INFASTRUCTURE Vision for a smaller planet Andrew Gray THE VPELATHE ARG Planning victorianrevue / planning / environmental / law / association / volume 94 March 2015 1 / VPELA Revue March 2015 VPELA Board Members Contents Executive President President 3 Tamara Brezzi Minister 7 T: 8686 6226 Shadow Minister 8 E: [email protected] Editorial 11 Vice President (Planning) News from Planning Panels 12 Jane Monk News from VCAT 14 T: 9651 9678 E: [email protected] Places Vice President (Legal) Urban Renewal Tip Top, Brunswick 15 Adrian Finanzio Rethinking the strip: Bridge Road 19 T: 9225 8745 Medelin, Columbia: changing the game 26 E: [email protected] Traditional activity centres 41 Secretary VPELA UDIA Singapore Tour 46 Michael Deidun The Business T: 9628 9708 E: [email protected] Planning in Victoria 2015? 5 Planning improvements at City of Greater Geelong 9 Treasurer Rory’s Ramble 23 Jane Sharp VCAT seminar 24 T: 9225 7627 Municipal Matters: Accretion 32 E: [email protected] The Fast Lane 37 Executive Director Shining through or Shady? Solar panels and VCAT 38 Jessica Cutting Legal World 43 T: 8392 6383 Seminar Report: Fire and Planning 48 E: [email protected] Planning Xchange 55 Executive Director Julie Reid People T: 8571 5269 Traffic engineering; my way 17 E: [email protected] A day with Susan Brennan QC 21 Under the microscope: Bert Dennis 35 Members Jeff Akehurst 45 Frank Butera T: 9668 5564 New Board members 54 John Carey T: 8608 2687 YPG Jennifer Jones T: 0409 412 141 Mimi Marcus T: 9258 3871 YPG Master Class articles 50 Jillian Smith T: 9651 9542 YPG Bowls Event 52 Natasha Swan T: 0427 309 349 YPG Committee 52 Adam Terrill T: 9429 6133 Con Tsotsoros T: 8392 6402 Christine Wyatt T: 9208 3601 Newsletter editor: Bernard McNamara M: 0418 326 447 E: [email protected] T: 9699 7025 VPELA PO Box 1291 Camberwell 3124 www.vpela.org.au T: 9813 2801 Cover photo: Minister Richard Wynne addressed an enthusiastic crowd at the VPELA Christmas Party. 2 / VPELA Revue March 2015 President Reflection on an era Tamara Brezzi President, VPELA It is with great sadness that VPELA recorded the passing His vision for Southbank as a place of change earned him the of former Victorian Minister for Planning Evan Walker AO title of the “Father of Southbank”. Conversely, his willingness in February. to achieve change was matched by his determination to protect Collins Street; a goal that flowed from his membership of the In 1982 Evan Walker became Victoria’s fifth Minister for Planning Collins Street Defence Movement prior to his political life. He when the first Labour Government in more than 25 years was also instrumental in leading the charge to redevelop and came to power. He was the first architect of provide lights at the MCG and to develop any political party to enter any Parliament Flinders Park into the now world-famous of Australia. sporting precinct. As part of John Cain’s reformist govern- Evan Walker ‘s name Mr Walker was an early supporter of the ment Evan Walker set about changing the is synonymous with closure of Swanston Street to traffic. It was focus and administration of planning with “now the Planning planning in Victoria reported in 1985 that the ultimate achievement of the Planning Minister would like Swanston Street to revert and Environment Act 1987. He had the to the happy avenue it was in years past and wonderful capacity of an architect to see he believes the birthday bash on February things in 3D, noting in 1982 “A decision can 9-10 [1985] when the street was grassed over often be made poorly because people are not aware of a spatial and closed to celebrate the 150th anniversary, has shown the sense, only the political and legal”. [The Melbourne Times, 19 way.” At the time, Mr Walker stated “..if the traffic were reduced May 1982, interview with Wendy Harmer]. to 25 per cent of its present load and the footpaths were widened VPELA Revue March 2015 / 3 and some trees planted, people would feel they could wander and the idea that there are indeed parts of planning which could and sit in the City Square or along the street and enjoy it on a way and should attract bipartisan support. they can’t at the moment. It could well be that each block would have a different character. The block from Flinders to Collins, In December 2014, VPELA welcomed newly sworn in Minister with the cathedral and City Square on it, could have one kind Richard Wynne to the planning portfolio at VPELA’s Christmas of development and character, whereas the next block, Collins Party held at Lumiere in South Melbourne. Minister Wynne to Bourke and Bourke to Lonsdale is more commercial.” [The noted that he was delighted to be taking on this role and Herald 19 March 1985] felt that all his previous roles in urban policy, housing, Aboriginal affairs and social policy