Planning and Environment Act 1987
nillumbik PLANNING SCHEME
AMENDMENT C101
EXPLANATORY REPORT
Who is the planning authority?
This amendment has been prepared by the Nillumbik Shire Council which is the planning authority for this amendment.
The amendment has been made at the request of Nillumbik Shire Council.
Land affected by the amendment
The amendment applies to land within the Shire of Nillumbik that has been identified as having environmental significance.
What the amendment does
The amendment implements the findings and recommendations of the following strategies that have been adopted by Council:
· Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO1) Review, Stage 2 Parent Report and Addendum, Ecology Australia 2007
· Nillumbik Sites of Significance Review Rural Areas, Abzeco June 2014
The amendment proposes to amend the Environmental Significance Overlay to ensure it better identifies and protects the biodiversity values of the Shire.
Specifically the amendment proposes to:
· Replace the existing ESO1 – Sites of Faunal and Habitat Significance with a new schedule: ESO1 – Core Habitat and apply the new schedule to identified sites.
· Include two new schedules to the Environmental Significance Overlay in the Planning Scheme: ESO2 – Buffer Habitat and ESO3 – Environmentally Significant Habitat in Township and Residential Areas and apply the new schedules to identified sites.
· Delete the existing ESO1 completely or partially from identified sites.
· Consolidate the current waterways ESO’s: ESO2 – Yarra River Environs, ESO3 – Plenty River Environs and ESO4 – Waterways into one schedule ESO4 – Waterways and apply the new schedule to identified sites.
· Amend the schedule to Clause 61.03 to update the maps comprising part of the scheme.
· Amend the schedule to Clause 66.04 to include Melbourne Water as a referral authority.
· Amend the schedule to Clause 81.01 to include an updated Environmental Weeds List in the planning scheme.
Strategic assessment of the amendment
Why is the amendment required?
The amendment is required to protect all land of environmental significance in the Shire.
Nillumbik Shire Council has been progressively reviewing a range of studies that form the basis of the Environmental Significance Overlays (ESO’s) in the Nillumbik Planning Scheme, in order to ensure that the ESO’s are applied accurately and protect all land of environmental significance.
The ESO1 Sites of Faunal and Habitat Significance is the most commonly applied schedule within the Shire. It affects approximately 61 percent of land in the Shire and is applied to both urban and non-urban areas. The mapping of ESO1 is determined by the findings of the report Sites of Faunal and Habitat Significance in North East Melbourne (NEROC Report) (Beardsell 1997). The NEROC Report has been well regarded and has had a major influence on planning decisions over the past decade.
As with any study of a changing environment, a periodic review is essential. Given the extensive amount of land covered by the NEROC Report it has been necessary to undertake a review in three stages over several years.
Stage one of the review involved a desktop assessment to identify sites clearly disturbed by development and to enhance the configuration of this overlay for much of the land within the former Residential 1 Zone. The recommendations of Stage One were implemented through Amendment C26 to the Nillumbik Planning Scheme which was gazetted on 16 December 2004.
Stage two aimed to enhance the configuration of the ESO1 on land included in the Township Zone, Low Density Residential Zone and selected sites within the former Residential 1 Zone. The reports prepared by Ecology Australia Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO1) Review, Stage 2 Parent Report and Addendum, Ecology Australia 2007 identified additional land to be covered by an ESO, land to be removed from the existing ESO1 and that an overlay specifically for urban areas be considered.
Stage three focused on reviewing the application of ESO1 in the rural parts of the Shire, within the Green Wedge Zone, Rural Conservation Zone and Special Use Zones. The report prepared by Abzeco Nillumbik Sites of Significance Review Rural Areas, Abzeco June 2014 identified 51 sites of significance, 19,257 hectares of ‘Core Habitat’ land and 9,142 hectares of land as ‘Low-moderate (Buffer) Habitat’. The study also identified land to be removed from the existing ESO1.
In order to give effect to the recommendations of the Ecology Australia and Abzeco reports, the amendment proposes to replace the current ESO1 Schedule 1 – Sites of Faunal and Habitat Significance with three new schedules that recognise different levels of environmental significance and to remove ESO1 from land that has been identified as no longer having environmental significance.
Council has also undertaken a review of the three waterway environmental significance overlays ESO2 – Yarra River Environs, ESO3 – Plenty River Environs and ESO4 – Waterways that apply in the planning scheme in order to better protect the biodiversity values of our waterways.
The amendment proposes to combine the existing waterways ESO’s into one new waterways overlay. This will provide a more streamlined planning scheme and better protect sensitive riparian environments and the threatened species they contain though a wider ESO application based on stream order as recommended by Melbourne Water and the latest research.
At present only five major waterways are covered by an ESO with a 30 metre buffer.The amendment proposes to extend the coverage to all waterways and widens the buffer to better protect biodiversity in accordance with the stream order buffer widths set out in the Waterway corridors; Guidelines for greenfield development areas within the Port Phillip and Western Port Region, Melbourne Water, 2013.
