Draft Options Paper, Growth Management and Housing Strategy
Consultation has concluded.
Growth Management and Housing - Options Paper endorsed
Council has officially endorsed the Growth Management and Housing Options Paper, a key document which will set the direction for managing housing and employment growth until 2041.
The Options Paper was developed following extensive consultation with residents in early 2024, which heard from more than 1,200 people across four information sessions, nine drop-in opportunities and two online sessions across the Shire.
This feedback helped to inform the final version, which was endorsed at the April 2025 Council meeting. In this version, many of the initially identified sites were either removed from consideration or refined in scope.
Summary of the growth strategy for the Tweed for the next 20 years:
- Support existing Greenfield development sites and continue to work with current developers to bring these sites to market.
- Review planning controls for Tweed Heads to ensure building heights and densities align with its role as Tweed’s Regional City.
- Explore additional urban infill opportunities to increase employment and housing opportunities within proximity of the Banora Point business zones and along part of Minjungbal Drive.
- Review opportunities for additional low-rise housing diversity in locations with good access to shops, services and public transport.
- Review opportunities for additional housing diversity across Land and Housing Corporation lands within proximity to Tweed Valley Hospital.
- Review opportunities for additional rural housing flexibility including rural workers dwellings, secondary dwellings (granny flats) on land greater than 10ha and detached dual occupancy on land greater than 40ha.
- Review the “dwelling entitlement” process to enable rural allotments subject to certain land criteria, to lodge a development application for a dwelling to be assessed on merit.
- Bring forward employment land opportunities at several key strategically located sites.
Council will now begin drafting the Growth Management and Housing Strategy which will be exhibited for community feedback in 2025.
- View the Council report (including resolution) on the final Growth Management and Housing Options Paper
- View the Council resolution on the Growth Management and Housing Options Paper
Options Paper and strategy differences
While the Options Paper and strategy are linked, the purpose of each document differs:
The Options Paper:
- Provides a range of opportunities to be refined or culled prior to transfer to the next stage of the project.
- Establishes the framework upon which the strategy will be built in the next stage of the project.
- Identifies matters to be further investigated in the next stage (strategy stage).
The draft strategy will:
- Clearly establish the 20 year growth outlook, needs, challenges and vision framework for the Tweed.
- Provide more detail in relation to constraints and development opportunities across the endorsed change options.
- Provide a strategic planning delivery program for implementing the final recommendations.
- Match an infrastructure and service delivery timeframe against each of the endorsed options.
- Enable advocacy with all levels of government and industry to overcome impediments.
- Be presented for exhibition late-2025.
Project update November 2024
Thank you Tweed for having your say!
After extensive consultation with Tweed residents in March and April 2024, Council heard from more than 1,200 people.
Themes that dominated community response included flooding, preservation of amenity and character, exploring opportunities for rural village expansion and rural housing, as well as concern expressed about growth implications associated with traffic and parking.
Once adopted by Council, the final Options Paper will form the basis for the Draft Strategy which will be exhibited for community feedback in 2025.
Breakdown of engagement: 
Project overview
The Tweed is growing and changing. To achieve greater housing choice and diversity, we need to identify where new housing and potential employment land might be located in the future.
This type of planning is critical to the way the Tweed region develops over the next 20 years, and how it will look, feel and function.
We are developing the Tweed’s plan to manage housing and employment growth: the draft Options Paper is the next step in the process.
During this stage we are asking for community input so that we can make sure the project is on the right track.
This project was open for feedback until 4pm, Friday 22 March 2024.
What we asked the community
We want you to have your say on a range of suggested options that might help accommodate our growing population and workforce until 2041. About the options:
- These options propose ways we can increase the supply of additional housing and employment land across the Tweed.
- Some options relate to specific locations while some relate to the whole of the Tweed.
- The proposed options, or changes, will be incremental and may (or may not) take place over time. It is important to note that not everybody will be impacted and not all changes will be taken up overnight or over the intended 20-year period.
Feedback is being sought on any likes, dislikes, or suggestions to how changes within the draft Options Paper might be improved - this includes changes that may not have been considered.
What is included in the Draft Options Paper?
The draft Options Paper sets out a range of changes that have the potential to support the Tweed in the future in how it can meet key growth challenges in a sustainable way through to 2041.
The draft Options paper includes:
- 10 key considerations for planned growth. These considerations, developed with community feedback, have directly informed the preparation of the changes detailed in the draft Options Paper.
