samantha in the press

Yarra Ranges Council gives green light to subdivide about 500 properties

Lilydale Leader
by Kimberley Seedy
5 Nov 2014

low density residential zone– changes for some

report from the roundtable – 28 oct

At last night’s council meeting councillors had to make a decision on the review of the Subdivision minimum lot size provisions of the Low Density Residential Zones  (LDRZ) across the shire.

Lots of Hills people in the gallery, in the main to support
submitters speaking about the Olinda Pool.

The review came about after the Minister for Planning amended the LDRZ to a minimum subdivision of 2,000 sq mtrs (from 4,000sq mtrs) back in July 2013. At the same the Minister introduced a schedule to the LDRZ (apologies for planning jargon) to retain the 4,000 sq mtr subdivision size on an interim basis to allow council time to consider any changes.

There’s been an enormous amount of community consultation on the issue with over 2,400 online surveys received along with 54 written submission and 45 verbal submissions at a special meeting of council. Opinion was divided, depending on what part of the Shire you came from, but what was consistent was the majority opposition to changes in the Dandenong Ranges and that a one size fits all approach across the Shire was not appropriate.

It was an issue I’d rather not be contemplating, I didn’t think we should be making any changes to LDRZ, however that wasn’t the majority view of my colleagues.

I moved a motion which sought to exclude the townships of Belgrave, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South, Selby, Tecoma, Upwey and Upper Ferntree Gully from any changes to the LDRZ subdivision controls. I am pleased to report that the motion was supported unanimously by councillors (note: Crs Callanan and Witlox absent).

The way it panned out, rather than be a blanket change across all LDRZ land in the Shire, there were some parameters about where it should be contemplated:

·         Council generally supported the change of 2,000 sq mtr minimum subdivisions for LDRZ across the Shire with the exception of Belgrave, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South, Selby, Tecoma, Upwey and Upper Ferntree Gully, however there are further parameters that limit the extent of subdivision across the Shire.

·         Areas within the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO - per our council report attachments 3 to 10) will not be subject to the lower subdivision provisions of 2,000sq mtr and will remain at a minimum of 4,000sq mt.

·         Cr Child amended the motion to exclude properties in the BMO when it came to Warburton (attachment 5), citing the lack of fire risk for LDRZ in the township, so that means the minimum of 2,000sq mtrs will apply in the Warburton LDRZ.

·         It excludes the areas of uniform subdivision in Attachment 8 – Lilydale, so the 4,000 sq mt minimum will be retained there.

·         It excludes what’s known as the Bickleigh Vale subdivision (Heritage Overlay 75) on attachment 8 - Montrose, so the 4,000 sq mt minimum will be retained there.

·         It excludes LDRZ lots outside of the Urban Growth Boundary, attachment 3 - so the 4,000 sq mt minimum will be retained.

There’s been a long history of strategic planning for the Dandenongs which resulted in the development of the Regional Strategy Plan which makes specific reference “there shall be no net increase in the total provision for residential development in the Dandenong Ranges…”. The Regional Strategy Plan can only be amended by both houses of parliament, is the only one of its kind in Victoria and carries much weight in terms of the strategic direction of the shire.

I’m pleased to say that councillors supported the motion to exclude any changes to Belgrave, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South, Selby, Tecoma, Upwey and Upper Ferntree Gully.

This is an excerpt from The Dandenong Ranges report,
back in 1974 the Victorian Public Interest Research Group
undertook a study which led to the development of the
Regional Strategy Plan, it ring true today, 40 years later.

Given the history of strategic work to support no changes in the Hills, the level of community opposition to any changes, with 78% of verbal submitters from the Dandenongs opposed to any change and of the written submissions 68.7% opposed in Upper Ferntree Gully, 70% opposed in Upwey, 67% opposed in postcode 3160 (Belgrave, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South and Tecoma) and 74% opposed in Selby, it was good see that councillors took that into account by supporting the motion to exclude those townships.

sherbrooke children's centre reaps rewards

It's great to learn the Sherbrooke Children's Centre has successfully been awarded a grant under the Long Day Care Professional Development Programme (LDCPDP). SCC will receive $75,000 to provide the centre’s educators with assistance to meet the qualification requirements under the National Quality Framework (NQF) and to improve practice to deliver quality outcomes for children.

Sherbrooke Children’s Centre recently received a rating of Exceeding the National Quality Standard in all 7 areas which puts it into the top 4% of early childhood services in Victoria. The $75,000 will support the continuing learning journey of the large staff group of up to 40 early childhood professionals at Sherbrooke Children’s Centre and the ongoing reputation of the service as a Centre of Excellence. 

Educators will benefit from high quality training and development opportunities that contribute to improved early learning experiences and outcomes for children in the years before they commence formal schooling. 

It's great news for children and great news for families.

