Major projects assessment process

This is a simple guide to the major projects assessment process in the Planning System. It is to be read in conjunction with the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (LUPAA).

What is a major project

Major projects are large and complex, and they have impact beyond a single council area.

How are they assessed?

All the assessment processes under existing:

  • planning
  • environmental
  • historic cultural heritage
  • Aboriginal heritage
  • threatened species

legislation are carried out in one single process.

Who assesses them?

Major projects are assessed by a panel (the panel) comprised of members of the independent Tasmanian Planning Commission (TPC) and people with expertise in the subject area of the project.

Projects are assessed independently to ensure that all the planning aspects of the project are considered equally.

The Minister for Planning has no role in the assessment of a major project other than declaring whether it should be assessed under the process.

What’s the legislation for this?

The Major Projects process is part of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (LUPAA).

Stages in the assessment

There are three stages in the assessment process:

Eligibility

A major project must meet two of the following three conditions to be declared by the Minister for Planning. It must:

  • have a significant impact on a region’s economy, environment or social fabric
  • be of strategic importance to a region
  • be of significant scale and complexity (requires two or more permits).

All proposals must:

  • have owner consent if the land is owned by a council or the Government, and
  • be a development proposal.

It must not:

  • Contravene the Objectives of LUPAA (in Schedules One and Two)
  • Contravene a State Policy, a Tasmanian Planning Policy or Regional Land Use Strategy.

Declaration of a major project DOES NOT mean it is approved. It merely starts the assessment process.

Before declaring a project, the Minister must advise

  • The owners of the land
  • Councils in the region
  • Owners, occupiers and lessees of adjoining land
  • State entities
  • Tasmanian Planning Commission
  • Other prescribed persons in regulations.

These people have 28 days to give their views about a project’s eligibility to the Minister, before they make a decision. The Minister has no role other than declaring a project.

DECISION MAKER: Minister

More information: 

Initial Assessment

Once a project is declared, the independent assessment panel is created. The panel is created by the independent TPC.

The panel’s first task is to decide what criteria the major project will be assessed on.

These criteria are publicly advertised for comment, and the final criteria are decided on after all the public comments are considered.

DECISION MAKER:  Assessment Panel

Final Assessment

The proponent then prepares their Impact Statement which addresses all the criteria. They have a set time to do this work.

The impact statement is also publicly advertised by the panel for comment, and public hearings are held.

The panel makes a decision on a project based on all the information provided by the proponent, other regulators, and the public.

If the panel approves the project, they issue a permit that allows the project to proceed.

DECISION MAKER:  Assessment Panel

The Minister’s Role

This Minister for Planning has only two roles in the Major Projects Assessment Process. The first is in stage one, when a project is declared. This means considering:

  • the eligibility criteria in the LUPAA (Sec. 60M and N)
  • the TPC’s Determination Guidelines when issued.

The Minister’s other role is to revoke a project. This can only happen if the proponent requests it, or if the panel advises so during the initial or final assessment stages.

Further information

The Tasmanian Planning Commission provides a detailed flow chart of the process: