Increased safety risk at Clifton Springs junction

-->DCSCA is concerned that the increased traffic from the Curlewis estate entering the Bay Shore Avenue - Jetty Road junction in Clifton Springs heightens the risk to drivers and pedestrians.

 

1. The increased traffic has increased the likelihood of a crash occurring between vehicles.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that approximately 80% of vehicles (including buses) move through this intersection between Jetty Road and Bay Shore Avenue east. These vehicles pass through a Give Way sign and should give way to vehicles from both their right and their left. Unfortunately, many drivers fail to look to their left (down Bay Shore Avenue west) before entering Bay Shore Avenue east. This is perhaps because looking left is physically very difficult unless you go past the Give Way sign.

2. The increase in traffic has increased the risk of injury to pedestrians due to the lack of footpaths.

This junction is dangerous already for pedestrians wishing to walk to the bus stops on Jetty Road – especially to the mobility-challenged and to parents with prams – who have to walk on the road. The increase in traffic entering this junction from the Curlewis estate increases the danger to pedestrians still further.

Making it safer 
To meet the increased risk, the DCSCA committee recommends:
* laying footpaths on the south side of the intersection, leading to the bus stops in Jetty Road
* rebuilding the junction to incorporate a fully- or partially-mountable roundabout
* installing a 'mirror on a post' at the top of the drive diown to the jetty, to counteract the blind spot at the bend in the drive.

Wall-to-wall support for Drysdale mural!

Local groups and organisations are keen to participate in designing and creating a glass mosaic mural for the arcade in Drysdale High Street.

Specific Glass Mosaic, India

The Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Curlewis Association (DCSCA) and its Festival of Glass sub-committee have invited local groups and organisations to join in designing and creating the mural and organisations as diverse as the Bellarine Catchment Network,  the Bellarine Agricultural Society, Bellarine Woodworkers, Drysdale RSL, the Geelong Steam Preservation Society and the Rotary Club of Drysdale have said that they'd like to participate.

DCSCA has received almost $11,000 from the federal government’s Stronger Communities Programme to design and create the mural.

Entitled “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow”, the mural will depict the past, present and possible futures of the northern Bellarine Peninsula, celebrating the local community to itself and to the area’s many visitors.

 

Offbeat and offshore!

DCSCA is working with the City of Greater Geelong as it initiates the design of an artificial reef and/or sculpture offshore from The Dell, in Clifton Springs.

Marine life reclaims the space!

Such a structure would increase the area's attraction as a leisure and creation centre by encouraging snorkelling and creating  a picturesque view from The Dell Lookout; and it would increase fish numbers by improving the marine environment.

DCSCA has lobbied the council and tourism bodies for the creation of such a structure since 2013. Its lobbying has included a 2015 Community Budget Submission to the council calling for an artificial reef for The Dell; and in 2016, DCSCA added its voice to those of the Boating Industry Association of Victoria and Tourism Greater Geelong and The Bellarine in calling for an underwater sculpture gallery off Clifton Springs.

Now, after six years of false hopes and false starts, it seems that this idea’s time has come. DCSCA congratulates the council for initiating the design and marketing of the reef/sculpture and will work with the council to ensure that the structure reflects local people's views about the area and its future.

(The illustration shows one of Jason de Caires Taylor's many underwater sculptures,)

A mural for Drysdale's arcade

Drysdale’s High Street arcade will receive a major makeover from the local community association.

The Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Curlewis Association (DCSCA) and its Festival of Glass sub-committee have received almost $11,000 from the federal government’s Stronger Communities Programme to design and create a glass mural for the arcade.

Entitled “Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow”, the mural will depict the past, present and possible futures of the northern Bellarine Peninsula, celebrating the local community to itself and to the area’s many visitors.

The DCSCA committee will invite local community, recreational and sporting groups to join in designing and creating twelve glass mosaic panels that will form the mural.

(Photo: DCSCA's Doug Carson and Rick Paradise prepare the arcade wall for the mural.)

Each mural panel will depict a theme or feature of the north Bellarine and will include a visual puzzle to encourage people to actively engage with it, not just admire it.

 

“We’re grateful to our local MP Richard Marles for supporting the arcade mural”, said DCSCA Secretary Patrick Hughes. “The mural will showcase the work of local glass artists and we hope that it will introduce community members to the art and skill of glass mosaic while bringing them together in a shared project.”

