Papers by Philippa England
Environmental and planning law journal, 2008
Planning in Queensland Law, Policy and Practice
Federation Press eBooks, 2019
Ecological governance and the development plan for Northern Australia
A number of major policy documents and academic research have informed a renewed push in recent y... more A number of major policy documents and academic research have informed a renewed push in recent years to develop northern Australia, which comprises all of the Northern Territory and those parts of Western Australia and Queensland above the Tropic of Capricorn (the ‘north’). Recent debate has culminated in the Commonwealth Government’s 2015 White Paper on Developing Northern Australia (‘White Paper’). The White Paper aims to “grasp [the north’s] full potential” to make it “an economic powerhouse within our great country.” The White Paper is conspicuously silent, however, on how to secure the north’s ecological future to cope with and sustainably support this development. This article explores some of the ecological governance deficiencies in the development plan set out in the White Paper. It opens by identifying some of the White Paper’s assumptions about the north’s environment and culture, followed by a brief analysis of regulatory gaps in the model of development it advocates. It then briefly considers the past, present and future of ecological governance and regulation in the north. We conclude that in order to avoid repeating the failures of previous development plans for the north, reforms should emphasise a strategic, ecologically-focused governance framework in the north, for the north, with input from all interested parties. This framework, which involves the system for decision-making, must effectively deal with the unique characteristics and inherent dynamism of northern ecosystems and address complex interactions between nature, borders, culture and sovereignty.
Social Science Research Network, Jan 23, 2015
Journal of Environmental Law, May 21, 2019
This article tracks the evolution of floodplain development policy in Australia and analyses some... more This article tracks the evolution of floodplain development policy in Australia and analyses some recent case law in the light of that policy. Although the dominant policy paradigm promotes strategic risk management combined with affordable and proportionate risk mitigation, the case law analysed adopts a more risk averse and normative tone. There seems to be a clear dichotomy between the risk management approach of the main policy documents and actual practice, at least in the courts. The reasons for this divergence and some reflections on the future of the precautionary principle in the light of this evidence are discussed in the final sections. 2011); M. Nye, S. Tapsell and C. Twigger-Ross, "New social directions in UK flood risk management: moving towards flood risk citizenship?"
Judicial Interpretation of Planning Schemes Under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (Qld): The More Things Change
Environmental and planning law journal, 2005
Water Demand Management in South East Queensland 2005-2008: A case study of adaptation to climate change
Environmental and planning law journal, 2013
For a number of years, government and academic sources have labelled adaptation to climate change... more For a number of years, government and academic sources have labelled adaptation to climate change an issue for risk management. These sources have recommended methods and procedures for calculating the range of risks presented by climate change. However, analysing risk is only one part of the equation; the more intractable problem lies in deciding how to respond to those risks. The article explores how the risk threshold has been set in recent policy documents and in newly emergent legislation. It analyses two case studies -neither of which can claim unequivocal success -as test cases for the leading policy recommendations. Given the twists and turns in the law and policy at work in both case studies, it is questioned whether the risk threshold was set correctly in either case and also considered are what changes need to be made, both in setting the risk threshold and in determining the appropriate legal tools for that threshold.
All Stick and No Carrot Why Landholders are Fuming About Changes to Queensland's Vegetation Management Act and How We Could Have Done It Betterr
Social Science Research Network, 2018
Regulating Urban Containment in Australia Brisbane and Melbourne Compared
Queensland's South East Queensland Regional Plan, 2005- 2026 (SEQ Regional Plan) is the lates... more Queensland's South East Queensland Regional Plan, 2005- 2026 (SEQ Regional Plan) is the latest in a crop of regionally based, urban planning documents across Australia. Like other states, Queensland has finally acknowledged the environmental and economic consequences of urban sprawl. It has now accepted that solutions need to be managed and implemented on a regional scale that transcends existing local government boundaries. The SEQ Regional Plan canvasses a variety of measures and policies to address these issues.1 This paper compares the SEQ Regional Plan with its Melbourne equivalent, Melbourne 2030, and examines the legislative and regulatory measures flowing from each document. While the two documents differ on some details, overall they exhibit a very similar agenda. This may indicate an emerging 'Australian' approach to urban containment.