It follows on from another recent accolade where  Sherbrooke Children's Centre and the Yarra Ranges Early Years team took out a major award at the Premier’s Sustainability Awards at Docklands. Family & Children’s Services won the Community category with their Seedlings: sustainability in the Early Years project.

Seedlings is a partnership between Yarra Ranges Council, City of Knox, Alpine Shire, City of Melbourne and City of Port Phillip formed in 2012  to develop a framework and tools for use across a range of early childhood contexts.

Yarra Ranges has 12 early years services participating in the program, which provides for adaptability and flexibility so that it can be implemented in any early years service setting. Seedlings provides a wholistic approach focusing on all aspects of sustainability and helps children develop skills for the future including systems thinking, resilience, problem solving, critical thinking, risk assessment, participation, advocacy and leadership.

It's great to see Yarra Ranges early years services going from strength to strength.

yarra ranges says "enough pokies"

Yarra Ranges Council has thrown its support behind a Municipal Association of Victoria and Salvation Army campaign to better protect for vulnerable communities from inappropriate placement of pokies machines.

Dozens of Mayors and Councillors from around Victoria attended the launch of the “Enough Pokies” campaign last Thursday, which was supported by Word Vision’s Tim Costello and the Salvation Army’s Bruce Redman.

Mayor Fiona McAllister said protecting vulnerable communities from the inappropriate placement of pokies is an important objective for local government.

“In 2013-14 losses to poker machines in the Yarra Ranges was  $26,625,127. We have to be extremely careful about where those machines are placed given the significant harm they can cause to the surrounding community,” she said.

Convener of the Victorian Local Government Association Working Group on Gambling, Yarra Ranges Councillor, Samantha Dunn, attended the launch.

“In recent years the big operators have been attempting to grow their gaming revenues by moving more of their machines into the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in the state.  They have been assisted by an inadequate legal framework,” Cr Dunn said.

Cr Dunn said the current legal test which required that there be ‘no net detriment’ arising for a community as a result of an application was failing Victorians.

“There is a lack of guidance in how the Victorian Commission for Liquor and Gambling Regulation (VCLGR) should apply the test,” she said.

“It is time for the State Parliament to issue it with binding guidance so that it makes decisions in the public interest.”

Of the 154 VCGLR decisions since July 2008, 93% have been decided in favour of the gaming operator, despite strong council and community objections in more than half of these applications.

  

 “We need the next Victorian government to provide clear and simple guidance to the VCLGR on how it must apply the ‘no net detriment’ in the public interest rather than in the interests of the big gaming operators.”  

Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce, said that greater efforts were needed to limit the damage done by pokies.

“Each year, over $2.5 billion is lost in pokies across Victoria. That’s almost $7 million per day out of the pockets of Victorians and into gaming machines,” Mr Costello said.

“We need to strongly consider the damage that pokies can do to people and to communities. This is especially true of Victoria’s poorer postcodes.

“Any step that helps to protect vulnerable communities from the harm of poker machines is a step worth taking, and I fully support what the Enough Pokies campaign is trying to achieve,” he said.

Municipal Association of Victoria President Bill McArthur said that local councils had demonstrated a deep concern about the issue.

“The MAV State Council overwhelmingly voted to support this call for change. It is clear to us, by the number of councils who have expressed their concern for the welfare of their communities, that inappropriate placement of pokies is an area the state government needs to address,” Cr McArthur said.

In support of the Enough Pokies campaign, the MAV has sought protection for vulnerable communities from pokies in its Call to Parties document submitted to all major political parties ahead of the state election.

Follow the campaign on Facebook.com/EnoughPokies or @EnoughPokiesVic.

sharpen your pencil and get drawing

Sharpen your pencils and get out your textas, it’s Big Draw time! The Big Draw is back in Yarra Ranges for another year, with drawing activities and events happening across the region this month.

The Big Draw is an international celebration of drawing that attracts the participation of over 280,000 people across the globe. This year’s theme, It’s our World, invites participants to celebrate their local environment through drawing. In October residents and visitors will be encouraged to contribute to a mass postcard art project by creating and sharing a drawing of what they love about this place on a Wish you were Here postcard.

Postcards will be available at Community Links, Cultural Venues including Burrinja, Maternal Child Health Centres, Libraries, Bendigo Bank Branches, Cafes and local businesses. Pop up drawing stations will also appear in Cultural Venues across the region.

Completed postcards can be returned online, via mail (reply paid in Australia), or in person at a community link or cultural venue. Postcards will then be displayed in an online gallery.

 

Here's Shelley Krycer with her contribution to the
Melbourne Water Platypus Awareness week
earlier this year - Platypus Drain. 

At the end of the month local artist Shelley Krycer will transform the postcards into site specific artworks to be exhibited in multiple locations in November/December.

