Have your say on the Kangaroo Island Regional Plan

A landmark vision of how Kangaroo Island will look across the next 30 years has been released by the State Planning Commission for public consultation until 5:00 pm on 6 June 2024.

The draft Kangaroo Island Regional Plan (KIRP) will play a key role in supporting infrastructure and identifying suitable land for future housing, employment, and commercial uses.

The KIRP addresses three major priorities: housing,  economic development and environmental protection. The draft aims to achieve a balance between sustainable growth and community well-being and includes diverse housing choices, convenient transport links and preparation for climate change.

It is the first of seven new regional plans for South Australia. The KIRP includes information about:

• population growth projections, which estimate that Kangaroo Island will have 6,876 residents by 2054, driving the need for 38 new homes annually
• the need to address housing challenges, including low vacancy rates and seasonal worker accommodation
• striking a balance between residential growth and the protection of primary production land
• Kingscote and American River, which have been identified as key employment and service centres
• considerations for climate change, to safeguard against hazards and protect critical habitats, such as glossy black cockatoo habitat (drooping sheoak in American River), bandicoot habitat in Parndana, and the eastern osprey and white-bellied sea eagle nesting sites across coastal areas
• prioritising infrastructure improvements, including transport connectivity.

All feedback received during the 12-week consultation period will be considered for inclusion in the draft KIRP before final amendments are made ahead of the plan’s formal endorsement and adoption in late 2024. To provide your feedback, visit regional.plan.sa.gov.au.

To coincide with the release of the draft KIRP, PLUS has launched a new Regional Planning Portal, an Australian first that provides users with interactive online access to the Kangaroo Island Regional Plan and all future regional plans.

The portal gives all South Australians access to state-wide planning and infrastructure framework that will:

• provide a long-term vision for each region
• support targets and actions for land use, transport infrastructure and the public realm through interactive maps, dynamic data and spatial plans
• increase the availability, accuracy and relevance of data to inform integrated land use and infrastructure decisions, including current and forward projections, statistical data, and analysis
• facilitate deeper up-front engagement with the community, landowners, agencies and other stakeholders about plans for their area and how it will affect their land, neighbourhood or towns
• allow fast implementation of planning strategies to respond quickly to housing demand or employment growth by streamlining zoning changes with reduced workflows and touchpoints.

View the KIRP and the new Regional Planning Portal

The State Planning Commission is also seeking feedback on proposed improvements to the Community Engagement Charter, which guides public participation in preparing and amending designated planning policies, strategies and schemes. Proposed improvements will streamline changes to planning rules such as rezoning land, where the community has had an opportunity to give their views and influence the decision as part of the regional planning process – ‘complying changes’ would be subject to a streamlined engagement process.

Public consultation on the Charter is taking place alongside the Kangaroo Island Regional Plan engagement program.

For more information on the Community Engagement Charter Update visit yoursay.sa.gov.au/community-engagement-charter.