Retaining Wall Planning and Hazard Areas in Launceston

What retaining wall planning and hazard areas in Launceston actually involves

The City of Launceston says planning controls the use and development of land, and building, including plumbing, environmental health requirements and engineering standards, controls how the development will be constructed. Every property has a zone and unique use and development controls, the City says, and PlanBuild Tasmania's planning enquiry for a property shows the zone and code standards which may apply. The City adds that some codes in the Tasmanian Planning Scheme are not identified by maps but may still be relevant to a use or development. Whether a retaining wall needs a planning permit in Launceston is not stated on any page we read.

What the State says about hazard areas

The Director of Building Control's Determination lists, among the Standard Limitations that low-risk work must meet, work in natural Hazard Areas, with bushfire, landslip, riverine inundation (flooding), coastal inundation and coastal erosion named. It says some types of Low Risk Work are elevated to Notifiable Work because of the potential higher risks from work in hazardous areas. It points to separate Determinations for what those areas require. We have not read them, so we cannot say what a mapped landslip band or flood overlay changes for a wall.

What the planning scheme maps

The planning scheme's Launceston Local Provisions Schedule, which the City says came into effect on 14 September 2022, carries a Landslip Hazard Code applied by reference to four bands (low, medium, medium-active and high) and a Flood-prone Hazard Areas Code, read from the Tasmanian Government's LIST on 6 October 2026. The flood code's purpose, in the planning scheme's words, is "To preclude development on land that will unreasonably affect flood flow or be affected by permanent or periodic flood." Whether a wall counts as development under either code is for the City to say.

A neighbouring council, and the City's fence page

Meander Valley Council, a neighbouring council and not Launceston, says in its own checklist that building approval is not required for a retaining wall that meets its criteria, but a planning permit or plumbing approval may still be required. That is Meander Valley's checklist, not Launceston's rule. The City of Launceston's Boundary Walls and Fences page is about fences between properties, and its rules are worded for fences. It states no retaining wall rule, and nothing on this site treats it as one.

The City asks you to contact the Council Building Department before commencing any building or plumbing work, and it can say whether the codes bear on your block. Mineral Resources Tasmania says its landslide maps are not intended to be used for making development decisions on a block-by-block basis in the absence of a suitable geotechnical report, so a map on its own does not answer for an address. The suburb pages show the sources for four localities.

Retaining Wall Planning and Hazard Areas in Launceston — common questions

Can a wall need a planning permit but no building permit?

The Determination says yes: some work may require a planning permit, and not a building permit, or vice versa.

Does a hazard area change the rules for a low-risk wall?

The Determination lists work in natural Hazard Areas among the limits on low-risk work, and says some low-risk work is elevated to Notifiable in hazardous areas. What a mapped band changes is in separate Determinations we have not read.

Where can I see which codes apply to my block?

The City points to PlanBuild Tasmania's planning enquiry, which shows the zone and code standards that may apply to a property.