Below is the section on Planning & Development from the Council Action Plan for 2012/3. We’ve numbered each ‘activity’ for ease of following.

Strategic Activity

Action

Measure
  1. Plan for a   mixture of housing types that allows residents to meet their housing needs in   different stages of their life-cycle within the City.
 Actively plan for a mix of dwelling types underpinned by the Minimal   Change/Housing Diversity policy and also by encouraging a mix of one, two and three bedroom  dwellings in larger medium density proposals. Report the   number of dwellings approved for minimal change areas and housing diversity  areas quarterly
   2.  Enforce the   provisions of the Glen Eira Planning Scheme and building control requirements   across the City as well as compliance with any planning permits. Conduct proactive site inspections for compliance with planning permit   conditions and Local Law requirements, and investigate building enforcement matters.

 

Enforce building control requirements.

 300   proactive site inspections completed

 

 

 

200   building enforcement matters investigated
3.   Ensure new   multi-dwelling residential development is sympathetic to the existing   neighbourhood character in Glen Eira’s minimal change areas. Make decisions in accordance with Council’s Minimal Change area policy   with an emphasis on Neighbourhood Character. Report the   number of neighbourhood character assessments carried out on residential   developments within Minimal Change areas quarterly.
4.   Strengthen town   planning protection of residential areas identified as having significant   character. Prepare a planning scheme amendment which uses the Neighbourhood   Character overlay to better protect areas displaying significant character. Following   a report of independent Panel, Neighbourhood Character Overlay actioned in  accordance with Council resolution
5.    Reduce the   intensity of residential development within Housing Diversity areas which   interface with minimal change areas. Prepare a planning scheme amendment which moderates the intensity of   residential development at the interface of the Housing diversity/ Minimal Change   policy areas. Once   authorisation for the planning scheme amendment is obtained from State   Government place the Transitions Policy on public exhibition
6.    Encourage and   support community involvement in the planning permit application   process. Promote Council’s suite of fast track permit   application processes. Publish a Glen Eira News  article
7.    Provide an   opportunity for all residents to be informed and to participate in town   planning applications where they (and others) object. Maintain both the non-statutory planning Conference (Council decision by resolution) and Delegated Planning Committee as forums for resident involvement in the   town planning process. Report on   a quarterly basis the number of planning conferences and Delegated Planning   Committee meetings held
8.    Provide a fair,   transparent and inclusive town planning decision making process. Review the Delegated Planning Committee (DPC) process and introduce process improvement which   benefits all parties. Trial a   mediation process and report to Council on the results. Prove an information   video which explains the DPC process for the benefit of residents involved
9.    Ensure residents   and ratepayers have access to simple and easy to use information about the Council town planning process, the   responsibilities of developers and how to participate in the process. Develop a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) factsheet on town planning   processes and controls FAQ fact   sheet developed and posted on the Council website.
10.  Undertake   community consultation and engagement to ensure the Glen Eira Municipal   Strategic Statement, Glen Eira Planning Scheme and town planning process   meets the needs of local residents and ratepayers Survey participants in the Delegated Planning Committee process and   identify areas for improvement Report   survey results back to Council
11. Encourage   environmentally sustainable design (ESD) for new buildings. Produce a standard information kit for planning applications to define   ESD and Water Sensitive Urban Design in developments Information   kit distributed and placed on council website

 

QUESTION #1: Do the listed Measures really ‘measure’ what the ‘action’ proposes?

  • We are bemused by the notion that merely listing the ‘number’ of applications can in any shape or form influence the nature of 1, 2, or 3 bedroom unit developments in our neighbourhoods.
  • Measures 1 and 3 are practically identical, and further, simple ‘reporting’ on the ‘number’ of assessments does not influence the outcome of those assessments.
  • When there are over 1200 applications per year ,and consistently growing, do 200 and even 300 ‘proactive’ inspections ensure sufficient supervision? Also, what if any action follows such inspections? For example: does Council pursue developers for infringements? How many? How often?
  • Measures 1, 2 and 3 are identical to those listed in the 2011/12 Action Plan – despite the increase in applications. Hence nothing has changed. The budget and Council Plan promise the maintaining of existing services. Keeping the same target does not meet this objective.  More importantly, Council has failed to act in accordance with its own promises. THE NUMBER OF DWELLINGS IN BOTH MINIMAL CHANGE AND HOUSING DIVERSITY HAS NEVER BEEN REPORTED. What has been provided in the Quarterly Reports are PERCENTAGES and even these do not provide any guidance on the NUMBERS for Housing Diversity versus Minimal Change.
  • Encouraging ‘community involvement’ in the planning process is admirable. However the Action relates to the Fast Track program and can hardly be said to apply to the vast majority of residents. The program is primarily geared to developers. Further an article in the Glen Eira News is hardly a convincing ‘measure’ of ‘support’.
  • Item 10 speaks of broad issues such as the MSS, and the Planning Scheme. The objective is to ensure that ‘it meets the needs’ of the community. But once again, the actions and measures employed to achieve this are meaningless – ie. a ‘survey’ of participants in the DPC and the ‘reporting’ of results. Readers may remember that this is really a blast from the past in that years ago, such surveys were conducted and were actually published in Council minutes.

QUESTION #2: Do any of these ‘actions’ and ‘measures’ solve the planning issues as repeatedly stated by residents?

  • Nothing new, or effective, has been done in relation to the Planning Scheme itself. The current situation remains. References to ‘transition policy’ refer to last year’s resolution where all ‘transition’ means is a greater setback for multiple storeys, rather than an actual ‘transition zone’ that takes in a specific area. Residents can therefore still find themselves living next to 3, 4 or even 5 stories if they happen to abut Housing Diversity Areas. The same may be said for the recent C87 decision to go to a Panel. The Amendment covers less than 3% of the municipality and both residents and councillors were never provided with the opportunity to submit their own recommendations or suggestions for inclusion in this overlay.
  • Information sheets are fine as far as they go. There already are plenty of ‘information sheets’ available on Council’s website. Will this just be more of the same?

CONCLUSIONS

There’s plenty more that we could say – but the post would be far too long. What’s particularly disappointing is that after all the hullaballoo about ‘consulting’ with the community and acknowledging the angst that inappropriate development is causing, this Action Plan does not deviate one iota in any meaningful sense from the set in concrete agenda of this council. The Planning scheme will only be tinkered with, and the essential questions as to the 80/20 divide, structure plans, height limits, public realm policies, etc. remain untouched. Perhaps in the end Council could have saved themselves mega-bucks rather than going through the charade of ‘intensive community consultation’ – especially when there was never any intention to actually do anything to remedy what residents see as intolerable.