Like to know more, click here. 

samantha in the press

Yarra Ranges green group combats plan to subdivide city ‘lungs’
Lilydale Leader

by Kimberley Seedy

14 Oct 2014

Yarra Ranges councillor says election could be funded by fining people who don't vote
FreePress Leader
by Therese Allaoui
15 Oct 2014

packed house for low density subdivisions hearing

report from the roundtable – 30 sep

The gallery was packed for the Yarra Ranges Council meeting to hear submissions about the proposed changes to Low Density Residential Zones (LDRZ). It was standing room only with residents from across the shire keen to put their point to council.

 

All but two councillors were there (Cr’s Witlox and McAllister absent) to hear community views about the change to allow the minimum subdivision size from 4,000 sq metres to 2,000 sq meters in LDRZ.

 

Forty five community members presented, a couple of them town planners representing groups of residents. One of the core themes of the night was the protection of the Dandenong Ranges as a place that unique, had high biodiversity values and the challenge of landslip and bushfire risk.

 

Even submitters from other parts of the Shire agreed that the Dandenongs was not the right place for smaller subdivisions in LDRZ and another consistent theme was the inappropriateness of a one size fits all approach.

 

The shire has received enormous feedback on the proposed changes, with 2,500 online surveys completed and 50 written submissions.

 

At first glance the consultation is closely split 50/50 between those in favour and those opposed to the 2,000 sq mt minimum. However when you look at the results per postcode they reveal a different story, very consistent with what was presented on Tuesday night.

 

Here are the results by postcode:

Belgrave, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave South and Tecoma (all postcode 3160) had an 18% response rate with 67% not supporting lower subdivisions

Healesville had an 18% response rate with 43.6% not supporting lower subdivisions (54% supported Lilydale had a 26.5% response rate with 48% of people not supporting lower subdivisions the changes)

Mooroolbark had a 33% response rate with 56% of people not supporting lower subdivisions

Mt Evelyn had a 16% response rate with 43% not supporting lower subdivisions (53.8% supported the changes)

Monbulk had a 13% response rate with 47% not supporting lower subdivisions (46% supported the changes)

Montrose had a 19% response rate with 59.6% not supporting lower subdivisions

Selby had a 72% response rate with 74% not supporting lower subdivisions

Upper Ferntree Gully had a 17% response rate with 68.7% not supporting lower subdivisions

Upwey had a 15% response rate with 70% not supporting lower subdivisions

Warburton had a 7% response rate with 53% not supporting lower subdivisions

Yarra Junction had a 24% response rate with 27% not supporting lower subdivisions (64% supported the changes)

 

From the survey responses the townships of Healesville, Mt Evelyn and Yarra Junction had a majority support for the lower subdivisions, whilst Monbulk was divided with 47%against/46%for. What’s also clear is the overwhelming lack of support for the changes in townships across the Dandenongs, with Selby being the most opposed at 74%.

 

 

The matter will come back to council at our meeting on the 28^th October for a decision.

samantha in the press

Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett won’t back down from the Burnham Beeches plan he’s served up
Free Press Leader
by Therese Allaoui
12 Sep 2014         

Input on café still off the table
Free Press Leader
by Therese Allaoui
10 Sep 2014

celebrating birdsland

Birdsland then and now, a fascinating local history event.

 

Belgrave’s Birdsland Reserve and surrounds are prized by local walkers and nature lovers. Almost everyone has their own Birdsland story.  

The area serves as wildlife corridor, flood retarding basin, wetland, indigenous plant nursery and environment education centre, as well as providing a large network of walking and cycling trails.

Yet Birdsland’s calmness belies a dramatic and, at times tragic, history of pioneers and politics.

In this local history event hear a panel of speakers with first-hand connections relate the historic milestones of this much loved land, and share your own knowledge with others.

Speakers include:

Marion Preston, of Nixon Rd speaking on the early pioneers tragedies & hardships focusing on Dargon, Nixon and Brandt.
Betty Marsden, on the Shire's purchase of the property
Kelly O'Brien, on the present varied uses and significance of the reserve

Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave

When:  Thursday 9 Oct at 1:30pm
Cost: Free, but bookings required 9754 7266 or online

 

samantha in the media

Roundabout - chatting about all things environment
3MDR
hosted by Graham 'Bealy' Beal
4 Sep 2014

Awesome way to save platypus
Mail Newspapers
by Caitlin McArthur
9 Sep 2014

samantha in the press

Yarra Ranges Council needs $3m to get services into building “fit for purpose”
Free Press Leader
by Therese Allaoui
3 Sep 2014

Council calls the shots
Mail Newspapers
by Marc McGowan
2 Sep 2014

 

Lifeline for hub

Mail Newspapers

by Jesse Graham

2 Sep 2014



 

putting children at the centre of participation

report from the roundtable – 26 aug

 

At this week’s council meeting I was pleased to be able to move a motion to endorse the Yarra Ranges Child and Youth Strategy 2014-2024. I have had long history of campaigning for children and childcare and the development of this strategy is one that is dear to my heart.