The arcade’s owners and tenants are enthusiastic supporters of the project, recognising that the mural will make the arcade a brighter, safer and more inviting space, benefiting businesses within it and pedestrians passing through it.

DCSCA expects to complete the arcade mural by April 2019. It will be a further boost to the area's reputation as a centre of glass art, joining DCSCA's earlier Welcome to Drysdale glass mural on Drysdale’s ‘Village Green’, its annual Festival of Glass (now 9 years old) and its glass art mentorship programme.

The Stronger Communities Programme

The Stronger Communities Programme provides $150,000 to each federal electorate to fund small capital projects that improve community participation. Each Federal MP identifies appropriate projects and invites their authors to apply to the Programme for a grant. Up to 20 projects in each electorate will each receive $2,500 to $20,000.

Glass birds come to Drysdale

Monday 3^rd December 2018 will see the opening of Glass Inspirations – an exhibition of local glass art at Drysdale’s Café Zoo with the theme “Birds of the Bellarine Peninsula”.

The exhibition is the first event in the 2019 Festival of Glass, initiated in 2011 by the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (now the Drysdale, Clifton Springs Curlewis Association). A sub-committee of the Association runs the annual Festival.

Local glass artists have created a variety of small and large pieces of glass art jewellery and sculptures for Glass Inspirations. Each piece will be unique and hand-crafted on the Peninsula, making them ideal gifts.

Visitors to Glass Inspirations can admire the pieces of glass art, identify the birds and, perhaps, buy one of these unique pieces. If the pressure of having to choose gets too much, Café Zoo can always supply a restorative snack!

Glass Inspirations will run from Monday Dec 3rd to Monday February 11th 2019, between 9.00am and 5.00pm at Café Zoo, 23 High St, Drysdale.

Drysdale Bypass update at public meeting

Andrew Westcot, Team Leader of the Vic Roads Drysdale Bypass project, will be the guest speaker at a public meeting in Drysdale at 7.00pm on Wednesday 19 October 2016.

Andrew will give an update on the Team's work so far and answer general questions about the Drysdale Bypass project.

The occasion is the 2016 Annual General Meeting of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA). It will happen at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, 17-21 High Street, Drysdale 3222.

DCSCA Secretary Patrick Hughes said, “Vic Roads has worked hard to keep the local community informed about its work on the Bypass. We appreciate that and we're looking forward to Andrew’s update.”

The mural's unveiled!

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A glass and ceramic mural saying, "Welcome to Drysdale" was unveiled officially today on the outer wall of the Senior Citizens Club, from where it is visible across Drysdale's village green.

L to R: Tess Grace, Mercedes Drummond, Uncle David Tournier, Kaye Clancy, Sue Van Everey, Doug Carson

The unveiling ceremony started with a "Welcome to Country" by Uncle David Tournier, from the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-op, who has been an advisor to the mural project.

Mercedes Drummond, from the Festival of Glass committee, then told the story of the mural's creation; and Sue Van Everey, President of the Rotary Club of Drysdale, led the official unveiling.

The glass and ceramic mural is an initiative of the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association and its Festival of Glass sub-committee.

Festival convenor Doug Carson said, "The mural is the latest link in the area's long association with glass and we're very grateful to all the local people and organisations that have made it happen. We're grateful especially to the Rotary Club of Drysdale, the Bendigo Bank and Drysdale's Hello World travel agency for their financial support."

The "Welcome to Drysdale" mural unveiled!

Worth waiting for!

Festival of Glass members Mercedes Drummond and Doug Carson ran the mural project, which started in December 2013, when Bellarine Secondary College Students - led by their teacher Tess Grace and local ceramic artist Kaye Clancy - created a collection of ceramic tiles. Each tile depicts a moment in the area's past or present and the whole collection forms the mural's border.

Inside the border, at the mural's centre, is a a single large piece of 'slumped glass' saying "Welcome to Drysdale", which was made by Geelong's Wathaurong Glass Company.

L to R: Tess Grace, Uncle David Tournier, Mercedes Drummond, Kaye Clancy, Sue Van Everey.

DCSCA suggests community communication strategy to Geelong Administrators

Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) has sent a draft Community Communication policy to the Administrators of the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG).

One of the Administrators' tasks is to design a Community Communication Strategy and the DCSCA Committee has sent the Administrators a draft Community Communication Strategy that was adopted in April 2010 by the Affiliation of Bellarine Community Associations (ABCA).

