Bringing the springs back to life

DCSCA has proposed a joint project with the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) to revive the mineral springs from which Clifton Springs gets its name.

Clifton Springs in its heyday 1890

We believe that at least 3 springs have their outlets between the high and low water marks on the Clifton Springs beach. Originally, they were well above the water line and were the focus of the Clifton Springs spa in the 19th and early 20th centuries, where people from the Geelong and Melbourne regions came to "take the waters" for their alleged health-giving properties.

More recently, the water from the springs has been declared unfit for drinking - ironic, given the early claims that it improved drinkers' health! For this reason, the area has been allowed to deteriorate. Coastal erosion continues to take its toll on the site (see the two photos), with the result that the springs outlets are now submerged by the incoming tide.

Spring into the future?
DCSCA would like the historic springs that gave Clifton Springs its name to “live on” and enhance the experience of visitors to the area. More specifically, we would like the spring water outlets to be revived as an historic feature, visible from the planned boardwalk that will go around the nearby promontary.

We are proposing a three-stage process to revive the springs:
1. Identify and record the location of the spring water outlet (at low tide!). Place a temporary 'collar' (e.g. a concrete tube) over each outlet, so that the spring water discharges above the high water level.
2. Ensure that the boardwalk offers suitable points from which to view all of the spring water outlets and include pointers to each spring, plus information about them, in the fabric of the boardwalk.
3. On completion of the boardwalk, replace the temporary 'collars' with more attractive structures. Invite local artists (e.g. sculptors, glass artists) to submit expressions of interest in creating one or more of these features; and invite local schools, groups, clubs and residents to suggest design ideas.

Photos:
* SpringDale Collectables on Facebook
* A. S. Miner Geotechnical (2011) Coastal erosion and stability study: Clifton Springs. Report to City of Greater Geelong . p22.

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.

VicRoads update on the Drysdale Bypass

On 17 December 2015, DCSCA received the following update on the Drysdale Bypass from Tim Price, Project Director (Drysdale Bypass) at VicRoads.

As 2015 draws to a close, I would like to thank the local community for providing feedback at our Drysdale Bypass information sessions this year and provide an update on the status of the project.

The community strongly supports the proposed bypass and a review of pedestrian facilities, cycling facilities and intersections along High Street to improve traffic and safety. Feedback from these sessions is being taken into account in planning studies and design development for the proposed Bypass and High Street improvements.

Over the next few months, VicRoads will complete a traffic analysis and a number of studies, including environment management, cultural heritage and social impact.

I want to assure the community that there will be further opportunities to provide feedback about the project next year, including a formal Planning Scheme Amendment process for the Bypass. Under this process, the public will be invited to make written submissions about the proposed Bypass design.

The State Government has committed $3 million to improve traffic and safety through High Street. This is in addition to the $106 million committed to plan and build the Drysdale Bypass. I thank everyone for their input, patience and support for this project and look forward to working further with the community in 2016.

On behalf of VicRoads, I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday on our roads.

DCSCA makes a submission to council's electoral review

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Inc. (DCSCA) has made a Preliminary Submission to a Review of the City of Greater Geelong Council's structure being conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC).

The VEC's Review originated in a 2012 amendment to the City of Greater Geelong Act (1993). The amendment created the post of directly-elected Mayor of Geelong, resulting in a council of 12 councillors plus the Mayor for the 2012 council election.

The amendment also required the VEC to conduct an Electoral Representation Review before the 2016 council election; and, drawing on that Review, to recommend to the Minister for Local Government the most appropriate electoral structure for the council from the 2016 election onwards. 

The Review should determine the number of councillors (between 4 and 11, plus the Mayor) and how they should be distributed.

Key dates in the Review

11 November 2015     Preliminary public submissions open

9 December 2015        (5.00pm) Closing date for preliminary public submissions

20 January 2016         Preliminary Report published; response submissions open

17 February 2016       (5.00pm) Closing date for response submissions

24 February 2016       Public hearing: 7.00 pm Council Chamber, City Hall

16 March 2016           Final Report published.

Making submission to the Review

Submissions to the VEC Electoral Representation Review can be made via:

·      VEC’s online submission form at vec.vic.gov.au

·      Email at greatergeelong.review@vec.vic.gov.au

·      Post to VEC, Level 11, 530 Collins St., Melbourne 3000

All submissions will be published on the VEC website at vec.vic.gov.au and made available for inspection at the VEC office (Level 11, 530 Collins Street, Melbourne).

The Final Report will be available from the VEC (vec.vic.gov.au or 131 832) and will also be available for inspection at Council offices.

