Regional plans

The PDI Act provides for South Australia to be divided into Planning Regions by Proclamation of the Governor, on the recommendation of the Minister. This includes the definition of one of the Planning Regions as Greater Adelaide.

The main purpose of a Planning Region is to define the area for regional plans over which collaborative arrangements may be established for planning and other relevant service delivery or program areas.

On 19 March 2020 the Governor issued a Proclamation (PDF, 16 KB) constituting the following Planning Regions for South Australia.

• Greater Adelaide
• Eyre and Western
• Far North
• Kangaroo Island
• Limestone Coast
• Murray Mallee
• Yorke Peninsula and Mid North

The Proclamation also provides a period of three years before a new regional plan for each of the Planning Regions is to be prepared and adopted. In the meantime transitional provisions in the PDI Act allow the existing South Australian Planning Strategies to apply until such time as the new Regional Plans are prepared.

In formulating his recommendation the Minister for Planning:

• sought to reflect communities of interest at a regional level
• taken into account council boundaries and other relevant administrative boundaries; relevant economic, social and cultural factors; and relevant environmental factors (including water catchment areas and biogeographical regions)
• given attention to the need to achieve effective planning consistent with the objects of the PDI Act, and the delivery of infrastructure, government services and other relevant services, at a regional level.

The Minister also consulted with the State Planning Commission, councils across the State and the Local Government Association.

The new legislation requires a regional plan to be prepared for each region. These are prepared by a Joint Planning Board in partnership with the councils included on the Board. Where there is no Board, the Commission will prepare the regional plan.

A regional plan must be consistent with relevant State Planning Policies and include:

• a long-term vision (over a 15 to 30 year period) for the region or area, including provisions about the integration of land use, transport infrastructure and the public realm
• maps and plans that relate to the long-term vision
• contextual information about the region or area, including forward projections and statistical data and analysis as determined by the Commission or required by a Practice Direction
• recommendations about the application and operation of the Planning and Design Code
• a framework for the public realm or infrastructure within the region or area.

Regional plans may be divided into parts relating to sub-regions and may include structure plans, master plans, concept plans or other similar documents. Regional plans will be used to help guide consideration of any proposed changes for the Planning and Design Code, a single rulebook for the whole state.

Following on from the Governor’s proclamation the State Planning Commission has “identified” that the following South Australian Planning Strategies, prepared under the Development Act 1993, will apply until such time as the new regional plans are prepared and adopted.

• The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide 2017 Update
• The Eyre and Western Region Plan (April 2012) (PDF, 3443 KB)
• Far North Region Plan (July 2010) (PDF, 3415 KB)
• Kangaroo Island Plan (January 2011) (PDF, 2776 KB) and Addendum (January 2014) (PDF, 869 KB)
• Limestone Coast Region Plan (August 2011) (PDF, 5836 KB)
• Mid North Region Plan (May 2011) (PDF, 5976 KB)
• Murray and Mallee Region Plan (January 2011) (PDF, 3699 KB) and Addendum (December 2013) (PDF, 3425 KB)
• Yorke Peninsula Regional Land Use Framework (December 2007) (PDF, 1159 KB)
• Port Augusta Structure Plan (July 2010) (PDF, 4862 KB)
• Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan (February 2008) (PDF, 890 KB)
• Andamooka Structure Plan (July 2013) (PDF, 2962 KB).

The State Planning Commission (the Commission) has endorsed Proposal to Initiate documents for the preparation of seven regional plans, pursuant to section 73(1)(a) of the Planning, Infrastructure and Development Act 2016 (the Act).

Section 73(1)(a) of the Act provides that, as a designated instrument under the Act, the Commission may, acting on its own initiative, initiate a proposal for the preparation of a regional plan.

Regional plans provide a long-term vision for a region to guide land use planning over a 15- to 30-year period, with a particular focus on the integration of land use, transport infrastructure and public realm.

They have a strong focus on how each region will look and function over the next 30-years, taking into consideration the vision and aspirations of local communities.

As our population and housing demand increases, so does the complexity of our land use decisions. A comprehensive review of the regional plans will ensure a coordinated approach to identifying and delivering the next 15 to 30 years of employment and housing land.

• Map (PDF, 1193 KB)
• Proposal to initiate (PDF, 1069 KB)
• Engagement plan (PDF, 838 KB)
• Fact sheet (PDF, 204 KB)
• What we heard - visioning workshop (PDF, 951 KB)

• Map (PDF, 3871 KB)
• Greater Adelaide Regional Plan Discussion Paper what we heard report (PDF, 277 KB)

• Regional planning program - probity and governance framework for growth planning (PDF, 262 KB)

• Code of Conduct for Joint Planning Board Members (PDF, 383 KB)
• Planning Agreement and Joint Planning Board Guidelines (PDF, 7306 KB)

• Proclamation of Planning Regions by the Governor (PDF, 16 KB)

• Joint Planning Board Business Case Template (DOCX, 2164 KB)
• Planning Agreement Template (DOCX, 1253 KB)