The draft Strategy was produced because for years, community associations on the Bellarine Peninsula – individually and through the collective forum of the ABCA - had levelled detailed criticisms at the City of Greater Geelong over its handling of public consultation. In 2010, the ABCA decided to go beyond criticism and to propose ways to improve the council's communications with its citizens. It submitted a draft consultation policy to the council, intending that it would be the first step in a joint effort to improve the council's consultations.

The council didn't even show the ABCA the courtesy of acknowledging receipt of the document, let alone respond substantively to it. 

The DCSCA Committee has told the CoGG Administrators that the ABCA draft Strategy reflected community attitudes to community communication at the time and that it will assist them to design a contemporary community communication strategy.
 When ABCA submitted its draft Strategy to the council, it accompanied it with a covering letter summarising the draft Strategy; this appears below.

ABCA draft Community Communication Strategy. Covering Letter.

The Affiliation of Bellarine Community Associations believes that the City of Greater Geelong's public communication and consultation practices could be better than they are now; and that improving them would contribute to building a vigorous local democracy. We are keen to contribute to that process and, in that spirit, we make the following two proposals:

1. The City of Greater Geelong should develop a set of protocols concerning its communication and consultation with communities and other stakeholders; and should list specific communication and consultation targets that should be met before any proposal or report is presented to a Council meeting.

2. Each proposal or report presented to a Council meeting should include a section - ‘Communication & Consultation’ - in which the authors show that they have:

(i) communicated with and consulted relevant communities and other stakeholders in accordance with the Council’s communication and consultation protocols

(ii) met the specific targets associated with those protocols.

Such protocols and targets will enable councillors to see whether and to what extent their officers have communicated and consulted with stakeholders in the manner that the Council has decided they should; and they will enable stakeholders to see whether and to what extent their views have been taken into account in a Council proposal or report.

At present, some reports and proposals to Council list and/or summarise the results of consultations, but this practice isn’t consistent. Implementing our two proposals will give continuity and consistency to the Council’s relationships with its stakeholders.

These proposals require no new spending and this alone should commend them to councillors! Indeed, we believe that making the Council’s public communication and consultation consistent with published protocols and targets will streamline officers’ work, instill new stakeholder confidence in the process and provide tangible evidence that the City of Greater Geelong listens to its constituents and wants to promote local democracy. The outcome will be that the Council's public communication and consultation will be easier and quicker (and potentially less expensive) to perform.

DCSCA comments on town square proposals

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DCSCA has lodged a substantial submission with the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) concerning its proposals to remodel Drysdale's 'town square', including extending the shopping complex.

CoGG’s proposals are in a glossy booklet, copies of which are available at the CoGG Customer Service Centre. The council held an information session at the Senior Citizens' club on the evening of Wednesday 6 July and has invited public comment on the proposals by July 29th.

In its submission, DCSCA congratulated the City of Greater Geelong for the thoroughness of its consultation exercise and the resources it has expended on it. It asked how the council would respond to the submissions, to demonstrate that the consultation was meaningful; and it asked how much the exercise had cost and whether the council had borne the whole cost.

A summary of DCSCA's 4-page submission follows.

Benefits

The proposals offer several benefits. They could refresh the area, enhancing its attractiveness and utility, reinforcing its role as a focal point of the town and boosting connectivity within the town centre. They could also resolve the current mix of gradients, improving access by cyclists and by pedestrians. A small children’s play area should be considered; parents/carers could watch children from the rotunda.

Problems

There are two problems with the proposals: they involve the sale of part of the ‘own square’ to support the extension of the shopping complex; and they add no more parking spaces to accommodate increased custom in the extended shopping complex. (The current car park has less than the regulation number of spaces; extending the complex without adding car parking will worsen an already bad situation.)

Omissions

There are several omissions from the proposals. These include the future of the rotunda, the library and the customer service centre; the traffic implications of the proposed new offices in Hancock Street; the relations with the forthcoming upgrades to Drysdale High Street; and any consideration of how the proposals could provide an ‘energy dividend’, e.g. by increasing energy efficiency in lighting, heating and cooling systems.

DCSCA drafts a strategy for landfill advisory group

DCSCA is a member of a Community Consultation Group created by the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to advise it on the management of the Drysdale Landfill site (aka 'the tip'!).

