As regular readers will be aware, the Minister for Planning has appointed the Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee (RZSAC) to advise on the introduction of the new Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone and Residential Growth Zone into local planning schemes. The RZSAC is intended to be in place to support Councils until 30 June 2015.
Part 1 of the process involved 14 Council’s opting to make use of the RZSAC to review and provide recommendations on their proposed zone reforms.
In June 2014 the RZSAC released the Stage One Overarching Issues Report which reviewed the first 14 draft amendments considered by the committee. After reviewing the 14 draft amendments RZSAC recommended that:
- 10 amendments proceed, nine of which required various changes;
- Four of the draft amendments do not proceed and that those Councils essentially start again (Boroondara C199, Kingston C140, Moonee Valley C137 and Moreland C153).
- The report also discusses the ‘overarching’ issues raised by all of the proposed amendments and associated submissions.
We have summarised the findings of the RZSAC with regards to the four amendments that are required to go back to the drawing board below:
Boroondara City Council (C199) – The proposed amendment had 1.7 percent of all residential zone land in the Residential Growth Zone (in additional to 0.8 percent as part of Amendment C190 which was gazetted on 19 June 2014). The RZSAC found that Council had based its proposed residential growth zone on the neighbourhood character study, rather than a more comprehensive housing strategy, and therefore Council had not applied sound strategic analysis by at least evaluating their approach against the principles and criteria in Practice Note 78, Applying the Residential Zones, December 2013 (PN78). The RZSAC recommended that Council prepare a housing strategy to support the implementation of the Residential Growth Zone and identify additional Residential Growth Zone areas, considering housing diversity around activity centres and transport nodes. The Minister for Planning accepted these recommendations and Boroondara now has a lot more work to do to implement their preferred zones.
Kingston (C140) – the RZSAC found deficiencies in the Council’s proposed supporting policy document, the Draft Kingston Residential Strategy Update, 2014 whereby it:
- Was inconsistent with Plan Melbourne where it applied growth to main roads rather than employment and transport nodes;
- Amended areas for incremental changes to minimal change without acceptable rationale;
- Seeks to apply the Neighbourhood Residential Zone in a way that allows incremental change for broad areas and not applying it where there is an identified or ‘well defined’ character.
The RZSAC considered that a significant review is needed of what are the identified character areas, where incremental change should continue to occur and where more intensive built form around nodes is required. More work needs to be undertaken to address housing choice and where there is identified character that warrants application of the Neighbourhood Residential Zone. The RZSAC recommended that the former Highett Gasworks Site be rezoned Residential Growth Zone but that the remainder of the Residential zones be rezoned General Residential zone, with two schedules to replicate the existing Residential 1 Zone and Residential 3 Zone provisions to the relevantly zoned land.
Moonee Valley City Council (C137) – The RZSAC found that Council’s approach to the allocation of new zones was one of transformation rather than translation. The RZSAC found Council’s process flawed to the extent that the amendment process should recommence. The RZSAC concluded broadly that:
- The NRZ has been applied too widely and without justification.
- The GRZ has been applied too narrowly.
- There has been no real consideration given to the proper use of the RGZ.
While Council had provided growth opportunities for an appropriate number of new houses to be provided, it had not addressed whether the types of houses resulting from the growth would meet the market needs for various housing types.
The RZSAC recommended, as a starting point, a comprehensive review of the Housing Strategy to inform the application of the new residential zones. In the meantime, Moonee Valley residential zones have all been translated to the General Residential Zone until further amendments are implemented.
Moreland City Council (C153) – In contrast to Boroondara and Moonee Valley Councils, the RZSAC was complimentary of Moreland Council’s strategic work undertaken over the last 10 years. However, given the new metropolitan planning strategy, Plan Melbourne, released in final form in May 2014, as well as higher population forecasts in the updated Victoria in Future released in June 2014, and that Council is currently reviewing its Municipal Strategic Statement and local planning policies through planning scheme amendment C152, further work needs to be undertaken or resolved. The RZSAC did not support the proposed application of the zones where the supporting planning policies where not already in the planning scheme, or detail was not sufficient to support the new zones. In summary the RZSAC recommended the Council:
- Assess opportunities provided by Plan Melbourne;
- Prepare a housing strategy with assistance from the Government;
- Rezone all residential land to General Residential Zone until further strategic work is undertaken.
In the Stage One Overarching Issues Report the RZSAC also makes a number of recommendations to address broader issues raised during the process. Those recommendations include:
- Refer any matters, where the Residential Standing Advisory Committee has recommended that a draft amendment not proceed, to the Committee after Council has progressed the recommendations outlined in the relevant Stage One draft amendment report.
- Update and merge into a consolidated practice note, PN43: Understanding Neighbourhood Character (2001) and PN28: Using the Neighbourhood Character Provisions in Planning Schemes (2004) to address neighbourhood character and the principles for addressing it in planning schemes in conjunction with PN78: Applying the Residential Zones (2013). Alternatively, the three practice notes could be replaced by the Good Planning Guide proposed in Plan Melbourne.
- Review the integration of the zone schedules and overlays. This review should address the respective roles of residential zones and overlays and which of these should be used to manage built form outcomes and how to best reconcile potential conflicts.
- Reconcile the reference to building heights in the purpose of the Residential Growth Zone with the provisions of the zone and associated references in Practice Note 78: Applying the Residential Zones (2013).
- Reconcile the schedule to the General Residential Zone with the commentary for the schedule template in Ministerial Direction on the Form and Content of Planning Schemes, in relation to the permit requirement for the construction or extension of one dwelling on a lot.
- Amend Clause 32.09-8 of the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to read as follows:
a) The maximum height of a building used for the purpose of a dwelling or residential building must not exceed the building height specified in a schedule to this Zone. If no building height is specified, the height of a building must not exceed 8 metres, plus any applicable flood level, unless the slope of the natural ground level at any cross section wider than 8 metres of the site of the building is 2.5 degrees or more, in which case the height of the building must not exceed 9 metres, plus any applicable flood level [our emphasis of the recommended changes.
The Government response to the Committee recommendations was released in September 2014 and generally accepts and acts on all recommendations.
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