Victorian Political News		www.robertclark.net

Planning: lots of talk, but where's the action?

News Release 25 February 2000

More than four months after taking office, the State Government has still not made any actual changes to planning rules to address problems with medium density and single dwelling housing, promised by both sides of politics during last year's State election.

Shadow Minister for Planning, Robert Clark, says the Minister, Mr Thwaites, has been more concerned with publicity than with actually doing anything.

Mr Clark's comments come as the Government holds yet another summit - the "State and Local Government Urban Planning Summit" at the Hobsons Bay Council Theatre in Altona today.

"The only policy area where Mr Thwaites has actually made changes to planning rules is with interim foreshore height controls in the Cities of Hobsons Bay and Port Phillip.

"He has looked after his own electorate of Albert Park and the Premier's electorate of Williamstown, but he has not been prepared to introduce interim controls on a similar basis to address issues such as setbacks, overshadowing and visual bulk with medium density housing or single dwellings.

"This is despite the fact that an expert report commissioned by the previous Government, and released by the Minister himself, has recommended changes which could easily be implemented on an interim basis," Mr Clark said.

[The report is the "Gibson Report" - full title Issues and Options Paper on Overlooking, Overshadowing, Visual Bulk - Techniques and Performance Measures in the Good Design Guide and VicCode 1, by the Standing Advisory Committee on Local Variations to the Good Design Guide, dated August 1999. The report can be downloaded from http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/planning/panels.html.]

Mr Clark said the other announcements by the Minister (on the operation of the Good Design Guide within 7 kilometres of the GPO, and to require planning permits for single dwellings on lots of up to 500 square metres) simply gave Councils permission to apply to the Minister to make changes. No changes will take place unless a Council makes an application and the Minister agrees.

"As far as I am aware, no approvals for changes have actually been granted by the Minister.

"The Coalition accepted before the last election that further changes to planning rules were needed, and we were prepared to act.

"The Minister can expect bipartisan support for interim controls on visual bulk, setbacks and overshadowing based on the Gibson Report recommendations if he is prepared to introduce them, even at this late stage," Mr Clark said.

"If the Minister fails to act, he will find that he will be increasingly held to account by the electorate for his inaction, and he will not simply be able to blame others for his failures."