CoGG launched the group at a public meeting in Drysdale on 7 June 2016 and DCSCA intends to be an active member. To that end, it has drafted a Waste Management Strategy, which it intends to present at the Group's next meeting in August.
DCSCA's draft strategy follows.

1.      Aims

Operations at the Drysdale Landfill site should accord with the Barwon Region Waste Management Plan, which should aim to provide the Barwon Region with a best practice Waste Management Plan meeting community expectations; and to promote sustainable built and natural environments.

The Barwon Region Waste Management Plan should meet its aims through four inter-related strategies: minimise the waste dumped at landfill sites; minimise the cost and maximise the convenience of dumping waste at landfill sites; minimise the social, environmental and health-related dangers of illegal dumping of waste; recycle as much as possible of the waste dumped at landfill sites.

Each of those four strategies should have a measurable target and success in meeting each target should be published each year, to promote continuous improvement. E.g.: 70% of customers ‘Satisfied’ or ‘Very Satisfied’ with waste disposal in the region; 10% of litter, odour and run-off from the site.

DCSCA Questions. 1. Does the Barwon Region Waste Management Plan and the Drysdale Landfill site each have its own Objectives Statement? If so .... 2. Can the Consultative Group propose amendments to either Objectives Statement?

2.      Specific objectives

Operations at the Drysdale Landfill site should meet the following objectives:

2.1 Reduce waste. Set annual targets and publishing the results. E. g. phase out single use plastic bottles and plastic bags; teach people a) to reduce the waste they generate and b) to dispose of it selectively into the yellow, green and purple bins; encourage manufacturers a) to reduce their packaging and b) to make their products more easily disposable.

2.2 Re-use waste. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. increase the efficiency of material separation and recycling at recycling and waste disposal centres; create a clean site for waste disposal within a 20 mt. drive of each resident of the Barwon Region.

2.3 Recycle waste. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. encourage shops to have bins for returning packaging (e.g. bottles, boxes) to manufacturers. Institute an annual award for best performing shop; encourage manufacturers to use the trucks that collect and deliver their goods to shops to carry returned packaging (especially packaging that combines plastic, cardboard and foam) on their return journeys. Institute an annual award for best performing manufacturer. (The manufacturers create the waste, councils and private recycling companies shouldn’t have to clear it up.)

2.4 Generate income from waste to offset costs. Set annual targets and publish the results. E. g. recover precious metals from computers and mobile phones and sell as ‘raw materials’ to local industry to promote the local economy; separate metal, plastic, rubber, paper/cardboard (others?) and sell as 'raw materials' to local industry to promote the local economy; generate power with gases 'harvested' from waste and through high temperature incineration of toxic material; generate wood chips and mulch from 'green waste' and sell to the public.
2.5 Treat waste more efficiently and effectively. Set annual targets and publish the results.

2.6 Dispose of waste more efficiently and effectively. Set annual targets and publish the results. E.g. make disposal easier through providing bins dedicated to product types (e.g., batteries, scrap metal, computers/phones, furniture, beds & bedding); dispose of asbestos separately from general waste; seal it in non-permeable material and burry it in marked sites, to minimise health risks. (At present, asbestos waste is mixed-in with general waste at the tip face.); dispose of paint, chemicals, etc. separately from general waste, to minimise a) health risks and b) illegal dumping.

2.7 Work towards ‘Zero Waste’. Publish progress each year.

DCSCA Questions. 1. What can be done to reduce the cost of a trip to the tip? Illegal dumping is increasing in the Barwon Region, largely due to the high cost and difficulty of a trip to the tip. This could entail a 2 hour round trip, an outlay of over $60, a difficult reversing manoeuver with a trailer and unloading potentially hazardous objects from a trailer. It could also result in a muddy car and trailer.

2. Why is there a charge to dump green waste? Other councils make no charge for green waste. Why does CoGG charge to dump green waste AND mulch and sell it? (A ‘double dip’ at the tip!)

Geelong administrators encourage community engagement

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DCSCA members heard the three administrators of the Greater Geelong City Council outline their ambitions at a community engagement meeting the administrators ran at Parks Hall, Portarlington on 20 July at 5.30pm.

Geelong City Hall

The administrators are acting as the Greater Geelong City Council, which the Victorian government dismissed on 16 April 2016, appointing Yehudi Blacher as interim administrator. The three administrators are Dr. Kathy Alexander (chairperson), Peter Dorling and Laurinda Gardner. They were appointed on 25 May 2016 and will run the council until elections are held in 2017 for a new council. At this meeting, they were accompanied by six senior council officers.

