Wednesday, 14 August 2024

 David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (09:52): I have heard experienced members of this place talk about committee inquiries that are sometimes ignored or which gather dust, so I was delighted to see that the City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne Committee was straight out of the blocks in responding to the 2022 flood inquiry. The inquiry recognised that floods do not respect local government boundaries, yet we expect individual councils to manage flood overlays in isolation from their neighbouring councils. Accordingly, the Environment and Planning Committee recommended that the state government coordinate a regional approach to planning scheme changes that are addressing, for example, flood overlays. Given the startling new flood modelling for the Maribyrnong River, this resolution from the City of Melbourne calls on the Minister for Planning to coordinate a single planning scheme amendment process that spans the cities of Melbourne, Maribyrnong and Moonee Valley. I hear people talking about councils being slow to respond, but I have to say that that has not been my experience, and that is certainly not reflected in this unanimous resolution from the City of Melbourne. Congratulations to council for their initiative and plaudits to councillors Rohan Leppert and Davydd Griffiths, who moved and seconded the motion respectively. I would also like to recognise Cr Leppert, who has been a talented and tireless advocate for his local community and is moving on after 12 years on council.