Victorian / Planning / Environmental / Law / Association / Volume 100 March 2017
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victorian / planningrevue / environmental / law / association / volume 100 March 2017 Contents President 3 Planning Tribunals across the decades Part 1 30 Editorial Licence 4 Local Government Matters – Sack the council! 33 The Minister for Planning 6 Shadow Minister for Planning 7 Places Strategic Planning Melbourne v Sydney 9 The Fast Lane 41 – What is the St Kilda Road landscape worth? Rory’s Rambles: Nurture kids with nature-based play 13 View aligning for photo montages 42 Creating communities 18 Delivering schools in the Growth Areas 22 Legal world 36 Co-working: What happens when the 15 People Prairie-Dogs abandon their cubicles? VPA Peter Seamer steps down 47 The Business VPELA new Board members 37 Planning in DELWP 2017 20 YPG Committee 2017 49 How to interpret a restrictive covenant 38 Seminars News from Planning Panels Victoria 24 Moot court 45 Tribunal talk 29 Interview with the Minister 46 Heritage fabricated Boroondara 39 YPG Development Series 48 – Am C22-9: a leap back? Cover photo: Bayview Park, Villawood’s Alamanda Estate, Point Cook. Newsletter editor: VPELA Bernard McNamara PO Box 1291 Camberwell 3124 M: 0418 326 447 www.vpela.org.au E: [email protected] E: [email protected] T: 9699 7025 T: 9813 2801 2 / VPELA Revue March 2017 The President Another busy year! Tamara Brezzi President, VPELA Welcome to the 100th volume of the VPELA Newsletter! And, welcome to 2017! It’s difficult to believe that the first couple We were delighted to welcome the Minister to this event which of months of the year have passed so quickly. Things have been sold out 2 weeks in advance. The Minister and his government very busy at VPELA and there’s no doubt that there was no time are two years into a four-year term and it’s clear that 2017 is available this year to do all those jobs that are normally left for intended to be a year of announcements and implementation, January when things are supposedly a little more quiet. rather than a year of reviews. There’s been much industry debate in the last two years about housing affordability, better apartment Our events for the year kicked off with Summer Drinks kindly design standards, Plan Melbourne and it seems to me that the hosted by Cardno on their beautiful city terrace presenting a sector feels well and truly ready to move to the ‘how’ from the marvellous opportunity to catch up on everyone’s news and ‘why’ and the ‘what’ in order to make some real in-roads into the plans for the year ahead (see photos inside). policy delivery phase of these planning reforms. As has become the tradition, our first Speaking of planning reform, VPELA seminar was an event with the Minister for was pleasantly surprised to discover that Planning. This year we adopted a different DELWP’s “Smart Planning” program is format from recent years and Tim Biles DELWP’s “Smart Planning” about so much more than bringing planning of Message Consultants and I conducted program is about so documentation into the computer age. With an on-stage interview with the Minister to much more than bringing much more to it than building IT capacity explore a little more about the Minister and planning documentation for planning schemes online, the Smart the life and professional experience that he into the computer age. Planning team has been established to do brings with him to the portfolio of planning. some big picture thinking about planning The Minister had announced only a few reform (and to do a few IT things along the way). Hopefully you’ve been able to secure days earlier that he intends to run again a ticket to our seminar held on 27 March to hear all about the for election in his inner-city seat of Richmond in November Smart Planning reform program. 2018. The Minister was candid in his replies to our questions, highlighting that his upbringing has left with him a strong We have many seminars and events planned for you throughout sense of social justice and an inherent desire to apply himself the course of the year including “VPELA Walks…” in which small to the task of improving the lives of Victorians, particularly groups will be invited on a guided walk to learn about urban disadvantaged Victorians. design delights and disasters in the CBD and our city’s rich indigenous history, and “VPELA Skills…” which will see a version The Minister noted that the biggest challenge faced by Victoria in of last year’s very successful VPELA Moots run in a new series his view is population growth. All of the planning and liveability throughout the year. consequences that flow from that give rise to the most difficult decisions that he is asked to make. Flagging the imminent Also of course keep an eye out for the VPELA Annual Dinner on release