MACEDON RANGES NEW FORMAT PLANNING SCHEME REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE & PANEL MARCH 1999 MACEDON RANGES NEW FORMAT PLANNING SCHEME Report of the Advisory Committee & Panel Cathie McRobert (Chair) Warwick Horsfall Max Richards TABLE OF CONTENTS 0.1 Introduction 1 1. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW 2 1.1 Characteristics of the Shire 2 1.2 Key Planning Issues 4 1.2.1 Population growth 4 1.2.2 Heritage 5 1.2.3 Rural areas 7 1.2.4 Rural Planning Scheme provisions 11 1.2.5 Environment 17 1.2.6 State Planning Policy No.8 18 1.2.7 Landscape 20 1.2.8 Bushfire 21 1.2.9 Flooding 23 1.2.10 Calder Freeway 24 1.2.11 Catchments/water supply 25 1.2.12 Mount Macedon 27 1.2.13 Restructuring of lots 28 1.2.14 Industrial areas 32 1.2.15 Commercial areas 33 1.3 Overall assessment 34 2. RESPONSE TO TERMS OF REFERENCE 36 2.1 Consistency with Form and Content Requirements 36 2.2 State Planning Policy Framework (SPPF) 41 2.3 Municipal Strategic Statement (MSS) 42 2.4 Local Policies 44 2.5 Zones, Overlays and Schedules 50 2.6 Incorporated Documents 56 2.7 Monitoring and Review 57 4. CONSIDERATION OF SUBMISSIONS 59 4. RECOMMENDATIONS 239 4.1 Before Adoption 239 4.2 After Adoption 247 4.3 Other Recommendations 250 ATTACHMENT A – CHANGES REQUESTED BY COUNCIL I ACRONYMS CW Coliban Water DNRE Department of Natural Resources and Environment DoI Department of Infrastructure DPO Development Plan Overlay EMO Environmental Management Overlay ESO Environmental Significance Overlay HO Heritage Overlay IN1Z Industrial 1 Zone LDRZ Low Density Residential Zone LPPF Local Planning Policy Framework LSIO Land Subject to Inundation Overlay MSS Municipal Strategic Statement PCRZ Public Conservation and Resource Zone PPRZ Public Parks and Recreation Zone PPV Planning Panels Victoria PTC Public Transport Corporation PUZ Public Use Zone RDZ Road Zone RLZ Rural Living Zone RZ Rural Zone SMO Salinity Management Overlay SPPF State Planning Policy Framework TZ Township Zone UFZ Urban Floodway Zone VPO Vegetation Protection Overlay VPP Victoria Planning Provisions MACEDON RANGES PLANNING SCHEME REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE & PANEL 0.1 Introduction The Panel and Advisory Committee appointed under Sections 151 and 153 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to consider the new format Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme comprised Ms. Cathie McRobert (Chair), Mr. Warwick Horsfall and Mr. Max Richards. In the remainder of the report references to “the Panel” refer to both functions as an Advisory Committee and Panel. The Panel held a directions hearing at the Shire of Macedon Ranges (“the Shire”) offices in Kyneton on 29 September 1998 and conducted its public hearing at the Shire offices in Woodend on 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26 and 27 November 1998. The new format Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme (“the Scheme”) was exhibited during August, September and October 1997. A total of 192 submissions were received by Macedon Ranges Council (“the Council”) during the exhibition period. Additional submissions were received after the formal exhibition period, resulting in more than 200 submissions being referred to the Panel for consideration. Section 3 of this report provides a summary of each submission (prepared by Council), Council’s response and the Panel’s comment and recommendation. The Panel did not inspect all of the sites identified in submissions, however it’s members visited various parts of the municipality to familiarise itself with the physical aspects of areas identified in submissions. The Panel has considered all written submissions and the documentation put before it by Council and those who participated in the public hearing. The remainder of this report is divided into four main sections: 1. Strategic overview 2. Response to terms of reference 3. Consideration of submissions 4. Recommendations 1 MACEDON RANGES PLANNING SCHEME REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE & PANEL 1. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW This part of the report represents a general overview, including a brief appraisal of the municipality and its strategic planning response to its circumstances. It will determine the adequacy with which the major strategic issues have been addressed in the Planning Scheme and identify any inconsistencies or anomalies. This part will also evaluate whether the Planning Scheme is in accordance with the expectations of planning reform and is an improvement on the existing Scheme. Options will also be considered for improvements to the Scheme both before and after its adoption. 