The amendment also proposes to update the Environmental Weeds List that is an incorporated document in the planning scheme.
How does the amendment implement the objectives of planning in Victoria?
The proposal implements the following objectives of planning in Victoria:
· To provide for the fair, orderly, economic and sustainable use, and development of land.
· To provide for the protection of natural and man-made resources and the maintenance of ecological processes and genetic diversity.
· To balance the present and future interests of all Victorians.
The amendment seeks to protect the biodiversity of the Shire through the application of environmental overlays in order to protect all land of environmental significance.
How does the amendment address any environmental, social and economic effects?
The amendment will have positive environmental and social effects by protecting
areas of environmental significance for the benefit of current and future generations. The natural environment and its biodiversity is one of the Shire’s significant assets. The provisions forming part of this amendment ensure that any future development of land affected by the amendment will have regard to identified environmental values.
Does the amendment address relevant bushfire risk?
The planning provisions proposed by this amendment do not vary the existing bushfire risk management provisions as they relate to vegetation, siting and design.
Does the amendment comply with the requirements of any Minister’s Direction applicable to the amendment?
The amendment is consistent with Ministerial Direction No. 11 – Strategic Assessment of Amendments, Ministerial Direction No. 9 – Metropolitan Strategy and the Ministerial Direction on the Form and Content of Planning Schemes.
How does the amendment support or implement the State Planning Policy Framework and any adopted State policy?
· Clause 11.04-7 “Green Wedges’ has an objective ‘to protect the green wedges of Metropolitan Melbourne from inappropriate development’.
· Clause 11.04-9 ‘River Corridors’ has an objective ‘to protect and enhance the significance of river corridors of Metropolitan Melbourne’.
· Clause 12.01-1 ‘Protection of biodiversity’ has an objective ‘to assist the protection and conservation of Victoria’s biodiversity, including important habitat for Victoria’s flora and fauna and other strategically valuable biodiversity sites’.
· Clause 12.04-1 ‘Environmentally sensitive areas’ has an objective ‘to protect and conserve environmentally sensitive areas’.
· Clause 14.02-1 ‘Catchment planning and management’ has an objective to ‘assist the protection and, where possible, restoration of catchments, waterways, water bodies, groundwater, and the marine environment’.
How does the amendment support or implement the Local Planning Policy Framework, and specifically the Municipal Strategic Statement?
The amendment supports the following clauses of the Local Planning Policy Framework:
Clause 21.05-2 Rural Land Use
Objective 2: To limit the fragmentation of land in rural areas.
Objective 3: To ensure that any new dwelling built in the non-urban area does not adversely impact on the primary production activities carried out on the land or on the environmental values of the land.
Objective 5: To protect and enhance rural landscape character.
Clause 21.05-3 Environment, Conservation and Landscape
Objective 1: To protect and enhance sites of environmental significance.
Objective 2: To ensure land use and development is assessed in the context of its potential effect on the wider catchment and encourage sustainable land management.
Does the amendment make proper use of the Victoria Planning Provisions?
The Environmental Significance Overlay is the appropriate tool within the Victoria Planning Provisions to protect land with identified environmental values.
How does the amendment address the views of any relevant agency?
The views of agencies will be considered as part of the exhibition process. Council has informally consulted with the CFA and Melbourne Water.
Does the amendment address relevant requirements of the Transport Integration Act 2010?
The proposed amendment has no effect on the transport system.
Resource and administrative costs
· What impact will the new planning provisions have on the resource and administrative costs of the responsible authority?
The amendment will have minimal impact on the resource and administrative costs of the responsible authority.
Where you may inspect this Amendment
The amendment is available for public inspection, free of charge, during office hours at the following places:
· Nillumbik Shire Council, Civic Drive, Greensborough (Mon - Fri 8.30am - 5pm)
· Nillumbik Shire Council, after hours until 8pm on the following evenings:
· Thursday 12 November 2015
· Monday 16 November 2015
· Thursday 19 November 2015
· Thursday 3 December 2015
· Thursday 14 January 2016
Access on these evenings will be via the after-hours entrance.
· http://www.nillumbik.vic.gov.au
The amendment can also be inspected free of charge at the
· Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning website at www.delwp.vic.gov.au/public-inspection
Submissions
Any person who may be affected by the amendment may make a submission to the planning authority. Submissions about the amendment must be received by 21 January 2016.
A submission must be sent to:
Strategic and Economic Planning
Nillumbik Shire Council
P.O. Box 476
Greensborough VIC 3088
or
Panel hearing dates
In accordance with clause 4(2) of Ministerial Direction No.15 the following panel hearing dates have been set for this amendment:
· Directions hearing: To commence in the week of 14 March 2016
· Panel hearing: To commence in the week of 4 April 2016