Administrators’ responsibilities

Dr. Alexander outlined the administrators’ responsibilities as follows:

1. To create a ‘citizens jury’ through which the community can have its say on how the City of Greater Geelong should be governed; to report quarterly to the Minister for Local Government on progress and on issues of concern; and to recommend actions to the Minister.

2. To create a thirty year Vision and Strategy for the municipality.

3. To recommend how the City of Greater Geelong should be governed from 2017. The administrators want to involve all parties and interests in these decisions, so they will seek comment from the community, e.g. through more community engagement forums.

4. To design a Community Communication Strategy.

No more piecemeal development

There followed a question and answer session. Most questions concerned issues at Portarlington, but there was also a call for development in/of Drysdale to be more coordinated and inclusive, rather than the piecemeal approach adopted to date. In response, CoGG’s William Tieppo said that Vic Roads would aim to coordinate the various developments; and subsequently, VicRoads and CoGG have created a Project Control Group to co-ordinate the planning and transport matters that link the Drysdale bypass, the improvements to the High Street and the proposals concerning the future of the ‘town square’.

Thinking long term about local transport

DCSCA Committee members were among the local people who met Shadow Minister for Public Transport David Hodgett on 10 May at SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre.

Mr. Hodgett was interested in local opinion on a Bellarine Light Rail service; attendees favoured increased bus services, as they would be more flexible.

DCSCA Treasurer Doug Carson has suggested that a light rail service between Geelong and Drysdale would require huge amounts of infrastructure, including stations (with associated parking), rolling stock, drivers, auxiliary staff and perhaps a new tunnel between Kilgour Street and the Geelong Station.

At first sight, then, improving and extending the current bus network would be a simpler, cheaper and quicker way forward. However, before a final decision is taken, there needs to be research to discover:

·      potential routes for:

a) a Bellarine Light Rail system

b) an extended and improved bus network

·      likely patronage of the likely routes in 5, 20 and 50 years time

·      costs of establishing and running:

a) a Bellarine Light Rail system – probably in stages

b) an extended and improved bus network

·      potential funding sources for the construction and maintenance of:

a) a Bellarine Light Rail system

b) an extended and improved bus network.

Population drives policy

Population levels will determine the area’s transport needs, so any decisions about the area’s transport services must be set against the likely population of the Bellarine Peninsula and, indeed, Geelong as a whole in 5, 20 and 50 years time. Therefore, any plan for transport just on the Bellarine needs to be set in the context of a long-term plan for transport in the area as a whole.

DCSCA Committee member Neil McGuinness has suggested that such a long term transport plan should nor just expand the present transport network but also innovate, including such ideas as:

·      extending the Geelong Ring Road to the Bellarine

·      creating road, rail and ferry connections to Avalon Airport (should these be provided publicly, privately or in some combination?)

·      ferry services in Corio Bay and Port Phillip Bay

·      cycle paths - recreational and commuting

·      a road and rail connection between Queenscliff and Point Nepean.

Better transport for commuters or jobs closer to home?

Whatever the content of a long term transport plan for the area, its major aim shouldn’t be to improve commuting. Instead, it should aim to prevent ever-more people commuting out of the area by creating business and jobs for the expanding population of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula.

The City of Greater Geelong has actively encouraged the creation of ever more housing estates, home to many thousands of residents, without ensuring that there are jobs to support them. The result is the creation of 'dormitory towns' as an increasing number of people on the Bellarine joining commuters from Geelong on the hours-long commuter trek to and from central Melbourne on roads that were never expected to carry the current levels of traffic.

CoGG's drive to expand the population of the Bellarine must be accompanied by plans to expand and diversify employment. As a rule of thumb, a new job should be created for each house built. That would at least start to match economic growth with population growth; and transport needs would be for easy, fast connections within the Geelong and Bellarine area, as well as between this area and Melbourne.

Earlier articles on this blog have discussed a Bellarine Light Rail service. Search for these dates:
8 October 2011; 13 December 2011; 10 May 2013.

DCSCA-initiated Lake Lorne track now open!

On Sunday 20 May 2016, DCSCA was represented at a small ceremony to officially open a new walking track around Drysdale's Lake Lorne.

