Sunshine Coast delivers Australian-first development tracker

An Australian-first application tracking system has been officially launched by council, giving the community easier and quicker access to development information.

Called Development.i, the system lets users navigate, visualise, track and be alerted to development applications in their street, suburb, division or across the region.

Mayor Mark Jamieson was today (October 10) joined by State Member for Aspley Bart Mellish, representing the Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick.

The launch was attended by a range of community and business representatives.

Mayor Jamieson said the simple-to-use but very powerful information tool would enable the community to be better engaged in the planning process.

“Development.i has been developed by Sunshine Coast Council, replacing its PD Online application tracking system,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“It will provide the same information in a much more accessible and user-friendly way.

“Importantly, it empowers our community to be informed on development proposed or planned around them.

“This innovation adds to council’s proud record of Australian-firsts – the first local government to build a utility scale solar farm and the first and only council to secure an investment in an international submarine cable which will provide the nation’s fastest telecommunications connection to Asia.

“We are proud to be Australia’s healthy, smart, creative region.”

Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick said Development.i was an example of councils generating great ideas to improve their planning processes.

“Development.i has been made possible with $150,000 funding from the Queensland Government’s Innovation and Improvement Fund and is a great example of this fund in action,” he said.

“The Sunshine Coast is leading the way in innovation and sustainability, and the region is an important economic driver for Queensland.

“This is demonstrated through projects such as the Sunshine Coast Airport expansion and the International Broadband Submarine Cable project.”

Planning and Development Portfolio Councillor Christian Dickson said Sunshine Coast Council was the first local government in Australia to present development application information in this way.

“This new online tool lets you see what development is happening near you on a map, easily change filters and save searches you are interested in, receive alerts when new applications are lodged and track the status of an application as it progresses – plus lots more,” Cr Dickson said.

“It’s as simple as typing in a suburb, hitting enter and results appear on a map representing development or building applications currently in progress.

“Or you can change the filter to see past applications back to 2007.

“For community members and our many residents' groups, the new Development.i is a more intuitive and easier-to-navigate website, meaning they can be more easily engaged in the planning process.”

To find out more, a product overview and a series of “how-to” videos are available on the Development.i website.

Visit developmenti.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au to try out the new platform.