1947 VJCTOHl.\ SECOND ANNUAL REPOitT OF THE FOR THE PERIOD hrr JULY, HMG, TO :30Tn JUNE, 1~}47 PRE:-iENTED TO BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAME~"T PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 (3) OF THE TOWN AND COU~"TRY PLANNL"'\G ACT 1944 f Approximate Oo"t of I/epmt.-Preparatlon-uot given. Printing (700 copies) £65.]. ~~1 J\ut!UJtit.J1 . J. J. GOURLEY, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, MELBOURNE. No: 13 (Is. 6d.].-l0489/47. l N D EX. PAGJI Amendments to the Act 5 Regulations under the Act 7 Planning Schemes 7 Greater :Melbourne Planning Scheme 8 Zoning-Residential By-Laws 9 Decentralization of Industry 10 Central Planning Authority 10 Housing Commission of Victoria 11 Eastern Highway through Heidelberg, Northcote, and Preston 11 Queen's-parade, Clifton Hill .. 11 Alignment of Riverside-avenue, South Melbourne 12 Studies in the Costs of Pu hlic Utilitie;; 13 Education of Town and Country Planners 14 Professional Charges 14 Vehicular Traffic Census 14 Town and Country Planning Conference in Sydney 17 Land Valuations 18 Re-alignment of Streets 18 Town and Country Planning Abroad 19 Staff 19 Town and Country Planning Board. SECOND ANNUAL REPORT. The Honorable P . .J. Kennelly, M.L.C., 30th Sept., 1947 . .Minister of Public "'Works, Public Offices, Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, C.2. 1. In accordance with the requirements of Section 4 (3) of the Town and Country [)lanninq Act 1944 (No. 50£1:~), the Board has plec1surc in submitting to you, for presentation to Parliament, the report on its activities dming the twelve months ended 30th June, 1947. During the twelve months. the Boanl has met formally on forty-five (45) occasions anJ held other meetings at which specific items were dealt with in consultation with representatives of mnnic:ipal councils and pnblic authorities. THE ACT. 2. From the inception of its activities the BoarJ has continued to exper1enee rldieiencies in the legislation comprised in the main Act and has, on several occasions, proposed that the Act be amended in certain respects. i3. On the 22nd November, lU46, and after due consultation, the Board proposed that Sedion 12 (:~) (b) of the Aet be amended so that the existing wording··- " 12. (2) The responsible authority shall - (a) (b) serve upon every owner lessee and occupier of any land proposed to to be affected a copy of such order." be amended to read- " Serve by letter post a eopy of such order upon every owner of any land which may he required in whole or in part for the purpose of earrying out the provisions of an approved planning scheme." This amendment would have necessitated a clea.r definition of the word ,"owner" being inserted in the Act, and the Board recommended the following definition :-- ·' Owner" in respect of any property means the person whose name is for the time being inscribed in the Municipal Rate Book as the owner of such property." This amendment is necessitated by reason of the virtual impossibility of a Responsible Authority satisfaetorily complying with the existing provisions of the Act. It can be seen from the wording of Seetion 12 (2) (b) that even in a very limited planning area a Responsible Authority would be charged with a most difficult task in locating every owner, lessee, and ocpupier of each individual property, especially a~ numer?us properties change hands under Contracts of Sale, and are, therefore, not recorded m the T1tles Oflice. Many leases are not registered and there is no ready way of establishing an up-to-date record of occupiers. Whilst certain Councils have attempted to proceed with planning schemes under the Act as it now stands, other Councils have f~lt co~1pelle~ to a:vait af!lendments before eommencing planning schemes because of a fear of the d1flieulties With whwh they would he confronted. 6 4. At the same time as the abovementioned amendment was proposed to you, the Board also proposed that an additional sub-section to Section 23 of the Act should be incorporated in the legislation. It was suggested that the wording of the additional sub-section be along the following lines :- · '' Notwithstanding the provisionR of sub-section (1) of this section a Responsible Authority may with the consent of the Minister borrow monies in excess of the limitations imposed by Part XV. of the Local Government Act 1928 for the purpose of carrying into effect any of the provisions of an approved planning scheme." The Board considered that, generally speaking, the cost of development in conformity with a planning scheme would be less than without a plan, since the whole principle of town and country planning is based on economical development within the channels of municipal administration. However, certain types of planning Rchemes were envisaged by municipalities which required large amounts of money being temporarily available for the compulsory purchase of areas of land