The Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan was launched by the Attorney-General, Minister for Local Government and Special Minister of State, the Honourable Paul Lucas, on 8 February 2012.

Download the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan ( 4.5 MB) as a single file, alternatively download the same document in smaller sections:

• Foreword, contents, Part A: Introduction ( 519 KB)
• Part B: Regional framework ( 404 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 1: Sustainability, climate change and natural hazards ( 384 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 2: Regional landscapes ( 149 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 3: Environment ( 313 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 4: Natural resource management ( 725 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 5: Strong communities ( 218 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 6: Strong economy ( 262 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 7: Managing growth ( 317 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 8: Urban form ( 181 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 9: Infrastructure ( 351 KB)
• Part C, Desired regional outcome 10: Transport ( 366 KB)
• Part D: Implementation and Monitoring ( 497 KB)
• Part E: Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday State Planning Regulatory Provisions 2012 ( 72 KB)

The Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan will guide future planning decisions for the region over the next two decades. It provides a framework to guide the long-term sustainability of the region's communities, strengthen its economy, inform the delivery of social services and infrastructure, and protect its environment.

The regional plan outlines ten desired regional outcomes, supported by a range of policies and programs:

• Sustainability, climate change and natural hazards
• Regional landscapes
• Environment
• Natural resource management
• Strong communities
• Strong economy
• Managing growth
• Urban form
• Infrastructure
• Transport

Land-use categories

The Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday State Planning Regulatory Provisions 2012 establish three land-use categories to classify parts of the region:

1. Urban Footprint
2. Rural Living Area
3. Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area.

Urban Footprint

The Urban Footprint will be the focus for regional urban growth until at least 2031. The nature and extent of land use in the Urban Footprint will be determined through local government planning schemes. A broadhectare study completed in 2011, established the amount of land available for residential use in the region. This helped determine the amount of additional land that needed to be included in the Urban Footprint.

Rural Living Area

The Rural Living Area identifies land suitable for future rural residential development. Limiting rural residential development to land within this area will help ensure effective access to services and facilities and protect agricultural lands.

Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area

Land included in the Regional Landscape and Rural Production Area will be protected from inappropriate development, particularly urban and rural residential development. However, economic diversification is supported, for example appropriate small-scale tourist, recreation, business or industrial development.

View the land-use category boundaries in the regulatory maps or use the interactive Regional Land Use Maps application.

The following fact sheets describe how the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan affects each council in the region.

• How the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan delivers for the Mackay subregion ( 117 KB)
• How the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan delivers for the Isaac subregion ( 147 KB)
• How the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday Regional Plan delivers for the Whitsunday subregion ( 160 KB)