AS SOUTHERN Downs Regional Council’s proposed planning scheme is released for public consumption, council’s manager of strategic planning, Jeanette Davis, said this week’s drop-in sessions had been proving popular with residents.

The sessions give landholders the chance to ask how the proposed scheme would affect their properties and they have until September 16 to send in a submission. To date interest has been from farmers to families, developers to investors, and people thinking of settling in the region.

Leyburn was the first of the smaller centres to have a visit from the planner and Ms Davis said there was significant interest in how the scheme would respond to flood issues and heritage areas.

“In the larger centres of Stanthorpe and Warwick many inquiries focused on how land can be developed and where units can be established,” she said.

OVERLAYS limit the development in certain areas.

This map shows how development around the John Dee abattoir and Morgan Park will be constrained to minimise potential conflicts with those zones of activity.

The 14 zones in the new planning scheme are as follows: Residential living zone; Residential choice zone; Principal centre zone; District centre zone; Specialised centre zone; Industry zone; Community purposes zone; Environmental management and conservation zone; Limited development (constrained land) zone; Mixed use zone; Rural residential zone; Township zone; Rural zone, which includes i. Alluvial plains precinct, ii. Basalt quality grazing precinct, iii. Walloon arable precinct, iv. Granite belt precinct, v. Granite plains precinct, vi. Basalt uplands precinct, vii. Granite hills precinct, viii. Sandstone rises and traprock hills precinct

THE overlays are: Airport environs; Bushfire hazard; Extractive resources; Flood hazard; Morgan Park environs; Warwick Bacon Factory environs; Water resource catchments; Heritage; Biodiversity areas.