- 83 proposed changes. While the main focus of these changes is increasing housing density in areas already populated, a range of growth opportunities have also been proposed in the rural areas and greenfield areas of the Tweed.
- Potential housing supply options - potential areas identified to accommodate future housing supply include: Tweed Heads, Tweed Heads South, Banora Point, Kingscliff, Pottsville, Murwillumbah, Burringbar and Uki.
- Future employment opportunities - areas identified to accommodate future employment growth include: Central Tweed, Cobaki - Terranora, Eastern Hinterland, Murwillumbah, Rural West, Tweed Mid Coast, Tweed South Coast.
The draft Options Paper is broken into two sections. The front section provides background to the project and the considerations that have informed the changes detailed. The back section includes each proposed change, the associated map and the rationale for the change.
- Digital book format
- PDF format
or view a hardcopy at one of our administration offices.
View the proposed change maps in detail using the interactive mapping tool. For the best experience view the interactive map on a PC or laptop.
Consultation has concluded.
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Community members contribute to Issues Paper
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During early-stage consultation with the community in August and September 2022, the Growth Management and Housing Strategy page on Your Say Tweed received 900 visits.
Representatives from local resident and ratepayer groups, community groups, local urban planning consultants and interested residents from across the shire attended interactive Community Briefing Sessions to learn more about the project and share their views on how they would like to see the Tweed grow and what should be considered when planning for the future of housing and employment land.
Almost 300 people completed the online survey. 40% of survey respondents have lived in the Tweed more than 20 years, 39% between 10-20 years and the remainder moved to the Tweed in the last 10 years.
A sample of what we heard
- The natural environment, access to the coastline and rural landscapes are part of what makes the Tweed a great place to live.
- Local people value our open, green space and scenic views, our lifestyle and the convenience of living close to services and facilities.
- People want to see bushland, tree-lined streets and the Tweed's heritage, character and identity preserved. They also want to see improved transport infrastructure and service (roads, public transport, walkways and cycleways). Housing affordability is also highly valued.
- The majority of people who participated in the consultation indicated that they think population growth should be accommodated either as redevelopment within existing residential areas of the Tweed or a combination of existing and outside existing residential areas. Many accepted that this might mean that medium to higher density dwellings such as residential flat buildings and townhouses or smaller-sized suburban blocks with detached or semi-detached houses and smaller yard space may be needed to accommodate this growth.
- The vast majority of people felt that it was very important for the Tweed to have bushland/rural/urban breaks to separate our built-up urban areas and our rural towns.
Community feedback and contributions will help inform the development of an Issues Paper alongside input from the Project Reference Group, other stakeholder engagement and research. The draft Issues Paper will be placed on Public Exhibition for further comment before being finalised.
Video
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The Tweed is growing. Where we live, the ways we work and the types of houses we live in are changing. Over the next 20 years our population is expected to grow by 30,000 people and some 11, 000 jobs will potentially be created. To plan for these changes, Council is developing a Growth Management and Housing Strategy (GMHS), a plan to guide growth across the Tweed in a way that maintains our connected communities, unique character and natural environment.
Key documents
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Council Resolution on final Options Paper_3 April 2025.pdf
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Council Report on final Options Paper including Council Resolution_3 April 2025.pdf
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GMHS PSA Draft Options Paper (37.7 MB) (pdf)
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Draft Options Paper Discussion Document.pdf (397 KB) (pdf)
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Issues Paper.pdf (113 MB) (pdf)
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GMHS Draft Options Paper Submission Form.pdf (105 KB) (pdf)
Supporting documents
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Council Resolution on final Options Paper_3 April 2025.pdf (84.6 KB) (pdf)
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Council Report on final Options Paper including Council Resolution_3 April 2025.pdf (29.8 MB) (pdf)
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Economic Assessment (1.02 MB) (pdf)
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GMHS - Interim Report - B&B - Appendix 1 - Housing Needs Assessment.pdf (4.79 MB) (pdf)
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GMHS - Interim Report - B&B - Appendix 2 - Employment Land Strategy.pdf (8.55 MB) (pdf)
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GMHS - Issues Paper - B&B - Economic Assessment.pdf (1.02 MB) (pdf)
Related project
Tweed Affordable Housing Strategy
We are seeking community feedback on the following:
- How do you feel about new social and affordable housing development potentially being integrated within your neighbourhood?
- Would you accept higher density forms of housing, which is essential for financial feasibility?
- Can you think of potential solutions or options to improve the supply and choice of social and affordable housing?
- Have you considered what other ways may exist to support very low to low-income earners in terms of accessing housing and essential support services?