Integrated Planning in Queensland
The legal basis for Australian environmental planning and governance
Australian Environmental Planning, 2014
All Stick and No Carrot Why Landholders are Fuming About Changes to Queensland's Vegetation Management Act and How We Could Have Done It Betterr
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2018
Anything Goes? Perfomance Based Planning and the Slippery Slope in Queensland Planning Law
Social Science Research Network, Jul 18, 2017
Planning Reform Consultation Feedback on the Draft State Planning Policy (November 2016)
Social Science Research Network, Feb 7, 2017
Conservation Covenants: Are They Working and What Have We Learned?
Throughout Australia, various statutes provide for the conservation of nature on privately owned ... more Throughout Australia, various statutes provide for the conservation of nature on privately owned land. One method is by agreement with landowners who may enter into a permanent conservation covenant to protect and preserve natural heritage on their land. This article investigates how well land subject to a conservation covenant is actually managed, both in law and in practice, to achieve sustainable and perpetual conservation.
Scientific evidence of global warming is now unequivocal: the years 1995–2006 ranked among the 12... more Scientific evidence of global warming is now unequivocal: the years 1995–2006 ranked among the 12 warmest years since 1850; the Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk by an annual average of 2.7 per cent each decade since 1978; mountain glaciers and average snow cover have declined in both hemispheres; and the sea level has risen on average 1.8 mm per annum since 1960 (3.1 mm per annum since 1993). Other impacts on oceans and coasts include increasing acidification, more frequent tropical cyclones, storm surges and coastal erosion. Some effects, such as the increasing number and severity of extreme weather events, will be intermittent. Other impacts, such as sea level rise and loss of biodiversity, will be gradual but largely irreversible. Different regions are likely to experience rising sea level and changes to weather patterns, ocean currents, ocean temperature and storm surges to varying degrees. Unfortunately, Australia is particularly at risk. With over 80 per cent of its population...
Environmental, Planning and Climate Law in Queensland
Queensland has many sites of significant ecological and cultural value, some requiring specialise... more Queensland has many sites of significant ecological and cultural value, some requiring specialised regulation, and is home to many thousands of native species of animals, plants and insects found nowhere else on the planet. It continues to face significant challenges as to land use and the exploitation of natural resources. This important new book provides a detailed analysis of the legal framework in place in Queensland dealing with environment, planning and climate matters. It utilises a case study approach to trace the implementation of environmental law into practice. The authors examine the fragmented nature of environmental governance and the judicial application and interpretation of the law. They assess the effectiveness of this framework in the light of environmental principles. In doing so, they identify the challenges of current governance tools available to manage conflicting interests in land and resource use and discuss legal and policy options to address these issues....
Judicial Interpretation of Planning Schemes Under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (Qld): The More Things Change
Environmental and planning law journal, 2005
Built Environment eJournal, 2016
In 1998, Gunningham and Grabosky argued the case for a regulatory mix to be applied in the area o... more In 1998, Gunningham and Grabosky argued the case for a regulatory mix to be applied in the area of biodiversity conservation. Since their work was published, land clearing legislation, conservation covenants and ecosystem markets, have all played a growing role in biodiversity conservation in Australia. This article examines how well these developments contribute, individually and together, to an optimal regulatory mix for biodiversity conservation in Australia. It argues that, over the past two decades, what has transpired is a classic case of ‘divergent logics’ in which different regulatory tools often work in isolation or against each other. These divergent regulatory logics need to be addressed in order to move policy forward and to optimise the value of ecosystem markets. Some recent regulatory analyses help to identify the work still to be done.
Uploads
Papers by Philippa England