Sunshine Coast Airport

• PDAs are parcels of land in Queensland, identified for development to deliver significant benefits to the community. Further information relating to PDAs can be found here.
• Declaring an area a PDA resolves certain development barriers, provides greater planning certainty and helps increase investment opportunities and economic development.
• To date, 36 PDAs have been declared around the State, including 3 in the Sunshine Coast Council Local government area and 23 in South East Queensland.
• Each PDA has a unique development focus. This could be housing supply, diversity and affordability, urban renewal, land use diversity or economic growth and jobs.

• The Sunshine Coast Airport Priority Development Area (PDA) was declared on July 28, 2023.
• The PDA supports the growth and expansion of the Sunshine Coast Airport as a significant domestic and international gateway to the region.
• The PDA covers the land leased to the Sunshine Coast Airport by the Sunshine Cast Council and includes both air-side and non-air side land.
• The PDA supports the long term operations of the airport while providing economic growth opportunities through land use diversification, aligning with other airports across Australia.
• These land uses include an expanded range of aviation, aerospace business, employment and tourism opportunities to promote the region and attract investment.
• The PDA does not govern aircraft noise. Concerns regarding noise at the airport can be raised with Airservices Australia’s Noise Complaint Information Service(External link) or the sunshine Coast Airport directly.

Under the Economic Development Act 2012, the PDA process involves:

• declaring the PDA
• preparing the Interim Land Use Plan (ILUP)
• preparing a Development Scheme, which includes public notification
• the processing of PDA development applications.

A development scheme

• must be prepared for each PDA
• ensures development is well planned
• regulates land use infrastructure provision in the PDA
• provides certainty to developers, local government, state agencies and the wider community about the type and form of development that can occur in the PDA
• sets out the processes and procedures for the assessment of development applications and
• overrides local government planning instruments related to the use of land within a PDA.

A Development Scheme consists of:

• a Land Use Plan setting out the vision and regulates development in the PDA,
• an Infrastructure Plan that describes the required infrastructure to support the achievement of the Land Use Plan, and
• an Implementation Strategy that describes objectives and actions that complement the Land Use Plan and Infrastructure Plan to achieve the main intention of the ED Act.

The statutory steps for preparing a development scheme are set out in the Economic Development Act 2012 (the Act).

The development scheme seeks to advance Queensland State and regional strategies, including state planning policies and the Southeast Queensland Regional Plan.

The development scheme was prepared in consultation with Sunshine Coast Council, the Sunshine Coast Airport, relevant Queensland State agencies including the Department of Transport and Main Road and the Department of Environment and considers the local context of the PDA.

Prior to being finalised by the Minister for Economic Development Queensland (MEDQ), the proposed development scheme underwent a 32 business day public notification from 26 June to 8 August 2024. During this time EDQ received over 200 submissions from industry and the local community. A submissions report summarising the submissions and amendments to the proposed development scheme was prepared and can be read here.

• The PDA covers the entire Sunshine Coast Airport.
• Precinct 1 is about 160 hectares and provides for airside activities including the runway.
• Precinct 2 is almost 30 ha and provides for a mix of airport operations such as the terminal expansion and a limited amount of commercial and retail uses supporting workers, passengers and visitors.
• Precinct 4 is over 70 ha and provides an important buffer to critical airport infrastructure and environmental offset areas.
• Precinct 3 is just over 30 ha and provides for uses including supporting private and non-commercial and air transport. This includes innovation, maintenance, training and emergency services such as LifeFlight.
• Precinct 5 is almost 35 hectares are provides for areas set aside for other employment generating activities.
• Precinct 6 is almost 130 hectares and is preserved for environment and conservation off set area, consistent with the 2016 Coordinator-General Approval for the runway expansion.

• The Development Scheme went through public notification from 26 June – 8 August to provide opportunity for feedback.
• Community feedback received during this period was considered as part of the finalisation of the development scheme.
• The Development Scheme came into effect on 27 September 2024.
• Future development applications within the PDA will be assessed against the development scheme.

Precinct 1: Aviation - Focused on aviation operational areas, including airside activities, runways, and infrastructure.

Precinct 2: Gateway - Is the gateway to the airport and the Sunshine Coast region. The precinct includes critical aviation infrastructure as well as a mix of uses to support the growing needs of passengers. The terminal building is the centre point of this precinct and will be expanded to accommodate passenger growth.

Precinct 3: Aerospace - Supports general aviation business activities including private and non-commercial air transport and encourages growth in aerospace industry innovation and training.

Precinct 4: Airport West - Area comprises of low-lying land which is adjacent to areas of environmental conservation. This precinct provides a buffer to critical airport infrastructure and opportunities for flood-resilient activities.