It has taken five years to create the track. The then-President of DSCSCA, Roger Lavingdale, presented the idea of the track to the City of Greater Geelong council in 2011; and the council accepted a masterplan for the project in 2012.

Since then, there has been close co-operation and consultation between the council and the various community groups with a stake in the lake's future, including DCSCA, which has been involved closely throughout the project. 

(Picture: L to R Heath Lavingdale, Doug Carson, Merryn Lavingdale, CoGG City Services Manager Will Tieppo and Drysdale Rotary Club President Caroline Rickard.)  

DCSCA Treasurer Doug Carson was one of the speakers at the ceremony; here is what he said:
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When I first became involved as a member of the Drysdale Clifton Springs Community Association in 2003, after having moved to the Bellarine in 2000, I was struck by the awareness and passion of a few people, one of them being Roger Lavingdale. He was always looking to put new ideas up for discussion. He was a committee member then, became Vice President in 2005 and 2006 and President in 2007 and 2008 and held those positions very successfully. In the latter part of that time, I was the Association's Secretary and I vividly recall many meetings at his home in Eastwood Court, talking about how to improve the area.

One of these improvements was a walking track around Lake Lorne. Roger became frustrated at the time it seemed to be taking to get the proposal approved, but we just had to wait until all the stakeholders involved agreed on what had to be done. I don’t think anyone really realised just how many stakeholders were involved, and how much planning was needed, e.g. avoiding underground services, dodging trees - the list went on and on. At one stage Roger was heard to mutter, “Give me a bloody bobcat and I’ll put the damn thing in myself!"

However, people at the City of Greater Geelong persisted in working through all the issues and over the past three years we have seen the gradual construction of the Lake Lorne walking track. It will be a lasting legacy to the memory of our mate Roger Lavingdale. On behalf of the Drysdale / Clifton Springs Community Association, I am very pleased to pay my respects to Roger, and thank Drysdale Rotary Club for initiating this day as we commemorate this track and the seat in his honour.  

It works! Locals try out the new track.

Lake Lorne - some background
The area known now as Drysdale - and especially the land around its three waterholes - was a favourite wintering place for Wathaurong people. The name Bellarine derives from the Wathaurong word "Bella Wein" ("a place where you lean on your elbow beside a campfire") and is thought to refer specifically to the waterholes. The inland site provided shelter from cold coastal winds and the lakes provided birds, fishes and plants to eat.

Corroborees were held in the area and archaeologists have found large deposits of shells, animal bones and artefacts in and around the waterholes. Wathaurong traditions and heritage are maintained by Wathaurong people living in the area today.

In the 1830s, in the early days of European colonisation of the area , the term "The Waterholes" referred collectively to what are known now separately as Lake Lorne and McLeod's Waterholes.

In 1872, the Bellarine Shire Council named Lake Lorne after the then Governor of Victoria; and the other two lakes became known as McLeod's Waterholes, probably after Dr. Angus McLeod, principal of the Free Presbyterian Church and School and an active participant in local affairs.

It was also in 1872 that the settlement known as Bellarine or West Bellarine was named Drysdale after Anne Drysdale, a local squatter.

(Sources:
Photos - The Voice; historical background - Lynette Willey [2010] The Waterholes: a history of Drysdale on the Bellarine. Bellarine Historical Society.)

Making developments consistent

On 29 February 2016, the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) made a submission to the Victorian government's Advisory Committee on Managing Residential Development.

The DCSCA submission consisted of 13 recommendations designed to increase:

* the  efficiency and consistency of residential development and of the planning process in general

* the attractiveness of new residential developments to existing and incoming residents

* the protection of the natural and built environment, for the benefit of  current and future generations.

Background to the Committee’s work

In July 2013, the State Government announced that it would replace the existing residential zones (Residential 1, 2 and 3) in all Victorian planning schemes with three new residential zones:

• Neighbourhood Residential Zone
• General Residential Zone
• Residential Growth Zone.

The State Government asked each local council to say by 1 July 2014 how it would apply the new zones in its planning scheme. If a council didn’t respond by the deadline, all of its residential land would be declared a General Residential Zone by default. On July 1 2014, the State Government introduced the three new zones. In the process, residential land was zoned “General Residential” by default in a ‘considerable portion’ of Victoria’s planning schemes.

Councils have applied the three new zones inconsistently, with much local variation. Consequently, in February 2014, the State Government established the Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee to advise local councils how to apply the three new zones. The Committee produced a general report on the zones’ application, plus 25 specific reports in response to 25 proposals.

