Question details
Morwell electorate
(828) My question is to the Minister for Planning, and my question is: will the minister commit to a review of the coal overlay provisions in the Latrobe Valley? The current coal overlay planning provisions in my electorate are more than 40 years old. They are outdated and stifling development. They are preventing construction of the Traralgon bypass and the development of the Traralgon East precinct and wasting hundreds of hectares of land outside of Morwell that could be used for housing. It is not good enough the minister refuses to revisit and review these coal overlay provisions, and the argument that they still are relevant is flawed and contradictory. In 2018 Labor removed coal overlays altogether on 18 square kilometres of Morwell South. It said that the coal overlays were introduced:
… when it was envisaged the Latrobe Valley would have many more power stations …
The former planning minister said the review of the coal overlay is:
… about modernising planning provisions in the Valley, to support … economic development …
Minister, these overlays are outdated, preventing critical economic development. Will you commit to reviewing the coal planning overlays in the Latrobe Valley?
I thank the member for his question.
There is a variety of land management issues to be resolved before changes can be made to the Latrobe Planning Scheme to amend existing coal-based planning controls and before the construction of the Traralgon Bypass.
Latrobe Planning Scheme Amendment C134, which proposed the introduction of the Traralgon South East Precinct Structure Plan into the planning scheme, was refused authorisation by the then Minister for Planning in December 2021. This decision was based on advice from the then Minister for Resources in September 2021 that the necessary risk assessments and geotechnical studies to support the amendment had not been undertaken.
Central to these risk assessments is consideration of the final size and shape of the Loy Yang mine void, along with the intended final remediated landform. These factors have a material bearing on land stability and risks which are currently uncertain. Once these substantive land management issues are resolved, a review of the existing coal-based planning controls can occur.
The Department of Transport and Planning has undertaken a planning study for the Traralgon Bypass. Given the proximity to the Loy Yang open cut mine, construction of a bypass on the gazetted alignment is unable to be confirmed until the final rehabilitated form of the Loy Yang mine is understood. Planning for the bypass can continue once this information becomes available.
Hon Sonya Kilkenny MP
Minister for Planning