Thursday, 26 May 2022

Motions

Yarra Ranges planning scheme amendment

Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (10:38): I move:

That, pursuant to section 46D(1)(c) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, amendment 122 to the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan be approved.

This motion comes at the request of the Yarra Ranges Shire Council. It will amend the regional strategy plan to facilitate changes to the Yarra Ranges planning scheme to include more contemporary and effective planning divisions. Minister Wynne has adopted amendment 122 to the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan, and the council is supportive of amendment 122. The amendment does not change the urban growth boundary or subdivision provisions in green wedge areas. The benefits include removing the need for a permit for vegetation removal where it is not required by the planning scheme—this will ensure the regional strategy plan is consistent with existing planning overlays relating to vegetation and will assist with safe and efficient vegetation removal after storms or fires, removing a lot of the red tape and inconsistencies in the planning controls that apply in the Yarra Ranges; and deletion of the confusing and poorly defined term ‘major tourist facilities’. Finally, there is an update on the reference to restaurants so that they can be located in conjunction with agriculture, natural systems, outdoor recreation facilities, a rural industry or a winery rather than just tourism accommodation. I commend the motion to the house.

Ms BURNETT-WAKE (Eastern Victoria) (10:40): I rise to speak on the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan amendment. The Upper Yarra and Dandenong Ranges are very unique parts of the world. They are both breathtakingly beautiful areas despite being vastly different. Part of the magic of living in the Yarra Ranges comes from the fact that you can be out amongst the rolling hills at one point and a few turns later find yourself in the midst of the lush, ferny forests of the Dandenongs. Those of us who live there—and I know Ms Shing also lives up there—are truly lucky, and we do have the best of both worlds.

Now, I know from my time as a councillor on Yarra Ranges council that local government work incredibly hard to get right the balance between managing green wedges and other areas of significance with the need to create modern, livable communities. The regional strategy plan that we are speaking about today is something that has been in place since 1982, and it is all about protecting the landscape in a way that still allows for urban development. Yarra Ranges council opted to review its planning scheme, and this was conducted by an independent planning panel in late 2018. The recommendations of that review were considered by the Yarra Ranges council at a meeting in March 2019. Councillors resolved to adopt the amendment after receiving consultations and considering community submissions. The amendment was then sent to the Minister for Planning for approval, which is why we are seeking this amendment before us today. This is because any amendments to the planning scheme require consequential amendments to the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan.

There are numerous other changes here, but at its core this amendment has been introduced because council required an update to its planning scheme. This is because council have new and updated planning strategies that are not adequately reflected in the current scheme. Experience in dealing with the current planning scheme has revealed some aspects are difficult and confusing for the public, such as inconsistent wording and also double-ups. Considering this was discussed by the council in 2019 these changes have been a long time coming. Planning rules should now be a lot clearer, and regulations will now allow decisions to be progressed much faster, also ensuring better protections. This will allow my Yarra Ranges constituents the freedom to get on with their lives and business.

It is good to see the update of the regional strategy consistent with the planning scheme, particularly in the areas of green wedge zones. Green wedge zones are a product of forward thinking by past Liberal MP and Premier Rupert Hamer. He said that the future planning of Melbourne should take account of the surrounding countryside as a vital part of the metropolitan environment, and he could not have been more right. We do need to counter the urban sprawl and protect vital parts of our landscape, and I know that Yarra Ranges Shire Council are committed to getting that balance right with the urban growth boundary. I think it is important that policy is consistently updated to match current circumstances. This policy must continue to be firmly adhered to alongside common sense so we can maintain these green wedge areas for our future generations. Our future generations too should be able to enjoy the balance of city and country whilst preserving and protecting our green wedges and areas of significance.

Ms SHING (Eastern Victoria) (10:43): Thanks, President. You did not think you were going to escape without me wanting to have a word on this planning scheme amendment, I would hope, on the Thursday of a long sitting week. I want to make a few contributions to this particular planning scheme amendment. I echo, on a point of what is increasingly rare agreement, Ms Burnett-Wake’s sentiments about the diversity within the Yarra Ranges Shire Council boundaries. It is a huge area, relatively speaking, for different economic and central activity district townships, such as Lilydale and Mooroolbark, on the one hand, right through to the I would say rural areas within the Yarra Valley, which are characterised by land that is reliant upon a visitor economy and upon primary production and agriculture. Anyone who has ever seen the Yarra Valley in full flight with hot air balloons and tourist buses will know it is a real drawcard for the state in terms of tourist attendances, expenditure and indeed the wonderful brand that we have across the Yarra Valley.

We do know that there has been a fair degree of complexity with the planning schemes as they have previously operated. We know that, for example, after storms and other major events such as bushfires there have been issues associated with vegetation removal which has required planning permits for removal of that vegetation at a time when people have so many other things to do that applying for a permit for these purposes is just another layer of stress. Anyone who saw the Yarra Valley after the bushfires would know that businesses were devastated—everything from smoke taint to vineyards right through to, out near Yarra Glen, these patches of black and white where previously everything had been so lush and so productive and indeed so valuable. So making sure that we can accommodate the realities of the planning scheme framework and making sure that we have a practical opportunity to assist the council with the work that it is undertaking but also assist residents, ratepayers and businesses to do what they do without those avoidable encumbrances is important.

