Laws that govern resort developments in Queensland are being overhauled to give more power to residents over land use and zoning issues.

Parliament has passed interim amendments that will modernize out-of-date body corporate and planning laws.

It's been more than 20 years since resort laws were substantially updated and Stirling Hinchliffe, minister for infrastructure and planning, says it's time that laws for Sanctuary Cove Resort, Royal Pines Resort, Hope Island Resort, Kingfisher Bay Resort, Laguna Whitsundays Resort and the Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas Resort to be modernised.

"The Integrated Resort Development Act (IRDA) 1987 and Sanctuary Cove Resort Act 1985 were only ever designed to help the resorts develop over a 10-year time frame," Hinchliffe said. "All parties agree that the current systems are failing to address modern issues."

The amendments have a strong focus on residential input, and in the case of the Sanctuary Cove Resort, there will be a limit of 2,000 residential developments in residential zones and, through a subsequent regulation, the government intends to restrict residential development to residential zones.

Scott Bradley, partner at resort-specialists Grounds Kent Architects, believes that the amendments will bring resort development laws in line with current planning philosophies, which take into account residential feedback as well as environmental and sustainability concerns.

"Residents will be able to voice their concerns and there will potentially be planning codes put in place that will let them have affect," he said.

As well as environmental and sustainability, overshadowing and privacy are becoming more of a concern for residents in resort developments. These issues "certainly weren't addressed in the IRDA", Bradley said.

"Original IRDA documents are very brief and they don't give you much detail - they're very broad and they have the ability to be interpreted liberally," he said.

The interim reforms will be implemented over the next few months and will give resort residents greater access to their body corporate decision makers, tighten rules on body corporate representation and management and clear up misconceptions about voting and the use of proxies.

It would also ensure that residents be consulted on any proposed land use or zoning amendment and improve their influence in decision-making processes if such an application is made.