Version 1 of the Tablelands Region Planning Scheme commenced on 1 September 2016 and has undergone a number of amendments since then. In more recent years, Council has identified the need for a comprehensive review of the Planning Scheme to evaluate its ability to effectively regulate development across the region in light of evolving factors including population growth trends, changes to the State's statutory framework and present-day community expectations. Since 2016, Council has also commissioned a number of investigations that directly, or indirectly, relate to planning and development matters. It is therefore timely that these studies be integrated into a new, or amended, Planning Scheme.

On 23 May 2024, Council resolved to commence the 10-year review of the Tablelands Regional Council Planning Scheme 2016 pursuant to section 25 of the Planning Act 2016. As such, Council has delegated the task of engaging of suitably qualified consultants and overseeing the preparation of a Planning Scheme Review Report ("the Review Report"), to Council's Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Management Development Services.

As detailed by the project scope contained in Part 5 of this Request for Quotation, the Tablelands Regional Council invites quotations from suitably qualified respondents to undertake the statutory review prescribed by Section 25 of the Planning Act 2016. The primarily deliverable in this respect is a Review Report, prepared pursuant to the relevant State's guidance material. Most critically, the outcome of the Review Report would be a set of recommendations pertaining to the scope of required and/or desirable technical investigations that would underpin a subsequent statutory plan-making exercise.

Upon completion of the Review Report, the recommendations emerging from it would be presented to Council for consideration and endorsement, at which point Council would be asked to resolve on whether the TRC Planning Scheme 2016 V5 should undergo a further major amendment or be replaced by an entirely new planning scheme.