This motion, as has been indicated, comes at the request of the Yarra Ranges Shire Council to amend the regional strategy plan to facilitate those changes on these contemporary and effective planning solutions. One of the things that I think is also important to note is that amendment 122 does not change any of the urban growth boundary definitions or change any subdivision provisions in green wedge areas. This is a really important point to note. The green wedge system and framework was developed to provide lungs for the city and to make sure that with the benefit of early planning we could see a population grow in a way which continued to maintain access to green space and continued to maintain access to breaks between low-, medium- and indeed increasingly high-rise developments as we see the outer urban and peri-urban areas of Melbourne continue to grow.

We have got broad support from council for the way in which the amendments have been couched around removing red tape and inconsistencies. We have also seen that there has been a very clear process of public exhibition of notices and of communication with the community around what these changes will mean. So this is part and parcel of the work that the Yarra Ranges Shire Council has been doing for some time, not just in understanding the practical consequences of a planning and permit framework which has created inconvenience and difficulty but also in meeting the challenge of that careful balance that needs to be struck around achieving the objectives of a strategy plan whilst also making sure that the utility of the planning framework is not so onerous that it presents an unwieldiness which costs businesses and properties and families time and money and indeed provides a source of great confusion—and avoidable confusion at that.

We also see amendment C148 to implement the Yarra Ranges Shire Council planning scheme review. These reviews are required every few years to make sure that schemes are up to date with new policies as well as technology and strategic vision. Across the board we see councils increasingly embracing the way in which technology and strategic planning are incorporated not just in everyday decision-making but in the longer term medium and long horizon events that will define the way in which councils function in every way, from the way in which decisions are taken within the planning framework to what those councils will be overseeing, as far as community growth and development go, for many years to come. So councils are keenly aware of this, and it is an important part of what this amendment looks like. Again, that amendment was subject to public discussion and exhibition, and it has been done in a really transparent way.

Now, by way of background, the Minister for Planning has adopted amendment 122 to the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan, but this adoption and the ratification need to be provided by both chambers of Parliament. This is a really important accountability mechanism to make sure that transparency is incorporated into the process for this planning scheme amendment, and again it does need to be underscored that it does not change urban growth boundaries or indeed the green wedge geography or framework as a consequence of its passage.

These are the things that I did want to place on the record, including a reference to intensive agricultural policy areas dealt with elsewhere in the planning scheme being removed and making sure that there is an amendment to update any reference to restaurants so that they can be located in conjunction with agriculture, natural systems, outdoor recreation facilities, rural industries or a winery rather than just tourist accommodation. I am thinking in this instance of St Huberts, Yering Station and others which are in a position to provide accommodation onsite as well as restaurants and to host events.

This is about making sure that there is a further opportunity for businesses such as these to be developed in a careful and considered and balanced way while also continuing to be a tourist drawcard. We know that the chocolaterie in the Yarra Valley is a hugely popular tourist destination. It draws thousands of people every day to its doors and its clutches as far as amazing locally produced chocolate is concerned, and I do confess to having been a frequent flyer of their product offering over time. But this is about making sure that the range of offerings across the Yarra Valley are broad, enticing, hospitable and adequately appointed. This is again an important part of making sure that when people come to the Yarra Valley to enjoy a hot air balloon ride or to enjoy the extraordinary, again sampled—I can put this on the record—firsthand by me, offerings of places like the Yarra Glen bakery they are in a position also to take a walk amongst the vines, to enjoy the beautiful natural surrounds and to make sure also that they can get a great feed in a world-class facility at the same time, or even stop to get married, which is something that we are seeing in increasing numbers since restrictions were lifted.

This is an important amendment. It is an amendment which gives effect to practical changes, reduces inconvenience and provides a greater measure of consistency. It has been put forward by the council and subjected to rigorous processes of public consultation and engagement. I do look forward to the passage of this amendment and the way in which it will provide a more equal set of opportunities across the Yarra Valley. I look forward to continuing to see the council provide that engagement and direct support and assistance to everyone across its LGA, including those businesses which operate in and rely upon a solid, balanced and accessible mechanism for decisions to be made about their futures economically, environmentally and in the context of decision-making to help them to flourish.

I commend this amendment to the house. I am looking forward to seeing its speedy passage and ratification through both houses in accordance with the requirements of the act following the Minister for Planning’s decision.

Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (10:52): I will be very brief. My colleague has made some commentary on this. The planning amendment that is proposed here is in one sense straightforward—that, under section 46D(1)(c) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, amendment 122 of the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges regional strategy plan be approved. As has been pointed out, this has been requested by the Yarra Ranges council. There has been a panel process, it was supported by the panel, and in that sense the opposition is supportive of this step. I understand the logic in enabling a range of facilities to have some greater flexibility under these arrangements. I understand the points made about native vegetation and buildings and works.

I do put on record a caution about the changes relating to the historically significant buildings and features in each centre. Just to be clear, while there will be equivalent protections in the planning scheme, I do want to put on record that they are more easily tampered with than is the case in a regional plan of this type. Removing some of the plain English words suits planners and suits those who would like to see consistency across the state, but it also carries some risk that a future government—and I am not making accusations here—could more easily tamper with what would be long-term protections that I think most people would desire.

I am not opposed to regional planning schemes of the old-fashioned nature that provide clear and strong protections. Notwithstanding that, in this case this has been through a rigorous process and the opposition is supportive. Ms Burnett-Wake, as a former councillor, has a deep understanding of these matters and the precise geography and areas in question. I pay tribute to her work and her contribution at the Yarra Ranges council and since.

Motion agreed to.