REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
MELTON PLANNING SCHEME
AMENDMENT C157
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act), the Heritage Act 1995 and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 provide for the intervention of the Minister for Planning in planning and heritage processes.
In exercising my powers of intervention, I have agreed to:
§ Make publicly available written reasons for each decision; and
§ Provide a report to Parliament at least every twelve months detailing the nature of each intervention.
REQUEST FOR INTERVENTION
1. Melton City Council (council) has requested that I exempt myself from the notice requirements under section 20(4) of the Act and prepare, adopt and approve Amendment C157 to the Melton Planning Scheme to implement the Melton Housing Diversity Strategy Strategy May 2014 (the strategy) and the reformed residential zones.
2. There was no request to update the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the introduction of the reformed commercial zones.
WHAT POWER OF INTERVENTION IS BEING USED?
2. I have decided to exercise my powers to exempt myself from all the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the regulations in respect to Amendment C157 to the Melton Planning Scheme.
3. Section 20(4) of the Act enables the Minister for Planning to exempt an amendment which the Minister prepares from any of the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act or the regulations.
4. In seeking to exercise this power, section 20(4) of the Act requires that the Minister must consider that compliance with any of those requirements is not warranted or that the interests of Victoria or any part of Victoria make such an exemption appropriate.
BACKGROUND
Reformed residential zones
5. The Victorian State Government (the government) has a well-documented reform agenda which it made clear will be implemented by 1 July 2014.
6. Following significant public consultation from 17 July 2012 to 28 September 2012, the Reformed Zones Ministerial Advisory Committee considered the views of relevant agencies in formulating its recommendations on the form and content of the reformed residential zones. The government's response to these recommendations was published in March 2013. Publication of this agenda and timeframe for implementation has been made available through multiple sources including media releases, publications on the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure website, and particularly through the implementation of Amendment V8.
7. Amendment V8 was gazetted on 1 July 2013 and introduced the Residential Growth Zone, General Residential Zone and Neighbourhood Residential Zone into the Victoria Planning Provisions. The residential zones have been reformed to simplify requirements, allow a broader range of activities to be considered and better manage housing growth.
8. The reformed residential zones enable planning authorities to better specify strategic locations where increased densities should be provided and to limit residential change in areas where they wish to protect neighbourhood character, environmental and other characteristics. Being able to specify areas that should be protected from increased residential development mean that attributes that are highly valued by the community for specific areas and supported by strategic work undertaken by planning authorities can be given statutory effect in Victorian planning schemes.
Melton Housing Diversity Strategy 2013
9. In 2013, council commenced preparation of a housing diversity strategy in response to rapid population growth throughout the municipality and, in part, to the introduction of the reformed residential zones. The strategy is underpinned by analysis of demographic information, land supply/demand, urban design and planning provisions and provides a framework to manage future growth in the established residential areas of the municipality. The strategy also provides direction on the implementation of the reformed residential zones by identifying limited change, incremental change and substantial change areas.
10. The strategy was subject to an extensive consultation process which gave the community and stakeholders the opportunity to provide feedback to council prior to its final adoption.
11. The range of consultation activities included:
§ Updates on council’s website.
§ Notices in local media.
§ A mail-out of a summary brochure to residents.
§ A series of workshops and community “drop in” sessions, including:
Ø Key stakeholder workshops with a targeted audience comprising approximately 40 representatives from council, Victorian State Government departments/agencies, social housing organisations, land development companies and local resident groups. The outcomes of these workshops assisted in the identification of key housing issues affecting the municipality and informed the background reports.
Ø Community visioning and “drop in” sessions were held in Diggers Rest, Caroline Springs and Melton. These sessions provided the community with an opportunity to provide feedback on council’s initial work on the strategy and inform the development of the draft strategy.
Ø The draft strategy was released for public consultation on 16 December 2013 with submissions closing on 28 February 2014. During this period, the draft strategy was advertised in local media and via council’s website with copies of the draft strategy and associated background reports electronically available to any interested persons. Council also undertook a municipal-wide mail-out of a summary brochure “Having Your Say on Housing in Melton” and held three community “drop in” sessions to provide information and receive comments on the draft strategy. These sessions were again held in Diggers Rest, Caroline Springs and Melton and were attended by 61 residents.
12. Council received a total of 32 submissions to the draft strategy and the following key issues were raised:
§ There is both support and opposition to increased residential densities in Melton South.
§ The application of the reformed residential zones will impact on the existing neighbourhood character and amenity of existing residential areas, particularly in areas nominated for the RGZ.
§ An increase in housing densities will have impacts on surrounding roads and car parking.
§ The municipality needs site responsive, higher quality and more environmentally sustainable housing developments.
§ The application of the reformed residential zones in Melton and Caroline Springs should be changed.
§ The strategy should maintain, and provide for more, areas for low density housing.
§ The strategy should maintain the ability for non-residential uses to establish under the reformed residential zones.
§ The strategy should provide for social, retirement, aged care and special needs housing.
13. Council considered the submissions received during the consultation process and, as a result, several changes were made to the draft strategy, particularly in relation to the proposed zoning of the Kurunjang Ranches Estate. Council considered the submissions and the proposed changes at its meeting on 27 May 2014 and ultimately resolved to adopt the Melton Housing Diversity Strategy May 2014.
14. The amendment is required to implement the Melton Housing Diversity Strategy May 2014 and, more specifically, implement the reformed residential zones in the established residential areas of the municipality.
