Regional plans

Each region in South Australia has a plan to guide development and fulfil the vision of the State Planning Policies.

Regional plans set the direction for future planning and development of South Australia.

About this instrument

What are planning regions?

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.

What are regional plans?

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.

Preparation of new regional plans

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.

Draft regional plans

Country regional plans

The State Planning Commission, supported by Planning and Land Use Services of the Department for Housing and Urban Development, is currently preparing six new country regional plans*. The regional plans spatially map the South Australian government’s long-term vision for growth across the state’s planning regions.

Regional plans play a significant role in identifying land and long-term infrastructure needs to support sustainable growth within the regions. It will highlight how these important changes can be accommodated over a 15 to 30-year period.

Statutory engagement will be staggered across the six country regions, and is expected to commence from Q1-2024, in the following order:

Kangaroo Island
Yorke and Mid North
Eyre and Western
Far North
Limestone Coast
Murray Mallee*

Once the statutory engagement period has been completed, the Commission will prepare an Engagement Report for each regional plan and make them publicly available via the PlanSA portal. This process is a statutory requirement under the Community Engagement Charter and ensures that all engagement is genuine, inclusive and respectful, fit for purpose, informed and transparent, reviewed and improved.

These reports, in conjunction with the relevant regional plan, will be provided to the Minister for approval from Q3-2024.

*The Murray Mallee Regional Plan has been delayed by 12 months to allow communities the time and council resources necessary to respond to the 2023 flood event and its effects – and will incorporate any rebuild efforts into long-term planning for the towns.

Greater Adelaide Regional Plan

A new Greater Adelaide Regional Plan is being prepared to ensure that we identify and plan for the next 15 to 30-years of housing and employment land for future generations. Visit the Regional Planning Program website to learn more.

This will start an ongoing dialogue with the community, councils and industry as we come together to confront the challenging question of how we will strengthen the sustainability, liveability and prosperity of a growing Greater Adelaide Region for the years to come.

Detailed investigations into potential future residential and employment land growth areas, as well as other key investigation areas that will inform the regional plan, will occur from mid-2023, with the Commission aiming to release the draft regional plan for engagement mid-2024. The completed Greater Adelaide Regional Plan is expected to be approved by the Commission in late-2024.