Precinct 5: Airport North - Designed for a diverse mix of land uses compatible with wider airport operations and surrounding areas.

• Sub- Precinct 5a - provides opportunities for employment generating activities which capitalises on its association with the airport.
• Sub-Precinct 5b - provides opportunities for short-term/tourist accommodation uses that leverage the precinct’s high-amenity location opposite Marcoola Beach and its proximity to the airport

Precinct 6: Environmental Conservation - Protects environmental and cultural heritage areas, fostering habitat improvement and biodiversity conservation.

Future development of the PDA will be incremental and happen over the next 20+ years. The immediate development will be focused on expanding the airport operations and providing enabling infrastructure.

Development in the PDA is required to achieve the PDA-wide criteria. There are several PDA wide criteria that are detailed in the Development Scheme.

These include:

• Urban design, built form, public realm and landscaping
• Mixed-Use Development
• Public Transport and Connectivity
• Sustainability
• Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection and Conservation
• Community Safety and Development Constraints
• Flood risk management
• Reconfiguring a lot – lot layout
• Sustainable Infrastructure
• Airport and Environs

Building heights in the PDA are generally determined by the Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) area. The Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) is set by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to ensure development does not impair or obstruct operational airspace. Future development will generally be up to 10 storeys. For development in Precincts 2 and 5, further precinct master planning will determine appropriate maximum development heights, taking into account potential impacts to surrounding communities and safe airport operations.

Permanent residential housing, including forms of social housing (e.g. emergency accommodation, community residence and public housing) are not included as preferred land uses within the development scheme.

The PDA was declared to enable a diverse range of uses to be developed to support the growth and economic sustainability of the Airport, which could not be achieved under the current Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme.

The Development Scheme regulates development activity in the PDA instead of the Councils planning scheme.

The Development Scheme has been prepared in close consultation with the Sunshine Coast Council.

The development scheme was informed by a comprehensive hydraulics assessment report.  Flood modelling demonstrated that with the mitigation measures identified, development in the PDA will not worsen flooding in the surrounding residential areas. There will also be an overall improvement to the drainage system servicing the Marcoola North area as a result of the proposed mitigation works.

Any earthworks undertaken in the PDA must ensure there are no adverse flooding or drainage impacts.

Further detailed flood modelling, and sequencing of the mitigation measures identified, will be undertaken as part of the more detailed precinct master planning process for Precincts 2 and 5.

The required mitigation measures outside the PDA necessary for the airport development to achieve no worsening in the residential areas will be the responsibility of the airport to deliver.  Further local drainage improvements are subject to Council’s future planning.

The development scheme includes PDA wide criteria to protect the environment and consider sustainability. Precinct 6 is predominately allocated to the Airport’s on-going environmental conservation and offset areas. These offset areas are required under the 2016 Coordinator-General’s approval to protect the threatened flora and fauna.

PDA accepted development must be consistent with the development scheme. It must comply with the applicable development provisions in the development scheme.

The ILUP expired when the development scheme took effect on 27 September 2024.

A development approval issued under the ILUP continues to have effect despite the expiry of the ILUP.

By FY 2026/27, Sunshine Coast Airport expects the growth in passengers to boost the local tourism industry by supporting 4,977 tourism jobs and $422m in Gross Value to the sector. By 2030, they estimate that there will be an annual increase of $11m to Queensland’s GDP, supporting 165 jobs each year over the construction period. Jobs at the airport are also forecast to grow to 2,400 by 2040 and support a total of 3438 jobs (direct and indirect) creating local employment opportunities for generations to come. By 2040, it is estimated the airport will directly contribute $307m to Australia’s GDP and $460m in total.

The regulation of aircraft flights and aircraft noise does not change with the declaration of the PDA.

As Australia’s air navigation service provider, Airservices Australia is responsible for airspace management and the designation of flight paths. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulates aviation safety in Australia.

Please contact the Sunshine Coast Airport for the range of tools and resources they have developed to help the community better understand what was involved in the runway expansion project and what it means for residents. Please refer to the Sunshine Coast Airport’s website for further information on noise: Noise | Sunshine Coast Airport

Queries or complaints about noise from airport operations should be directed to the Sunshine Coast Airport or Airservices Australia. Contact details are provided below. Economic Development Queensland does not manage airport operations.

Sunshine Coast Airport
Phone: +61 1300 993 543
Email: info@sunshinecoastairport.com.au

Airservices Australia
Phone: 1800 802 584 (freecall)
Email: https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/community/environment/aircraft-noise/about-making-a-complaint/

Sunshine Coast Airport will work towards upgrading the Airport terminal over the coming years. Refer to the Sunshine Coast Airport Master Plan 2040.

The sensitive use buffer zone has been included in the aviation precinct to assist in minimizing impacts to surrounding communities and key aviation infrastructure.