Council is developing a major amendment to the Gladstone Region Planning Scheme which will seek to better support tourism ventures across the region.

This amendment seeks to better support tourism opportunities across the region with a focus on simplifying low-scale tourism development. Council has identified several areas which could be simplified for business operators and we are seeking business, industry and community feedback.

Council has completed the first round of community engagement where we received almost 100 submissions from community members, business operators and industry.

Our Strategic Planners have developed a draft amendment package, guided by the community's valuable feedback, which has been submitted to the State Government for the legislated State Interest Review.

Once the State Review has been completed, Council will undertake a second round of community engagement which will invite feedback on the draft amendment package. This round of engagement is expected to take place in July/August 2026.

We look forward to sharing how the community have influenced our amendment package.

Council's Strategic Planning team are happy to meet with operators and community members to discuss the Tourism Amendment in detail. Request an in-person with our team in Gladstone or Agnes Water to share your thoughts.

The project team will be available for meeting at the Agnes Water Rural Transaction Centre from 16-20 February.