Planning Schemes regulate the use of land within a particular
local government's boundaries (and sometimes may be a different
Planning Scheme for a smaller area like a central business
district). Therefore, the Planning Scheme is the starting point to
work out whether a piece of land can be used for residential or
industrial (for example).
Planning Schemes usually take a number of years from when the
local government starts the process to when the Scheme comes into
effect. Much of this time cannot be shortened as it is about
consultation and advertising.
So, what happens if a local government is amalgamated or loses
some but not all of their area to another local government?
The Local Government (Constitution) Regulations 1998
(the regulations) have provisions which deal with the transitional
relationships with the abolition or changed boundaries of local
governments. The regulations (as they currently stand) reveal that
the planning schemes follow the land. For
