The RCKRA Project site and the WBCWRR Project site are split by the M1 corridor, with intensive industrial and commercial land uses clustered on the eastern side of the M1 and a mix of industrial, residential and rural residential uses on the western side of the M1.

In a land use context, the RCKRA Project site is located in where the surrounding types of land use change. Old Coach Road acts as a transition point for urban activities (east) moving towards more non-urban or less intensive residential development (west). Of note:

• There is a pocket of land zoned for low impact industry uses located to the north-east of the RCKRA Project site. This land is accessed via the M1 and Oyster Creek Drive. Whilst zoned Low impact industry, it has historically been used for more intensive activities, including waste disposal (landfill) activities. More recently, the landfill has moved into the rehabilitation stage, noting resource recovery activities are continuing. The parts of this land adjoining the M1 have been used by contractors delivering the M1 upgrade.

• Pockets of residential and rural residential uses adjoin the RCKRA Project site. The more intensive residential uses are located on the opposite side of Old Coach Road, known as Old Burleigh Town. The residential uses on the western side of Old Coach Road tend to be more isolated pockets of residential development or larger rural residential development.

• The RCKRA Project site is directly adjoining and surrounded by various land parcels identified for open space and conservation uses.

Whilst the WBCWRR Project site is only separated from the RCKRA Project site by approximately 500m (property boundary to property boundary), it has a different land use context. The WBCWRR Project site is at the south-eastern extent of the Burleigh Heads industrial precinct. In this regard, the following is noted:

• The WBCWRR Project site is included within the Extractive industry zone, which reflects a committed resource area that acknowledges the WBCWRR Project site’s KRA designation and existing use as a hard rock quarry.
• The WBCWRR Project site forms part of the highly valuable Burleigh Heads Industrial Precinct, being one of the few industrial precincts in the Gold Coast that accommodates high impact industrial activities. The diverse mix of industrial uses accommodated in this precinct is reflected in the graduated zoning, with Low impact industry zoning acting as buffer to the more intensive Medium and High impact zoned land, generally located to the north-west of the WBCWRR Project site, on the opposite side of Southport-Burleigh Road.
• The Burleigh Heads Industrial Precinct already contains several waste and resource recovery activities, including the Council’s Reedy Creek putrescible landfill and resource recovery facility. The Council’s Reedy Creek putrescible landfill is an active general waste landfill, which is one of only two remaining Council owned landfills on the Gold Coast, the other being the Stapylton landfill facility located approximately 45km to the north. Council has identified through various public materials that the remaining landfilling capacity of both Council owned facilities will be exhausted by the next decade, based on current rates of waste disposal. 
• In addition to the intensive industrial character of the area, the WBCWRR Project site adjoins a pocket of low-density residential area to the north-east, along Plantation Road and Dulcie Drive (and broader Skyline Terrace area to the north-east). Although this low-density residential area is proximate to the existing intensive industrial activities, there are notable topographical features, including vertical separation, that provide relief.