Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Riddells Creek planning

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (17:50): (1081) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning, and it concerns the draft Macedon Ranges planning scheme amendment C161, which the minister is currently considering. The action that I seek is for the minister to pause the decision-making process for this planning scheme amendment until an independent review and audit of the public submissions for the consultation and an audit of Engage Victoria’s handling of those submissions have been conducted. This planning scheme amendment proposes to alter and adopt the Amess Road Precinct Structure Plan to enable a housing development on Amess Road in Riddells Creek. The consultation period for this amendment and permit application closes today, 27 August, after which the minister will assess the submissions and make a decision, but I am asking the minister to pause the decision-making process and start again because the local community has lost trust in the integrity of the consultation for this controversial development proposal.

The current population of Riddells Creek is about 4500 people, and this development would almost double the town’s population by building 1360 homes to accommodate about 3800 new residents. The draft plan is completely out of keeping with the character of the rural town and goes against long-term planning principles adopted by the shire to preserve the relaxed and spacious feeling of its country towns. This development wants to tightly pack over 3000 people into a mid-density suburb on lots as small as 100 square metres and an average lot size of 300 square metres. Not just the density but the overall size of the development would create real problems for the Riddells Creek community. The new homes would be about 3 kilometres from the town centre and train station, which is too far for a comfortable walk. There are no bus services around the town, so new residents would have to drive to the shops or train station, overloading the car-parking capacity in a town which is already lagging behind in the infrastructure and services it needs.

Locals have repeatedly objected to the size and density of the development. 1200 residents signed a petition against it and the council unanimously rejected the Amess Road Precinct Structure Plan, but the developer is ignoring what the community wants and has applied directly to the planning minister through the development facilitation pathway in order to bypass community objections. During the consultation period the local Labor member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas told concerned locals that 118 submissions were received, but the real number was at least 1190 submissions. The Engage Victoria website has had several technical glitches when handling submissions, and this has created serious doubts among the Riddells Creek community about the transparency and reliability of the consultation process.