1.1 Characteristics of the Shire Council and the regional office of the Department of Infrastructure (DoI) detailed the Shire’s characteristics in their submissions to the Panel. The Panel’s summary of those characteristics is based on those presentations. Macedon Ranges Shire lies in central Victoria approximately 50 to 90 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. It is surrounded by the municipalities of Mount Alexander, Mitchell, Melton, Moorabool and Hepburn Shires, and Hume City. Macedon Ranges is made up of the former municipalities of Gisborne, Romsey, Newham and Woodend, and Kyneton (other than the Trentham area). The Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme as approved in June 1995 consolidated the former planning provisions into five chapters, to create the present Planning Scheme. The Shire contains the major urban centres (in the context of the Shire) of Gisborne, Kyneton, Woodend and Romsey and the service centres of Riddells Creek, Lancefield and to a lesser extent, Macedon, Mount Macedon and Malmsbury. In addition to these centres there are the villages or hamlets of New Gisborne, Darraweit Guim, Tylden/Clarkefield and Newham. Macedon Ranges Shire lies astride the Calder Highway, rail and water supply corridor from Melbourne to Bendigo and northern Victoria. Calder Highway connections to Tullamarine Freeway and the Western Ring Road allow access to Melbourne City, northern suburbs and Tullamarine Airport. The rail corridor provides connections between Melbourne and Macedon Ranges towns, Castlemaine, Bendigo and Swan Hill. Water infrastructure includes the Coliban Main Channel carrying water from reservoirs in the north-west of the Shire to Bendigo for urban supply. Much of the western part of the Shire is an urban water supply catchment. Of the towns (not including hamlets), all are serviced with a reticulated potable water supply and only Lancefield, Macedon and Mount Macedon are without reticulated sewerage. These three towns as well as Tylden, are proposed to be sewered by the relevant water authority. This Calder Highway corridor is attractive for new residents of the Shire's towns, especially Gisborne and Woodend, and the non-urban areas with ready road access to employment locations. The corridor also contains State significant landscapes. Features of the Shire that are of State significance include the landscapes of Hanging Rock and Mount Macedon and surrounds. Forest values and fire risk are also significant. Many 2 MACEDON RANGES PLANNING SCHEME REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE & PANEL of Mount Macedon's great houses and gardens and their "hill station" origins are of State historical significance. The Shire had an estimated resident population as 34 087 in 1996 and has grown at a healthy 1.69 percent per annum since 1991. This compares with a 0.19 percent per annum for the same period across Regional Victoria. The age structure is younger than that of Regional Victoria, with slightly higher proportions of people in the ‘young family’ age groups, 0-4, 5-17 and 35-49 years, and a much smaller proportion of people in age groups over 60 years. Personal and household incomes are also slightly higher overall than for Regional Victoria as a whole. The DoI predicts that the Shire will experience a continued moderate to strong growth rate of between 1.47 and 2.20 percent per annum for the next 25 years. As with the rest of Regional Victoria the population will age, with significant increases in almost all age groups and greater increases in the number of people in age groups over 50 years. The population in the Shire’s rural areas is growing rapidly, increasing 3.3 percent annually between 1981 and 1996. These areas contained 14,048 people, or 43 percent of the Shire’s population, in 1996. The economic base of the Shire is diverse and many residents travel outside of the Shire to Melbourne to work. The employment base includes manufacturing, education and health services, tourism, retail and wholesale trade, business services and commuting to the metropolitan area. ABS employment figures (1996) show that in the largest urban centres of Gisborne and Kyneton, the main employer industry groups are wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and health and community services. For the rural balance of the Shire the main employers are health and community services, wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing and business services. Agricultural production is worth approximately $30.5 million per year in the Shire. Agriculture directly employs 4.5 percent of the Shire's workforce. Approximately 14 percent of the workforce is employed in manufacturing and almost half these workers live outside the main towns in the Shire. The retail and wholesale trade group, and the education, health and community group each account for over 17 percent of employment by industry in the Shire. Tourism is a significant and growing business in the Shire which offers heritage buildings and gardens, antiques, natural beauty, cafes, wineries and festivals. The Shire contains one of the top 20 most visited sites in Victoria in Hanging Rock. Compared to the rest of regional Victoria, the Shire has a high level of spending per tourist which means Macedon Ranges has high end dollar value tourism opportunities. The Panel heard from Council’s consultant that the Shire is very diverse and does not function as one community. For example Kyneton does not regard itself as part of the Macedon Ranges and each town has very much its own identity.