The South East Queensland Regional Plan 2005–2026 (SEQ Regional Plan) aims to manage the growth of the SEQ region in the most sustainable way possible. The SEQ Regional Plan requires an SEQ State of the Region Report to be prepared on a regular basis to monitor and assess the region’s progress towards sustainability.
The SEQ State of the Region Report has been developed based on the SEQ Regional Plan 2005–2026. The data and information contained in the SEQ State of the Region Report has informed the development of the draft SEQ Regional Plan 2009–2031 (draft SEQ Regional Plan). The publication of the SEQ State of the Region Report enables the SEQ community to provide comment on the draft SEQ Regional Plan based on accurate and relevant regional information.
The data is a snapshot in time, showing emerging patterns and trends up until the time of publication. Sustainability indicators are used to describe what aspects of the region are changing and in what direction. Collected over time, they provide a sound baseline to track and monitor progress.
Several successes and challenges have been highlighted in this report. The successes include:
1) SEQ continues to offer a good quality of life to residents and visitors.
2) The region has good air quality, sustainable fisheries, many scenic areas and extensive protected areas.
3) People in SEQ have a generally high standard of health, education and socioeconomic advantage
However, several challenges have also been identified, including:
1) We are continuing to use more than our share of global resources.
2) The region’s biodiversity is threatened by continuing loss of natural habitat and critical regional ecosystems.
3) Our ability to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle is limited by the declining availability of open space per capita.