Landscapes
Landscapes & regional amenity
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Regional landscapes
Our unique landscapes support our quality of life as well as our mental and physical health.
- Regional landscape areas are publicly accessible sites that include national parks, marine parks, state forests, beaches, waterways, recreational areas and urban parks.
- The regional landscape values of inter- urban breaks are recognised in ShapingSEQ including the Quandamooka (Moreton Bay)-Sunshine Coast and the Logan–Gold Coast inter‑urban breaks, which provide greenspace, amenity and other non-urban landscape values between major urban areas of the metro and northern and southern sub-regions.
- Greenspace preserves and protects regionally significant open spaces for outdoor recreation, nature conservation, water catchment management, forest production, spiritual connections, cultural heritage and education and scientific research. The natural scenic amenity of SEQ is one of its greatest assets for tourism and overall quality of life.
- Strategies are needed to encourage safe access and use of greenspace, which also inherently builds capacity of people to learn about their natural environs and how to protect them.
- The network of privately owned greenspace areas that provide commercial outdoor recreational opportunities and regional scenic amenity will continue to play an important role relieving the pressure on National Parks which have a primary role in nature conservation.
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Landscapes threats and pressures
- Population growth.
- Over-use and land degradation.
- Conflicting and/or ineffective management of recreational uses (motorised such as motorbikes and powerboats and unmotorised such as bikes and kayaks).
- Lack of ongoing maintenance that addresses pests and fire.
- Lack of public facilities.
- Inaccessibility by public transport and associated overreliance on combustion engine transport.
- Urbanisation.
- Availability of investment for the acquisition, expansion, protection and restoration of greenspace.
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Landscapes current state
- There has been an increase in the number of outdoor areas available for recreation since 2009.
- Despite an increase in the number of greenspaces available, the amount of space per person in SEQ has decreased.
- In 2011, each resident had 0.16 hectares of greenspace. In 2021 it is 0.13 hectares per person.
- An additional 211,000 hectares of recreational land is required to maintain greenspace at acceptable levels.
- Compared to other areas in Australia, the amount of greenspace as a proportion of the region is low and there are significant variations in availability of greenspace within the region.
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Landscapes priority actions
The following actions will play a critical role in meeting the landscapes targets.
These actions have been identified by the South East Queensland community. These actions are updated regularly in the region's Natural Resource Management Plan, which is managed by Healthy Land & Water on behalf of the region's community.
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Plan |
Increase the area available for greenspace recreation and improve accessibility in priority areas. |
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Protect areas of identified priority scenic amenity from inappropriate development. |
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Targeted provision of green and blue infrastructure within urban footprint. |
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Maintain inter and intra urban breaks to prevent urban coalescence and support habitat connectivity (Regional policy in ShapingSEQ). |
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Support and create processes for the community and various levels of government to work together to develop new and enhance current regional and local land use planning mechanisms to achieve SEQ NRM Plan targets. |
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Manage |
Improve fire (both fire preparedness and use of fire for cultural/ecological/environmental management), weed and pest management of greenspace areas. |
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Manage greenspace recreational activities such as mountain biking to reduce negative ecological and community impacts. |
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Develop citizen science activities to genuinely engage the landholders and the community in stewardship of their local landscapes and environs. |
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Restore |
Securing and activating major green space areas across SEQ. |
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Empower |
Encourage and incentivise landholders including on private property to supply additional greenspace recreation areas. |
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Provide education campaigns on the respectful use of greenspace areas. |
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Landscapes targets
The quality of life enjoyed by people in SEQ is supported by access to, and connection with, the unique landscapes of the region. These regional landscapes help to define the region‘s character and our sense of belonging.
Headline targets
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By 2031, the 2011 extent of regional outdoor settings will be maintained or increased.
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By 2031, the area of regionally high scenic amenity will be maintained or improved from the 2004 baseline.
Summary of asset targets
- Landscape Heritage
At least 90% of the 2011 area of regionally important landscape heritage will be retained within each local government area. - Outdoor Recreation Settings
7The 2011 extent of regional outdoor recreation settings will be maintained or increased. - Outdoor Recreation Demand
90% of the demand for outdoor recreation will be met through a mix of public land, waterways and the voluntary provision of opportunities on private land. - Regionally High Scenic Amenity
The area of regionally high scenic amenity will be maintained or improved from the 2004 baseline. - Locally Important Scenic Amenity
At least 80% of the 2004 area of locally important scenic amenity within each local government area will be retained.
Healthy Land & Water
Level 11, 240 Queen St
GPO Box 735
MEANJIN (BRISBANE)
QLD 4001
Australia
Healthy Land and Water Ltd
ABN 91 115 662 989
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