The below letter was submitted to Sunshine Coast Regional Council on 19/9/2025 through Have your Say Sunshine Coast.
Re: proposed changes to the town plan’s Tables of Assessment for the ‘Park’ use
To whom it may concern
The draft town plan introduces changes to the Tables of Assessment in regards to the ‘Park’ land use.
While in the existing town plan a ‘Park’ is Accepted Development with no conditions attached in all the main zones, the draft town plan makes it Accepted Development only if on council land or established for council.
To the best of our knowledge, these proposed changes were introduced as a response to our single development for a ‘Park’ on 960 Bald Knob Rd, Bald Knob, which was the first time a private entity established a Park without being required to do so by council.
We believe that the changes were made to address concerns by a small group of nearby neighbours, and that the broad impacts of these changes on the community were not properly considered.
Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) are an established concept in town planning that goes back to the 1960s. Please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privately_owned_public_space and https://www.indesignlive.com/ideas/privately-owned-public-space-denton-corker-marshall for reference.
The Sunshine Coast is one of the most beautiful regions of the world, yet most of its land is privately owned and many magnificent spots are now fenced off and are inaccessible to the public.
We think it is in the interest of the local community, visitors to the Sunshine Coast, and the coast’s economy to encourage private property owners to make their properties or parts thereof freely accessible to the public to enjoy and appreciate.
Instead of making Parks a council-only affair we propose to leave the ‘Park’ use as Accepted Development and create a ‘Park’ code to regulate these developments and make sure they are established in a responsible way and that the rules around their operation are clear.
Alternatively, simply subjecting the ‘Park’ use to existing codes such as the ‘Transport and Parking’ code and the ‘Works, Services and Infrastructure’ code will go a long way in making sure developments are reasonable and do not adversely affect the community.
To make privately-owned-public-parks a viable and sustainable development for private entities, they will be allowed, as is the legal case today, to take donations or generate income from ancillary uses on the land.
Leaving the ‘Park’ use as Accepted Development and allowing property owners to generate revenue by simply opening their doors to the public and providing a free service to the community will encourage more property owners to establish privately-owned-public-parks, will reduce the load on council in maintaining its own parks, and greatly enhance the area that is available to locals and tourists to enjoy our beautiful region.
Instead of regulating the economy to a halt, the Sunshine Coast can lead the way to the rest of Australia and the world by being the first to recognise POPS as an elective development rather than something that is forced on developers, thus creating a win-win situation where both the public and the developers benefit.
Sincerely,
Gilad Bakas
Director
On The View Pty Ltd
960 Bald Knob Rd, Bald Knob, 4552, Qld, Australia