Applying Red Zone decision rules for renewable energy infrastructure planning: A Central Queensland case study

In 2022, the Federal Government flagged consideration of adopting a spatial-based approach to regional planning under the reformed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). In late 2022, Queensland Conservation Council, WWF Australia, Australian Conservation Foundation and Birdlife Australia commissioned a team from the University of Queensland and Griffith University to first generate a series of principles and rules for implementing spatial planning, and then to test these in a number of case study areas across Queensland. The research team first applied the principles to a south-east Queensland Case Study^[1] and this report considers the rules for a Central Queensland (CQ) case study, considering the impacts of renewable infrastructure.<br>[1] https://www.queenslandconservation.org.au/new_report_bioregional_planning