Planning and Environment Act 1987

SOUTH PLANNING SCHEME

AMENDMENT C20

EXPLANATORY REPORT

Who is the Planning Authority?

This amendment has been prepared by the South Gippsland Shire Council, which is the planning authority for this amendment.

The amendment has been made at the request of VicRoads.

Land affected by the Amendment.

The amendment applies to land located adjacent to the South Gippsland between Bena- Road and one kilometre east of Korumburra-Whitelaw Road, between Bena and Korumburra. This amendment relates to seven freehold titles and crown land vested in Victorian Rail Track. The freehold land is more particularly described as:

C/T 10208/532 C/T 9310/168 C/T 10171/165 (PT) C/T 8764/543 C/T 10183/000 C/T 2961/067 C/T 2068/484

What the Amendment does.

The amendment proposes to include land required for works associated with the realignment of the South Gippsland Highway between Bena-Korumburra Road and one kilometre east of Korumburra-Whitelaw Road, within a Public Acquisition Overlay.

The amendment also updates the planning scheme ‘Table of Contents’ to correct errors which occurred following the adoption of Amendment C10 on 23 September 2004. The corrected Table of Contents deletes the entries for Clause 21.06 to 21.10 inclusive and inserts an entry in ‘Overlays’ for Clause 43.04 Development Plan Overlay. The updated Table of Contents reflects the current provisions of the planning scheme. As the Table of Contents is not formally part of the planning scheme, the changes to the table were not exhibited and have not gone before Council for resolution.

Why the Amendment is required.

The amendment is required to facilitate land acquisition by VicRoads for the future construction of the realignment of the South Gippsland Highway between Bena- Korumburra Road and one kilometre east of Korumburra-Whitelaw Road, between Bena and Korumburra.

The South Gippsland Highway Corridor Strategy released June 1999, provides a strategy for the improvement of the highway to “A Road Standard”. The proposed realignment between Bena and Korumburra is in accordance with this Strategy and will result in highway improvements, which are expected to have positive economic effects on tourism, business, industry and future economic growth within the South Gippsland Shire.

Three options for realignment were investigated by VicRoads.

• Option 1 – realigning to the north of the existing highway, affecting the railway line with high environmental impacts. • Option 2 – realigning to the south of the existing highway affecting several landowners. • Option 3 – realigning the entire highway between Bena and Korumburra generally to the south with considerable land acquisition required and substantially more expensive than the other options.

The investigations revealed the proposed highway re-alignment to the south of the existing highway, Option 2, to be the preferred option.

The update to the Table of Contents is required to ensure the table accurately reflects the provisions of the planning scheme.

Impact of the Amendment.

Minister's Directions

The amendment is not affected by any Minister's Directions under section 12 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

The amendment is consistent with the Ministerial Direction on the Form and Content of Planning Schemes under section 7(5) of the Act.

Environmental Effects

Greening Australia Inc. completed the “Investigative Biological Survey – Proposed Realignment of South Gippsland Highway between Bena and Korumburra” in association with Brett Lane and Associates Pty Ltd.

The study area has been modified to the extent that inclusion of the remaining native plant associations in an Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) is not possible. The few remnants present suggest that much of the study area was probably covered by Damp Forest, although some elements present were more typical of either Wet Forest or Riparian Forest EVC’s.

The Nationally (and State) significant Strzelecki Gum occurs at a number of sites within the study area. The main occurrence of this species is along the northern side of the existing highway opposite Korumburra-Whitelaw Road continuing to the east. The impact is not deemed to be significant and will not be referred to Environment Australia under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Museum Victoria completed the “Survey of the Giant Gippsland Earthworm, Megascolides australis in areas potentially affected by a realignment of the South Gippsland Highway – Bena to Korumburra”.

Giant Gippsland Earthworm populations were recorded in two areas on the north side of the existing South Gippsland Highway in Victorian Rail Track land. The realignment option chosen is located on the south side of the highway and will therefore not affect the two recorded sites.

A Project Environmental Protection Strategy and an Environmental Management Plan will also be prepared prior to construction of the proposed road deviation.

The amendment is not considered to have any significant effects on the environment that can not be reasonably mitigated. Nor is it considered that the environment will have any significant effect on the land acquisition envisaged by the amendment.

Social and Economic Effects

The amendment is expected to have a social effect, resulting from the need to acquire land from privately owned properties to facilitate the realignment. The total area of land proposed to be acquired is approximately 4.1 hectares, involving 6 separate landowners.

The proposed realignment will result in improvements in the standard of the South Gippsland Highway, which in turn is expected to have a positive economic effect on tourism, business, industry and future economic growth within the South Gippsland Shire.

Cultural effects

Dr Vincent A Clark & Associates Pty Ltd completed the “South Gippsland Highway Bena to Korumburra Cultural Heritage Study” which did not identify any aboriginal archaeological sites. However the majority of the study area, excluding areas disturbed by the highway, railway, roads and drains, is considered to be sensitive for Aboriginal archaeological sites. Topsoil removal at the sensitive sites will be monitored during construction work by a qualified archaeologist and a representative of the Central Gippsland Aboriginal Health and Housing Co-operative Ltd.

Four non-aboriginal historical archaeological and cultural heritage sites were recorded during the survey. None of these were in the immediate study area, however, three are located just outside the boundary of the study area.

Strategic and Policy Justification of the Amendment

Following are the relevant policies of the South Gippsland Planning Scheme that assist to justify the proposed amendment:

State Planning Policy Framework

Under the policy for Infrastructure – Declared highways, railways and tramways (Clause 18.01-1), the objective is to: “Integrate land use and transport planning around existing and planned declared highways, railways, principal bus routes and tram lines.”

A relevant strategy (Clause 18.01-2) to achieve this objective is:

“Transport routes should be located to achieve the greatest overall benefit to the community and with regard to making the best use of existing social, cultural and economic infrastructure, minimising impacts on the environment and optimising accessibility, safety, emergency access, service and amenity.”

Municipal Strategic Statement (MSS)

A Key Influence (Clause 21.03-5) for South Gippsland Shire is identified as:

“The poor quality of the South Gippsland Highway through the Shire.”

The Vision for the Shire, relating to Physical Infrastructure (Clause 21.04-5) is stated as:

“The vision for the Shire is to improve and maintain existing roads and other physical infrastructure in order to support the future needs of the community including the need to support economic growth and to protect the environment.”

The objective of the Infrastructure – Physical infrastructure policy (Clause 21.10) is to:

“To provide the necessary services and infrastructure in an efficient manner to meet the economic, environmental and community needs of the municipality.”

Relevant strategies (Clause 21.10) identified to achieve this objective are:

“Develop a safe and efficient transport system for the Shire.”

“Promote improvements to the Strzelecki and South Gippsland Highways to accommodate increasing traffic and freight movements.”

Strategies for implementation (Clause 21.10) include:

“Applying the Public Acquisition Overlay to land identified for future road infrastructure development.”

The amendment meets the objectives and implements the relevant strategies contained in both the State and Local Planning Policy Framework of the South Gippsland Planning Scheme. Where you may inspect this Amendment.

The amendment is available for public inspection, free of charge, during office hours at the following places.

Department of Sustainability & Department of Sustainability & Environment Environment Planning Information Centre Gippsland Regional Office Upper Plaza 71 Hotham Street Nauru House 3844 80 Collins Street 3000

South Gippsland Shire Council Planning & Environment Unit 9 Smith Street . Vic. 3953