had given him excellent Evan Walker was the recipient, together with the late Alan Hunt, grounding for his next chapter. We are delighted to be hosting of the inaugural VPELA Award of Merit in 1991, which in later the Minister at our seminar on 26 March 2015 (book early!) years became the Richard J Evans Award. Despite their political and look forward to working with the new administration in the differences Alan and Evan were great friends and were delighted coming months and years of the Andrews Government. to receive the award together. The VPELA Board met recently to discuss its planned focus and The award was given to Evan in acknowledgement of his great events for the year ahead. Obviously the new government will service to planning. VPELA benefitted greatly from Evan’s be a key focus but we also felt that a broader discussion about membership. He was dedicated to the Association and inspired the bipartisanship in planning would be warranted. Influenced by leaders at that time, including inaugural VPELA President Peter the material written recently upon the passing of Evan Walker, it Barber AM, to embrace and welcome sectors of the development seems clear that a bipartisan approach on at least some aspects industry beyond those of planning and law. The multi-disciplinary of the discipline of planning is possible, indeed desirable. I nature of the Association, now encompassing membership from encourage you to be a part of the conversation at seminars and architects, engineers, scientists and economists stems from the at our conference on 13-14 August 2015 to be held in Lorne. era in which Evan was involved with the Association. Entitled “Utopia and Beyond: the journey and the destination”, there will be plenty of opportunity for delegates to set out what Journalists of the era described him as refreshing politician constitutes planning perfection – perhaps bipartisanship across with an easy, suave style. In 1990, shortly after his resignation, some or all of the sector is part of your planning utopia? Doug Aiton wrote: “..Evan Walker is very easy company. We had never met before, but within minutes you know you are in the Look out for seminars in coming months concerning a company of someone who is not going to try to score points, retrospective on the impact, or otherwise, of the Res Zones, who is not going to be devious, who is not going to manipulate whether Victoria is equipped to deliver big infrastructure, how questions, and who is not even going to be suspicious and does tsunami monitoring actually work and a walking tour that defensive. To a journalist, he is refreshing.” [The Sunday Age, will bond the disciplines of architecture and acoustics. This 16 September 1990]. year will also bring a greater opportunity for our vast number of regional members to see seminars locally as we take a number Evan Walker was acutely aware of the balancing act required of seminars out of Melbourne – starting with seminars by VCAT’s by all players in the planning arena, remarking “If things Deputy President Helen Gibson and Senior Member Laurie are blown up by the media they can jeopardise the delicate Hewett in Shepparton, Traralgon and Ballarat in March and April negotiations that planning issues require” and “He was a man to be chaired by Adrian Finanzio SC and me. who believed in the planning cause and brought his passion for the subject to the task of seeing through the politics toward Happy reading. great planning outcomes.” Tamara Brezzi Evan Walker’s name is synonymous with planning in Victoria and President, VPELA he leaves behind a great legacy for planning vision, leadership THE INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS Greencap is the name you can trust when it comes to managing contaminated sites in Australia. Solvents, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, explosives, or biological contaminants - we take them all in our stride. Services: › Contaminated site assessment › Environmental impact assessment › Landfi ll risk assessment › Health risk assessment › Asbestos assessment & management › Peer review / expert witness t 03 9896 8600 e [email protected] w www.greencap.com.au 4 / VPELA Revue March 2015 The Business Planning in Victoria 2015? What to expect Bernard McNamara BMDA Development Advisory With the election of the Andrews Labor Government, some created to plan the project. A $40m budget allocation has of the infrastructure and planning priorities across Victoria been announced. (However the Treasurer Tim Pallas has have changed. While it has been stated that Plan Melbourne already identified that the high capital cost ($9bn+) will be would not be re-written, there are some obvious and high- a huge challenge for the State Government.) profile changes that will have knock–on effects.