Special purpose zone
Part of: Other zones
Defined purposes that don't fit any other zone — airports, ports, defence sites, electricity substations, water treatment, prisons, train stations.
Key Controls and Considerations
- •Site-specific use defined in scheme
- •Often state-controlled
- •May trigger SARA referrals
- •Heritage controls common (defence sites, historic stations)
How QLD zones work in practice
Each zone has a Land Use Table in the council planning scheme that classifies uses as accepted development (no DA needed), code-assessable (assessed against benchmarks only), impact-assessable (broad merit assessment with public notification), or prohibited. The same use is treated differently in different zones.
Zone controls are only one layer. Your project must also comply with applicable development assessment pathways, overlays (heritage, flood, bushfire, koala), state-level controls (State Planning Policy + SARA referrals), and any title restrictions (covenants, easements, registered dealings).
What does this zone mean for your specific QLD property?
Find your council's online mapping tool with our free finder, or talk to a QLD planner for complex matters.