Show Cause Notice from Logan City Council? What To Do Next

A show cause notice from Logan City Council is a formal letter saying council believes vegetation clearing, tree removal or earthworks happened on your land without the approval it thinks was needed. It is not a fine and not a finding against you: it is an invitation to respond, and the response window, usually 20 business days, is the part that matters most. Envirosphere prepares that response and the ecological assessment and rehabilitation plan that usually goes with it.

What does a show cause notice from Logan City Council mean?

Logan issues show cause notices under section 167 of the Planning Act 2016, the Queensland law that makes it an offence to carry out assessable development without a permit. In Logan, clearing protected native vegetation is operational work, so it sits under that part of the Act.

The notice sets out what council understands happened and invites you to explain why enforcement action should not be taken. You get at least 20 business days, and Logan will consider an extension if you ask before the date on the letter.

An enforcement notice is one step further on: specific directions, a timeframe, and 20 business days to appeal to the Planning and Environment Court. For vegetation clearing the Act lets council skip straight to that step, so read your letter carefully. The same Queensland process applies whichever council sent the letter, and our general guide to show cause notices walks through it.

What will Logan City Council expect you to provide?

Each notice is different, so the first job is to read yours. To regularise clearing under Logan’s planning scheme, or to answer an enforcement notice, council will usually expect some combination of these.

• An operational works application for vegetation clearing, lodged on DA Form 1 with Logan’s Operational Works Application Vegetation Management Checksheet and a clearing plan.
• An ecological assessment report under Planning scheme policy 3, basic or detailed depending on the mapping, prepared by a suitably qualified ecologist.
• An environmental offset report and restoration offset (the rehabilitation plan). Under Planning scheme policy 3, Logan’s restoration offset, one of three offset types in that policy, is two square metres replanted per square metre cleared in the primary area (plus 20 square metres per native habitat tree), and two trees per native tree (four per native habitat tree) in the secondary area.
• Restoration of the land as far as practicable, which an enforcement notice can direct, with a date attached.

A financial settlement offset can sometimes stand in for replanting, but not for vegetation mapped in the waterway corridors and wetlands overlay. We will tell you which route fits your block once we have read the notice.

How does an ecologist respond to a Logan show cause or enforcement notice?

1. Read the notice and confirm the deadline. Send us the whole letter with any attachments. We check which overlay council has relied on and ask for an extension in writing if genuinely needed.
2. Assess the site. An ecologist walks the block, identifies what was cleared and compares old and current aerials to fix the area involved.
3. Write the plan. We prepare the ecological assessment and rehabilitation management plan in the format council expects, matched to the regional ecosystem that was there before. We propose what is fair for the area affected, not more, because whatever a plan promises becomes your obligation.
4. Deal with council. We lodge the response, answer the questions that come back and make the amendments council asks for; in our experience that round of changes is normal.
5. See it through. Once the plan is accepted we can run the monitoring and council sign off meetings over the following year.

Which Logan overlays protect vegetation, and when does clearing need approval?

The scheme in force is the Logan Planning Scheme 2015, version 9.2, which commenced on 1 July 2025. Logan Plan 2025, the replacement scheme, is still being prepared, so the 2015 scheme applies to clearing today.

The Biodiversity areas overlay code (section 8.2.2) uses maps OM-02.00 to OM-02.04, including the Vegetation management areas map OM-02.01, the Biodiversity corridors map OM-02.02 (biodiversity and koala corridors) and the Locally significant vegetation map OM-02.03. The Waterway corridors and wetlands overlay code (section 8.2.12) uses maps OM-14.00 to OM-14.03.

In the primary vegetation management area all native vegetation is protected. In the secondary area it is native trees (over four metres tall, or 31.5 centimetres trunk circumference at 1.3 metres) and native habitat trees (220 centimetres circumference, or any hollow).

Under the scheme’s tables of assessment, small clearing can be accepted development where no corridor or locally significant vegetation is mapped: up to 150 square metres of non-tree native vegetation in the primary area (a cumulative total for the lot), or fewer than 10 native trees in the secondary area. It still has to meet the code, including replacement planting. Anything more is code assessable, and there are no exemptions inside the waterway overlay.

The exemptions in Tables 5.10.2.1.1 to 5.10.2.1.5 cover fuel reduction around a house and fire control lines, but the small lot exemption does not apply in the Rural, Rural residential or Emerging community zones or the Acreage precinct. Check your mapping in the Logan PD Hub or Logan ePlan.

We cover Logan’s acreage and rural residential country: Greenbank, New Beith, Park Ridge, Logan Reserve, Munruben, Chambers Flat, Stockleigh, Buccan, Logan Village, Cedar Grove, Cedar Vale, Mundoolun, North and South Maclean, Bahrs Scrub, the parts of Jimboomba outside the Greater Flagstone PDA, and the Logan side of Tamborine. Flagstone, Yarrabilba and PDA land around Jimboomba sit in state Priority Development Areas with their own rules. We also cover show cause notices from the City of Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Regional Council.

Why do Logan landowners use Envirosphere for the rehabilitation management plan?

• No judgement. Many people who call cleared for a fence line, a fire break or a building pad and did not know an overlay applied.
• Plain English, a clear written fee proposal before any work starts, and a free first call. See our services.
• We do the back and forth with council and work alongside your lawyer or engineer where needed.
• Honest about outcomes: every matter is a negotiation with council, so we tell you what usually happens rather than promise a result.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to respond to a Logan show cause notice?

Council’s guidance says a response is not compulsory, but in our experience not responding is the worst option. It is your chance to say what you will do before council decides on an enforcement notice.

How long do I have, and can I get more time?

The Planning Act requires at least 20 business days. Logan will consider an extension if you ask before the deadline, and in our experience short extensions are often granted when a plan is on the way.

Did I actually need approval to clear on my Logan block?

That depends on what is mapped on your lot. If the Biodiversity areas overlay applies and neither an exemption nor the small-scale accepted development thresholds fit, clearing native vegetation needs a development permit. Inside the Waterway corridors and wetlands overlay any clearing of native vegetation needs approval. We check the mapping and the tables first.

What is the fine for clearing without approval in Logan?

The Planning Act 2016 sets a court maximum of 4,500 penalty units, which is more than $770,000 at the current Queensland penalty unit value. That figure is standard wording on notices, not a typical outcome: for most show cause matters the real cost is the rehabilitation work, and each matter is a negotiation with council.

Can council make me replant?

Yes, usually. Under Planning scheme policy 3, Logan’s restoration offset is two square metres replanted per square metre cleared in the primary vegetation management area, and two trees per native tree or four per native habitat tree in the secondary area.

Can I get retrospective approval?

It is possible. An operational works application can be lodged after the event to regularise the clearing, with the ecological assessment Logan’s planning scheme policy asks for. Council decides it on the merits, so nobody can promise the result, and once you apply the Act expects you to see it through.

What if I got an enforcement notice instead of a show cause notice?

For vegetation clearing, the Act allows council to skip the show cause step. An enforcement notice lists specific actions and dates, with 20 business days to appeal to the Planning and Environment Court. Lodging an appeal does not always pause the directions in the notice, so check the dates in your letter and get advice before the first one falls due.

Will the notice show up when I sell?

Councils generally keep a record of open compliance matters against the property, and a court enforcement order can be recorded on the title and bind future owners.

Last reviewed 19 October 2026. Prepared by Tim Fergusson-Calwell, Director, Envirosphere Environmental Consulting, Gold Coast, Queensland.