DCSCA'S SUBMISSION TO THE VICTORIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION'S ELECTORAL REPRESENTATION REVIEW

The Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association Inc. (DCSCA) was created in 1996. Since then, its relationships – good and bad – with the City of Greater Geelong have led it to believe that:

·      the northern part of the Bellarine Peninsula (Drysdale, Clifton Springs and Curlewis) is, broadly speaking, a single, geographically defined ‘community of interest’ within the City of Greater Geelong

·      dividing the task of representing this single community of interest between two councillors in two wards – Cheetham and Coryule - has prevented this single community from speaking with a single voice about its views, interests and aspirations

·      the absence of a single voice for this community of interest has led to it receiving an inequitable share of council resources.

More broadly, DCSCA’s relationships with the City of Greater Geelong have led it to believe that:

·      the council’s current structure makes it is impossible for a ward constituency to hold its councillor to account for her/his actions (or lack of them)

·      relying on 4-yearly elections to make a councillor accountable enables them – if they wish - to misrepresent their constituency during their 4-year term of office, which may lead to outcomes (e.g. rezoning, building approvals) that cannot be undone, even if they fail to be re-elected.

DCSCA's Cost Appeal - getting the word out!

On November 2, the Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) issued a media release* to 17 local and regional media outlets, announcing the formal launch of its Cost Appeal to raise $5,500.

So far in its Appeal, the Association has written individually to 53 present and recent DCSCA members, to 34 local community groups and organisations and to the 13 City of Greater Geelong councillors, explaining the reason for the Cost Appeal, inviting them to contribute to it and asking them to pass-on the information to anyone whom they think might be interested.

Why an Appeal?
The reason for the Cost Appeal goes back to May, when DCSCA asked the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to overturn planning permission granted to Milemaker Petroleum to build a service station at the junction of Jetty Road and High Street Drysdale. VCAT dismissed DCSCA's case and ordered it to $5,500 in legal costs to Milemaker.

If DCSCA can't pay the $5,500, it faces further legal proceedings that could close it down, ending its years of community-building work.

DCSCA has invited each City of Greater Geelong councillor to contribute to its Cost Appeal, despite the fact that the association incurred the $5,500 legal bill as a result of trying to overturn planning permission granted by the council. However, as the association's letter to each councillor states:
"You may have voted in 2014 to grant planning permission to Milemaker, but this needn’t imply that you believe that DCSCA should pay Milemaker’s legal costs. This was certainly the position of Councillor Rod Macdonald who - together with local federal MPs Richard Marles and Sarah Henderson, local state MP Lisa Neville and 349 people who signed an online petition - supported DCSCA’s request to VCAT not to make it pay Milemaker’s legal costs. (Thanks, Rod!)"

* To read the media release, see "Cost Appeal media release" on this blog (2 November 2015).

School students sustaining The Dell

A hundred Clifton Springs Primary School students will celebrate the natural and cultural history of The Dell at Clifton Springs at an Environment Day on Friday October 16.

The students will join teachers, parents and local community groups in an ongoing project to protect and improve the area and hands-on activities will introduce them to its plants, animals and history.

The Dell Environment Day will also celebrate the launch of a new and innovative booklet about the area - Clifton Springs and Curlewis Coastal Reserves: flora, fauna and heritage.

Four years’ work

The 2015 Environment Day is the culmination of four years’ work by local community groups, environmental groups and schools to protect and enhance the indigenous vegetation of The Dell, Beacon Point and the Clifton Springs foreshore.

The four year project has included:

·      involving the local community - especially primary school students – in protecting and enhancing the area by informing them about its environmental and cultural/historical importance

·      clearing invasive weeds and woody plants

·      revegetating the area with indigenous plants that are local to the area and not found elsewhere on the Bellarine Peninsula

·      creating a plan to protect and enhance the area’s indigenous vegetation.

The Dell Environment Day is organised by the Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association and the Bellarine Catchment Network, supported by the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority, Bellarine Landcare Group and the City of Greater Geelong.

The Federal Government’s Caring For Our Country Community Grants programme has funded The Dell Environment Day and the associated revegetation of the area.

The organisers of The Dell Environment Day are pleased to acknowledge the Wadawurung people, the traditional custodians of the Land that includes The Dell, pay respect to the past and present Elders of the Wadawurung nation and extend that respect to other Indigenous Australians who are present.

MORE INFORMATION:

Matt Crawley, Bellarine Catchment Network: 0417 231 853

Doug Carson, Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association: 0418 371 308