for the purpose of re-subdivision prior to re-sale. For this reason the Board felt that some extension to the existing borrowing powers given to municipalities was warranted, but that each individual proposal should be the subject of a recommendation tD the Governor in Council. With regard to this aspect of planning schemes, it is interesting to note the text of a resolution which was passed at the Municipal Conference in October, 1946 :- " That the Local Government Act and the Town and Country Planning Act be amended to provide authority for a }funicipal Council to plan and develop such areas as it considers necessary or desirable, and that separate borrowing powers be given for the financing of such schemes for the purchase of the land, construction of roads and services, and erection of houses andjor industrial buildings thereon." 5. On the 3rd April, 1947, the Board proposed to you additional amendments. First of these amendments could read as follows :~ "Public Authorities.-If, during the preparation of a planning scheme and after consultation with any public authority, the Responsible Authority fails to reach agreement with the public authority on matters considered vital to the planning scheme, then the Responsible Authority may apply to the Governor in Council for an order restraining the semi-public or State Government authority from proceeding with any portion of its plan which may affect the planning scheme." The reason for this amendment was related to the apparent inability of a Responsible Authority to control development by public authorities which might be detrimental to the success or implementation of an over-all planning scheme. The Board considered that an amendment along the lines suggested was desirable but that each order should be the subject of approval by the Governor in Council after full investigation of the considerations involved. 6. In the same minute of 3rd April, 1947, the Board recommended that the word "other" be substituted for the word "like" in sub-section (c) of Section 22. The reason for this amendment was to bring the wording of the sub-section into line with the wording of Item 3 in the Schedule to the Act. The amendment would enable a Responsible Authority to zone areas of land for purposes other than housing, shopping, and industrial ; this power is apparently envisaged by the item in the schedule. A Responsible Authority could thereby zone areas on the fringe of urban development as agricultural zones without the necessity of paying compensation. Power so to do is considered vital to the carrying out of the provisions of a planning scheme so that premature, ill-considered, and "ribbon" development could be controlled. 7. It is the opinion of the Board that all amendments which have been proposed to you are vital to the administration of the Act, and that without them town planning is unlikely to make satisfactory progress in Victoria. 8. The Board had hoped that the most important amendment, namely that to Section 12 (2) (b) would have been brought forward at the same time as the amendment proposed in December last by the Honorable the Premier, which is now law and is contained in Act No. 5198 which is entitled " An Act to make provision, in connexion with Town and Country Planning Schemes outside the metropolitan area, for the acquisition of Land for the Establishment or Extension of Industries." 7 'l'he Board is now perturbed that the amendments were not brought before Parliament during the session "Which ended on the 26th June, 1!)47, and cannot help but feel that adequate progress in town and country planning is being seriously impeded by reason of the failure to effect these desirable amendments. 9. rrhe opinion of the Board that those sections of the Act which are difficult of interpretation and administration should be clarified by amending legislation has been :mpported by the Crown Solicitor. In giving his opinion on a number of questions put to him in September, H)46, the Crown Solicitor qualified such remarks as he felt able to make in the following manner " It seems highly desirable that these doubtful matters should be the subject of amending legislation bringing the loeal legislation into conformity with recent English legislation on the same subjeet matter." lU~GULATIONS. 10. Town and Country Planning Regulations (No. 1 "Preparation and Submission of Planning Schemes" were approved by the Governor in Council on the 25th June, 1946, a fact which was noted in the first Annual Report of the Board. During August, 1946, copies of the Hegulations, together vvith a covering explanatory letter, were sent to members of Parliament, as required hy the Aet, to each of the 197 municipalities throughout the StatP, to professional institutes, and to kindred bodies in other States. Great interest in these regulations was manifested and the Board received many enquiries for copies from all parts of the Commonwealth.