15. In particular, the amendment:
§ Amends Clause 21.01 (Snapshot of Melton City in 2014), Clause 21.02 (Key Issues in the City), Clause 21.03 (Planning Visions and Objectives for Melton), Clause 21.04 (Planning Strategies and Implementation for the City), Clause 21.05 (Implementation and Review), Clause 22.06 (Retailing Policy), Schedule 7 to the Special Use Zone, Schedule 1 to the Comprehensive Development Zone and Schedule 8 to the Development Plan Overlay to implement the strategy, refer to the reformed residential zones, provide updated information about the municipality and remove out-of-date policies.
§ Deletes Clause 22.01 (Residential Land Use Policy).
§ Inserts Clause 22.12 (Housing Diversity Policy) to guide housing growth within the established residential areas across the municipality.
§ Deletes Clause 32.01 (Residential 1 Zone) and the associated schedule from the Melton Planning Scheme.
§ Inserts Clause 32.07 (Residential Growth Zone) and Schedule 1 to the RGZ into the Melton Planning Scheme.
§ Amends Schedule 1 to the General Residential Zone (GRZ1).
§ Inserts Clause 32.09 (Neighbourhood Residential Zone) and Schedules 1 and 2 to the NRZ into the Melton Planning Scheme.
§ Amends the planning scheme maps to rezone residentially zoned land to the Residential Growth Zone (RGZ), General Residential Zone (GRZ) and Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ).
§ Amends the planning scheme maps to correct an anomaly in the zone boundary alignment between the RGZ and Comprehensive Development Zone in Caroline Springs.
§ Amends the planning scheme maps to apply the Commercial 1 Zone (C1Z) to all land in the Business 1 and 2 Zones (B1Z and B2Z) and the Commercial 2 Zone (C2Z) to all land in the Business 3 and 4 Zones (B3Z and B4Z).
Reformed commercial zones
16. The Commercial 1 and Commercial 2 Zones (C1Z and C2Z) were introduced into the Victoria Planning Provisions via Amendment VC100 which was gazetted on 15 July 2013.
17. In all cases, land zoned Business 1, Business 2 and Business 5 (B1Z, B2Z and B5Z) was converted to the C1Z while land zoned Business 3 and Business 4 (B3Z and B4Z) was converted to the C2Z.
18. This amendment updates the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the introduction of the reformed commercial zones.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
19. The main benefit of the exemption is that it will enable a prompt decision to be made on the adoption and approval of the amendment which will allow, without delay:
· The implementation of the Melton Housing Diversity Strategy May 2014 and the reformed residential zones, and
· An update of the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the introduction of the reformed commercial zones.
20. The exemption will enable the amendment to be gazetted promptly, allowing council to apply the reformed residential zones and update the commercial zone mapping; providing for the fair, orderly, economic and sustainable use and development of land; and balancing the present and future interests of all Victorians.
Effects of Exemption on Third Parties
21. The effect of the exemption is that third parties will not receive notice of the amendment and will not have the opportunity to make a submission or be heard by an independent panel in relation to the amendment.
22. Any parties who may be affected by the exemption were provided with the opportunity to comment on the draft strategy, including the limited change (i.e. NRZ), incremental change (i.e. GRZ) and substantial changes areas (i.e. RGZ), during the consultation process in 2013 and early 2014. These comments were considered by council prior to adoption of the strategy in May 2014.
23. A public exhibition process for the amendment is not likely to identify any new issues which were not considered by council as part of the abovementioned consultation process.
24. Council intends to undertake further strategic work to refine the reformed residential zones, including the preparation of a detailed neighbourhood character study to inform urban design guidelines and, if necessary, variations to the schedules to the reformed residential zones. Any variations to the schedules to the reformed residential zones will be subject to separate planning scheme amendments.
25. Council has requested the amendment to implement the reformed residential zones and is supportive of both the amendment and the exemption.
Assessment as to whether benefits of exemption outweigh effects on third parties
26. The main benefit of the exemption is that it will enable the implementation of the Melton Housing Diversity Strategy May 2014 and the reformed residential zones without delay. This benefit outweighs the effects of the changes on third parties having regard to council’s obligation to give effect to the government’s well-documented reform agenda as well as the extensive consultation process which was undertaken by council as part of its strategy.
27. Council intends to undertake further strategic work to refine the reformed residential zones, including the preparation of a detailed neighbourhood character study to inform urban design guidelines and, if necessary, variations to the schedules to the reformed residential zones. This further strategic work would be subject to a separate process of implementation.
28. The update to the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the reformed commercial zones will not impact on third parties as it does not change the zone of the land but provides clarity by accurately showing the zoning changes introduced via Amendment VC100.
29. Accordingly I consider that the benefits of exempting myself from sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act outweigh any effects of the exemption on third parties.
DECISION
30. I have decided to exercise my power to exempt myself from all the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the regulations in respect of Amendment C157 to the Melton Planning Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
13. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section 20(4) of the Act.
14. I am satisfied that -
Compliance with any of the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the regulations is not warranted because:
· The government has a clear agenda to reform residential zones across all planning schemes as evidenced by the introduction of Amendment V8, gazetted on 1 July 2013, and this amendment implements the reforms in the City of Melton.
· The application of the reformed residential zones is based on council’s adopted Melton Housing Diversity Strategy May 2014 which was subject to extensive consultation and the views of the community and key stakeholders have been reasonably considered by council.
· The update to the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the reformed commercial zones does not change the zone of the land but provides clarity by accurately showing the zoning changes introduced via Amendment VC100.
· The amendment to implement the reformed residential zones has been requested by council.
Signed by the Minister
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 11 July 2014