Guideline
Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995
Owner’s consent for assessable coastal development
This document provides guidance on the procedures and entities involved in the provision of owner’s consent in relation to
development applications in a coastal management district and assessed under the Coastal Protection and Management
Act 1995.
Overview
The Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA) requires that when certain development applications are made they
require the authorisation of the owner in writing (owner’s consent) for the application to be considered ‘properly
made’1. If the applicant does not have the required owner’s consent, a decision by the assessment manager is
unlikely to be valid in law and may be open to legal challenge.
Changes to the SPA in November 2012 removed the requirement for development applications to provide
evidence of ‘resource entitlement’ or a resource allocation for State resources such as unallocated State land or
quarry material. The allocation of State resources (such as granting permission to take quarry materials) is now
addressed separately to SPA decisions.
Where the Queensland Government has jurisdiction over land below high water mark, the State has two roles in
the assessment of a development proposal:

Owner of the resource—providing owner’s consent to support an Integrated Development Assessment
System (IDAS) development application, indicating that the proposed development is an appropriate use
of the State land or resource, in accordance with Queensland Government laws and policies. In some
cases, the applicant will require tenure or another type of occupation right over the subject land of the
proposed development.

Development assessment authority (e.g. assessment manager or concurrence agency)—assessing the
impacts of the development to the extent of its jurisdictional responsibilities (e.g. the Coastal Protection
and Management Act 1995 (Coastal Act)).
This guideline focuses on the arrangements for providing owner’s consent for work on land below high-water
mark and for other coastal development applications.
Issuing owner’s consent for State land below high-water mark
Many of the development activities regulated in a coastal management district occur over State coastal land 2.
The Department of Natural Resources and Mines’ (NRM) State Land Asset Management (SLAM) unit generally
represents the Queensland Government as the owner of State coastal land.
1
2
Owner’s consent is required for applications on freehold land for a material change of use of premises or reconfiguring a
lot; work on land below high-water mark and outside a canal as defined under the Coastal Act; or work on rail corridor land
as defined under the Transport Infrastructure Act 1994.
State coastal land includes unallocated State land, dedicated roads, reserves and permits to occupy under the Land Act
1994 and national parks, but does not include State forests or timber reserves.
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Guideline
Owner’s consent for assessable coastal development
However, the authority to provide owner’s consent on behalf of NRM has been delegated to the Department of
Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) or the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) for certain
coastal development activities for administrative efficiency purposes.
Table 1. Authority to provide owner’s consent for State coastal land below high water mark
Nature of the development application and examples
Land tenure/status
Department that
issues owner’s
consent
Tidal works or other operational works in a canal
(e.g. jetties, pontoons, boat ramps)
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
Nil3
Tidal works in a waterway other than a canal for a structure
to be used for private purposes4 that provides maritime
access5 to the adjoining privately owned land6; and no
tenure is required7; but excludes any part of the work
located within a declared Fish Habitat Area under the
Fisheries Act 1994 (Fisheries Act)
(e.g. private jetties, pontoons, boat ramps, mooring piles)
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
EHP8
Tidal works in a waterway other than a canal for other than
private purposes; but excludes any part of the work located
within a declared Fish Habitat Area under the Fisheries Act
(e.g. a commercial marina, public jetties)
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
NRM
Tidal works in a waterway other than a canal for private
purposes adjoining public land, or for private purposes that
does not provide access to the adjoining private land; but
excludes any part of the work located within a declared Fish
Habitat Area under the Fisheries Act
(e.g. pipelines, revetment, seawall)
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
NRM
Disposing of dredge spoil or other solid waste material in
tidal water
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
NRM
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
NRM
Unallocated State land
below high water mark
DAF
(e.g. disposal of stockpiled dredge spoil in tidal water)
Reclaiming unallocated State land under tidal water
(e.g. reclaiming a dredge spoil area within a harbour)
Works located wholly or partly within a declared Fish
Habitat Area under the Fisheries Act
3
4
5
6
7
8
The Queensland Government does not need to provide owner’s consent for unallocated State land below the high-water
mark in a canal because EHP has devolved responsibility for all tidal works within a canal to local government (as
prescribed tidal works) and local government are responsible for maintenance of the canal
(under s. 121 of the Coastal Act).
Private purpose has the same meaning as in the Coastal Protection and Management Regulation 2003—use of a boat
used only for recreation; use of land, if the use is only for residential purposes.
Structures providing access include jetties, pontoons, boat ramps, mooring piles and slipways. If an application for one of
these structures also includes an erosion protection structure, EHP can provide owner’s consent for the entire application.
Privately owned land means freehold land or land subject to a lease under the Land Act.
Tenure is generally not required for private structures adjoining private land, but may be required by SLAM in some
instances (e.g. commercial use), or may be requested by the applicant.
Section 123 of the Coastal Act provides that a development permit for tidal works and prescribed tidal work also grants a
right to occupy and use State coastal land to construct and use the works in the absence of recognised tenure under the
Land Act.
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Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
Guideline
Owner’s consent for assessable coastal development
Owner’s consent for development on other coastal land
Applicants for certain development activities (Table 2) on coastal land other than State coastal land must obtain
owner’s consent for the development application to be considered ‘properly made’9.
Table 2. Owner’s consent on coastal land other than State coastal land.
Nature of the development application and examples
Reconfiguring a lot
Land tenure/status10
Entity that signs as
the owner
Freehold land
Freehold land owner
Material change of use, if assessable under a planning
scheme and the change of use involves operational work,
or building work for the construction of new premises with a
gross floor area of at least 1000 m2 or the enlargement of
the gross floor area of existing premises by at least
1000 m2
Freehold land
Freehold land owner
Tidal works or other operational works in a canal or
inundated freehold land
Freehold land below
high water mark
Freehold land owner
Freehold land
including freehold land
below high water mark
Freehold land owner
(e.g. creating lots by subdividing another lot, creating
easements)
(e.g. jetties, pontoons, ramps, decks)
Constructing an artificial waterway (tidal or non-tidal)
associated with reconfiguring a lot11
Procedures for obtaining owner’s consent for State land below high-water mark
from EHP
Confirmation that EHP is the proper entity to issue owner’s consent
EHP considers owner’s consent for tidal works (including prescribed tidal work) in a waterway other than a
canal:

