a planning report

The council page tells you what the scheme says. The planning report shows how your project responds to it. instantDA generates this report from your council's current planning scheme data for $169 — structured code-by-code, delivered as a PDF and editable Word file.