This Guideline was produced for the Regional Open Space System (ROSS) unit within the Department of Lands, Queensland, at an early date in the lifetime of the by the ROSS (launched July 1994). It was commissioned because the town planners on the ROSS Committee (an interdepartmental steering committee) were not enthusiastic about the land purchase program that the Department began to pursue vigorously and wanted to emphasise protecting open space by statutory planning schemes and development control.
This difference of approach festered until ultimately it destroyed the ROSS. The saga is explained in a narrative on PaRC’s sister website.