In February of this year the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) released a discussion paper on proposed new residential zones for Victoria. The new zones form part of a wider review of the planning system being carried out by the State Government and in particular a five point action plan released by the Minister in October 2007.
The new residential zones are a response to what is perceived by the Department to be the increasing over-complexity of planning schemes throughout Victoria caused predominantly by the proliferation of Local Planning Policies.
Proposed New Structure
The structure proposed for the new zones provides a clearer three tiered system as summarised following:
1. Substantial change areas
Are areas that present opportunities to substantially increase the number and diversity of dwellings.
2. Incremental change areas
Are areas where change can continue to occur however development must respect the character of the area.
3. Limited change areas
Are areas with limited opportunity for change because of identified development constraints, including special neighbourhood character, environmental and landscape values or infrastructure capacity. In these areas the impact of new development will be limited.
Exactly how and where these newly proposed zones are to be applied will be left predominately to local municipalities to decide.
Clause:1 expects that the Substantial Change Areas will be predominantly applied around defined activity centres where increased densities are generally supported by higher level planning policies. It is important to note that these zones are ‘residential’ zones and will generally not affect the existing zoning of Business 1,2,3,4 5 or Mixed Use zones commonly found within existing activity centres.
It is further expected that the majority of Victoria’s current Residential 1 Zones will become Incremental Change Areas. Only in the most unique circumstances would we expect Limited Change Areas to be imposed within an existing urban context.
Multiple Schedules
As readers will be aware; current residential zones include a Schedule that allows local council to vary multiple Rescode Standards and impose other restrictions. A major flaw with this system is that any increased restriction contained in the Schedule to a zone affects land across the entire municipality and does not account for any differences in the neighbourhood character of particular areas.
A key feature of the new proposal includes the ability to incorporate multiple Schedules for each residential zone. In theory, this will allow Councils to provide individual Schedules for different areas within their municipality. It is envisaged separate Schedules will provide Councils with the ability to better target restrictions to specific areas and remove the onerous municipal-wide blanket restrictions currently imposed in some municipalities.
More or less restrictions
The DPCD discussion paper includes consideration of alterations to the amount and type of restrictions that might be incorporated in the new Schedules. By incorporating more ResCode Standards and other restrictions into the Schedule it appears the State Government is hoping that Councils will not have a need for the volumes of Local Planning Policy currently incorporated into schemes which attempt to control residential development.
Notice and Appeal Rights
Another of the key items proposed for the Substantial and Incremental Change zones is a proposal to restrict, or at least limit, notice and appeal provisions if certain standards of the zone are met.
Fast Track Processing
For all newly proposed zones “fast track approval” is proposed for “straight forward developments” . Unfortunately no detail is provided as to what “fast track” or “straight forward” actually mean.
Utopian Outcome
The ideal outcome would be a residential zoning system that:
- Substantially reduces the amount of Local Policy controls pertaining to residential development;
- Allows all applicants to easily understand the requirements of developing within a specified area;
- Provides controls and restrictions that are specifically targeted to distinct neighbourhood areas based on distinct neighbourhood characteristic;
- Removes municipal-wide blanket controls that are not relevant to a municipalities diverse neighbourhood areas;
- Provides a more prescriptive (tick-the-box) approach for straight forward applications that could be fast-tracked through the system;
- Removes the ability of affected parties to unreasonably delay the process;
In reality, it is expected that the final form the Residential Zones take will not be this euphoric.
The amount of work most Councils will have to undertake (e.g. detailed neighbourhood character studies) to properly implement multiple schedules for each zone is astronomical. In addition, Councils will be required to wind back substantial amounts of Local Policy in order to prevent duplication of controls and ultimately remove the complexity these changes are trying to address.
Without clear understanding as to how fast the proposed “fast track” process will be or what constitutes a “straight forward application” it is difficult to gauge whether the proposed changes will have the desired affect.
Clause:1 strongly supports the aim of the Victorian Government in implementing these new residential zoning changes but is concerned that the practical reality of their implementation is likely to see the most beneficial suggestions fall short of their potential or be deleted altogether.
The opportunity to provide submissions relating to the initial proposal has now closed, but a second opportunity will be available later this year. The Government will release the Proposed Final Form of the new residential zone in July-August 2008.
A full copy of the discussion paper is available from www.dpcd.vic.gov.au
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Last updated 210608