Purposes of the Committee

1.   To consider the process by which the new residential zones were implemented

2.   To review the current application of the zones that allow for residential development in the context of managing Melbourne’s and Victoria’s residential growth in a sustainable manner and improving housing affordability

3.   To advise on the level of evidence and justification needed when preparing relevant planning scheme amendments

4.   To recommend improvements to the residential zones

5.   To provide councils, the community and industry with an opportunity to be heard.

DCSCA's SUBMISSION

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Inc. (DCSCA) has had extensive experience of the management of residential development in the local area, which it believes will assist the Advisory Committee in its work. It has distilled its experiences into this submission, which consists of thirteen recommendations.

Recommendations

1. Each Australian state government should have a public document outlining its vision for a sustainable state; and the Federal Government should have an equivalent document outlining its vision for a sustainable Australia.

These documents should address issues including demography, transport infrastructure, land allocation, water management, power generation and distribution and communication services.

2. Require developers of new residential areas to provide services in the first stages of its development, rather than providing them as development proceeds.

Such services include, e.g., education, health, sports, recreation, Emergency Services, public transport, shopping and community spaces.

 

3. Require the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning to consult pro-actively with the appropriate organisations and groups when considering any changes to residential development and re-zoning and respond in detail to each comment made in those consultations.

Such organisations and groups include, e.g., the EPA, Emergency Services, the CFA, the Education Department, Worksafe, VicRoads, the TAC, water and power suppliers, local indigenous groups, public transport operators and user groups, local recreational, sporting, environmental and community groups.

4. Require the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning to encourage new developments to be environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Features contributing to environmentally friendly and sustainable development include significant open space; scenic trails, footpaths and cycle paths separated from traffic; existing significant trees and wildlife corridors, plus control of invasive species and vermin; protecting water courses from extra/polluted runoff; mandatory solar panels and water tanks at each property.

5. Require the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning to devise and implement a standardised procedure (e.g. a designated computer programme) for assessing any planning applications; and require each local council in Victoria to implement this procedure.

This will help to ensure that councils assess planning applications consistently.

6. Require developers of new residential areas to provide footpaths and cycle paths (ideally separated from road traffic) as a high priority; and to avoid compromising any existing cycling infrastructure.

7. Review the planning requirements for service stations containing hazardous materials and discontinue the “3,000m² exemption rule” applied currently to the petroleum industry.

As the internal combustion engine declines and disappears, so too will petrol stations, many leaving ugly, toxic sites that will be expensive to clean up. Planning policies should prepare for this.

8. Require each local council to give an Environmental Classification to each planning application it receives.

The classifications would be based on specific criteria, e.g., storage of hazardous materials; proximity to a water course, dam or coastal high water line; demonstrable risk to groundwater, flora or fauna. Suggested Environmental Classifications:

            “Low” - meets none of the specific criteria

            “Sensitive” – meets one of the specific criteria

            “Highly Sensitive” – meets two or more of the specific criteria.

9. Require the EPA to assess all “Sensitive” or “Highly Sensitive” planning applications; and approve such applications only with EPA approval.

10. Require an applicant who receives EPA approval for a “Sensitive” or “Highly sensitive” application to do no work on the site until the EPA and the council approves a Site Environment Management Plan (SEMP) for the site.

 

11. Amend the Planning and Environment Act 1987 Section 52 Notice of Application to require additional notification to specified bodies when a planning application is contentious.

Examples of contention include potential inconsistency with local planning policy and/or potentially increased risks to groundwater, flora, fauna and people. Risks include storage of hazardous materials; proximity to a water course, dam or coastal high water line; proximity to a major intersection, an area of congestion or a school.

Information about a planning application should be sent to the owner/s and the resident/s of the nearby properties; signage giving that information should reflect the significance of the application; and signage should be displayed until the application is approved/rejected, when the sign should be amended to include the decision.

12. Amend the opening paragraph of the Victorian Planning Provision Clause 65 General Provisions Decision Guidelines to read: “Because a permit can be granted does not imply that a permit should or will be granted.”; and require the responsible authority to list on its signage about an application any relevant local and state planning policies.

13. Require each council to provide on its website information that is easily accessible by the community about each planning application, its environmental classification and its status (approved/rejected); and to leave this information on its website for 10 years after an application has been approved/rejected.