if no tenure is required/requested, and

the structure is to be used for private marine access to the adjoining privately owned land (e.g. jetties,
pontoons, boat ramps, mooring piles).
Owner’s consent for any part of the work located within a declared Fish Habitat Area (FHA) under the Fisheries
Act is considered by DAF.
For the above works, applicants should forward an application for owner’s consent for the use of unallocated
State land below high-water mark and any required supporting information12 to EHP13prior to the lodgement of a
9
Refer to s 263 of SPA.
Land that is freehold land held in the name of the State of Queensland or Queensland Government is a State resource;
therefore, evidence of owner’s consent is required to support a development application on this land.
11 If the artificial waterway is developed on leasehold land, owner’s consent will be required from NRM.
12 Examples of supporting information include a water allocation area plan prepared in line with the requirements of the EHP
Guideline: Preparing a water allocation area for tidal works in natural waterways (Note that for Gold Coast waters, an early
concurrence advice from the Gold Coast waterways Authority stating that the water allocation area is suitable for the
intended structure is also required).
13 Application for Owner’s consent form is available on the EHP website
http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/coastal/development/application_forms.html and should be submitted to Permit and Licence
10
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Guideline
Owner’s consent for assessable coastal development
development application with a local government (for prescribed tidal work) or the Department of Infrastructure,
Local Government and Planning (DILGP) (when acting as assessment manager).
Before considering the provision of owner’s consent, EHP will confirm that it is the proper entity to provide the
evidence in accordance with the administrative arrangements set out in Table 1.
If EHP is not the proper entity to consider providing owner’s consent, the applicant will be directed to obtain
owner’s consent from either NRM or DAF.
Implications of providing owner’s consent
Giving owner’s consent over State coastal land below high-water mark means EHP considers whether the
proposed work is an appropriate use of the State coastal land or resources consistent with Queensland
Government laws and policies and the applicant may proceed to lodge the application for development
approval. It does not:

imply approval will be granted for the development application; or

authorise a right to occupy and use land.14
However, owner’s consent would not be given if the development application was unlikely to be approved (for
example, because it does not comply with relevant policies).
Other matters to consider
Native title assessment and notification
Providing owner’s consent is not a ‘future act’ under the Native Title Act 1993 (Commonwealth) and so native
title assessment and notification is not required. If owner’s consent involves either an allocation to a resource or
tenure, then native title assessment and notification may be required.
Owner’s consent for proposed work that is partly or wholly within a marine park
A marine parks permit is required for all work that is proposed to be located partly or wholly within a marine
park. It is recommended that you establish whether or not a marine parks permit is required prior to applying for
owner’s consent to avoid applying unnecessarily15..
More information about providing owner’s consent
For more information on owner’s consent refer to the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 fact sheet, Development
Assessment—Owner’s consent, available at www.dilgp.qld.gov.au.
Management, Implementation and Support Unit, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, GPO Box 2454,
Brisbane QLD 4001.
14 For tidal works, the right to occupy and use state tidal land is automatically granted under s 123 of the Coastal Act if a
development permit is granted for the works.
15 Appendix 1 of the Owner’s consent application form outlines the steps to follow to establish how to proceed with an
owner’s consent application for tidal works located partly or wholly within a marine park.
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Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
Guideline
Owner’s consent for assessable coastal development
Disclaimer:
While this document has been prepared with care it contains general information and does not profess to offer legal,
professional or commercial advice. The Queensland Government accepts no liability for any external decisions or actions
taken on the basis of this document. Persons external to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection should
satisfy themselves independently and by consulting their own professional advisors before embarking on any proposed
course of action.
Approved by:
Enquiries:
John Lane
Permit and Licence Management
Phone: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
Fax: (07) 3330 5875
Email: palm@ehp.qld.gov.au
Director, Environment Planning
Department of Environment and Heritage Protection
Date: 4 August 2016
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