of the Victorian Housing Strategy and Plan Melbourne Friday 5 May 2017 and the VPELA Conference on 31 August and Refresh, the Minister’s passion for the delivery of housing that is 1 September 2017 to be held at San Remo with the theme “Are affordable, sustainable and meets the short and long term needs we there yet?” of all Victorians, was clear. If you’d like to get involved with VPELA this year, please get in On the topic of local government resourcing, the Minister touch with us by contacting one of the Board members, Jane empathised with parties on both sides of the planning process Power or me-we’d all be delighted to hear from you. fence, remarking that the pressures on local governments were extreme and that the consequences of delay on the parties Tamara Brezzi is President of VPELA seeking approvals were severe. He noted that the VPA will be and a Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright called upon by him more frequently in the future to assist in the resourcing dilemma by giving responsibility to the VPA to look after selected strategic redevelopment sites in both regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne. VPELA Revue March 2017 / 3 Editorial licence Bernard McNamara, Editor VPELA Revue Welcome back to the frenetic year of 2017. Let’s start with a (sort implement the revised Plan Melbourne and other plans for the of) resolution. region. These are big jobs, with major coordination roles. And we learn in this issue how the VPA is re-thinking the planning ‘Planning is to contribute to the economic well-being of communities for schools, which is a major infrastructure challenge in the and the State as a whole by supporting and fostering economic new suburbs. growth and development by providing land, facilitating decisions, and resolving land use conflicts, so that each district may build on And speaking of the VPA, Peter Seamer has called time after 10 its strengths and achieve its economic potential.’ Cl.17 Economic years of leading the Authority through its genesis and change of Development, State section of every Planning Scheme. roles. (How may unused business cards from the previous brands Coming across this clause, (as one does in policy assembly), it must he have?) Peter has made a large and valuable contribution occurs to me that, as an industry, should we adopt the monastic to development in Victoria and will (we are told) move to a different approach of requiring these words to be chanted at dawn as part role for Government. There is much to do in a state experiencing of our daily rituals? Yes, it leaves out all the other ‘policies’; but high population growth with inadequate infrastructure. taken as a direction, it has much to recommend it. But wait there’s more! The Minister for Suburban Development Like many who (hopefully) read this, I am called into deal apparently has a coordinating role? And, there is a group in with minutiae situations which wouldn’t be given a moment’s DEDJTR called ‘Metropolitan Economic Development Victoria’ consideration in other parts of the globe. What would a Parking which also has a coordinating role? And while all this is being Management Plan in Rome look like, for example? I see so ‘coordinated’, the level crossing removals program, the often operating arrangements within the established city Melbourne Metro rail project, the Tullamarine widening and which are viewed as heretical by traffic engineers and others in planning for the Western Distributor are all going at warp speed. some suburban and greenfield areas. So, we are saddled with And then there is Infrastructure Victoria. (Keeping up?) prohibitions on sensible access and mandated design criteria that assumes an ‘instant’ completed village will appear. Let’s On a souring note, we are seeing the emergence of a frightened take a few breaths. I am not looking for a ‘Trump regulation roll- community, which will lead on to what might be various back’, just more balance; accepting that good places are more developmental or urban planning responses. Putting to one side often organic and ‘messy’. Let’s focus on the important stuff; not the level of violations, the growing perception in the community the small stuff. And the more I see; most of it is small. is that there is a wave of lawlessness, demonstrated through home intrusions, car thefts and dangerous driving by people with Let me swing over and highlight some of our excellent offerings no respect for law or society. The tensions within the community in this edition, big and small. Topping the bill, we reprise the have been highlighted in recent weeks by the State Government’s Melbourne V Sydney contest; this time, which has got the better snap decision (and the reaction) to build a new gaol for juvenile metropolitan plan? Liz Mackevecius of SGS takes us across the offenders.