Tuesday, 9 September 2025

Planning policy

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:20): (1917) My question is for the Minister for Planning. The action that I seek is for the minister to establish an advisory committee to review and consider the planning scheme amendments proposed in the Gisborne Futures structure plan and the Romsey structure plan. Planning in Victoria is becoming chaotic under the Allan Labor government, which is totally failing to meet its own housing targets. Current Labor policy is to make up for their housing shortfall by imposing massive developments in communities that simply do not want them while failing to do the forward planning for appropriate and sensible growth elsewhere. The state Labor government is on one hand approving huge and inappropriate housing developments, like the one that will double the size of the small town of Riddells Creek, totally against the wishes of local residents and the Macedon Ranges Shire Council, yet on the other hand Labor is taking too long to process new structure plans for Gisborne and Romsey that will enable steady and manageable housing growth into the future.

In May 2024 Macedon Ranges Shire Council passed a motion to adopt the Romsey structure plan as part of a sensible plan to grow Romsey from a township to a large district town by 2036. Then in July 2024 council passed a motion to adopt the Gisborne Futures structure plan, which has been developed to manage growth and change in Gisborne and New Gisborne over the next 30 years. Macedon Ranges Shire Council is doing its part to plan for the future, to plan for sensible growth and to plan for infrastructure and housing to be delivered together, but the Labor Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has abandoned her planning responsibilities and done nothing to progress these plans through the approvals process. Council has sent three letters to the planning minister asking her to prepare planning scheme amendments and to commence the process for implementing the changes, but all that the minister has done is send a letter in September 2024 acknowledging receipt of the plans and council’s decision to adopt them. Since then the minister has been silent, the plans have been sitting on the minister’s desk for over 12 months and nothing has been done to move the process forward. These structure plans will define the town’s boundaries for the future and are essential to realising additional land for housing and development in Gisborne and Romsey.

If the state Labor government wants more housing, why is it holding up the process to amend the planning schemes for these towns and allow them to build more housing? Many people will be affected by the changes proposed in these structure plans, and it will be important for the minister to consult widely and consider the views of stakeholders involved. Council believes the next step is for the minister to establish an advisory committee to review the structure plans, hear from all the parties affected by these changes and advise the minister on the appropriateness of the plans. The minister must stop the delay, prepare the planning scheme amendments and establish an advisory committee to hear from experts and the community about these proposals.