The strategy seeks to make Yarra Ranges a place where every child and young person will be able to thrive, reach their potential and actively participate in decision making.

It recognises the importance of the early years and early intervention programs to ensure children have every opportunity to flourish.

The strategy seeks to cement the relationship between early years and youth services. It recognises that one outcome of effective early years services and opportunities will be more resilient and achieving young people with the flow on effect being more resilient and achieving young adults, the parents of the next generation.  

I have always been a firm believer in get it right in the
early years, get it right for life. Here's the class of
2013 Kallista Kinder kids tree planting at the
George Tindale gardens.

Part of the strategy includes endorsing the Victorian Charter for Child Friendly Cities and Communities. I was proud to be able to launch the charter in my role as VLGA President last year. The Charter provides a set of guiding principles - freedom, respect and dignity and equitable access, to help to empower our youngest citizens.

The Charter was developed to assist local governments and community organisations to work in conversation with children on creating places, policies and programs which fully consider their needs.

I was delighted that councillors unanimously resolved to endorse the strategy.

council supports campaign on pokies

report from the roundtable – 26 aug

A group of councils have got together to campaign for systemic reforms to Electronic Gaming Machines gambling (I’ll be calling them Pokies from here on). 

Part of the ask was a contribution from each local government of $5,000 to put towards the campaign Redressing the Burden of Electronic Gaming Machines.  As chair of the Local Government Working Group on Gambling I was pleased to be able to move the motion to support the campaign.

The campaign will provide legal advice on the proposed systemic changes to the requirement around proof of ‘net community benefit’ in relation to pokies, include a communications strategy and materials councils can use in the lead up to the state election.

The current annual spend on pokies in Yarra Ranges is $26million, when you extrapolate out the problem gambling component it equates to $9.1million. That’s a lot of money out of household budgets and out of our local economy.

Local government has had low levels of success in the regulatory processes related to Pokies applications. The views of local communities and evidence of harmful impacts are difficult to quantify and therefore hard to argue. The timelines for preparing sophisticated social and economic impact statements are extremely short and the onus is on local government not the Pokies applicant.

There’s been a long held frustration by local government at the impact of the regulatory processes and system and our capacity to protect community wellbeing.

I was delighted that councillors voted unanimously to support the motion (and the campaign).

samantha in the press

In response to this article:

The owners of Burnham Beeches have asked the Minister for Planning to determine a Planning Scheme Amendment (PSA) for their site.

 

It is up to the Minister to decide if the community will be consulted, not councillors, not council officers, not Burnham Beeches owners (unless the owners ask the Minister to do so and  at any rate it's still the Minister's call). It is also up to the Minister to determine if he makes a decision or asks council for a decision on the PSA.

 

The owners of Burnham Beeches have been in talks with Yarra Ranges Council for approximately 2 years, in this time they have been encouraged by council officers to lodge a Planning Scheme Amendment with council, the owners have chosen to go directly to the Minister and not to council.

 

What will be interesting in all of this is what the Minister will do, given it is very close to a state election in Victoria. I can only hope that the community does get to have a say, consultation is an important part of the planning process. Given it's a tight contest in the seat of Monbulk I wonder what all the candidates for Monbulk think?

It is an exciting time for Burnham Beeches, it's a much loved site and it's terrific to see it being used again, but I also think the community has a right to be consulted.

 
Tourism feast
FTG Mail Newspaper
by Marc McGowan
26 Aug 2014

 

maccas update - 28 aug 2014

Regular planning register watchers will have noticed this application for a planning permit amendment – YR-2011/647/A at 1529 Burwood Hwy, Tecoma (McDonalds site) for “Buildings and works associated with a convenience restaurant including acoustic boundary fence, creation and removal of easements, variation to the existing easements, erection of associated signage including internally illuminated signage and removal of vegetation”.    

The nature of the amendment is a request for ‘secondary consent’ for additional signage on the site.

Secondary consent is a mechanism that has no public submission process attached to it, there is also no ability for a Councillor to use ‘call in’ powers for the matter to be decided before full council.

Secondary consent is a way for a Responsible Authority (council) to consent to change plans when the change being considered is not ‘transformational’, (ie: reducing impact such as lowering a building height, increasing setbacks, changing building materials, roof colour, etc).

It utilises the mechanism of a permit condition, in this case condition 2 which says “The layout of the site and the size of the buildings and works shown on the endorsed plans must not be altered without the prior written consent of the Responsible Authority”.

In it’s decision for the permit the VCAT tribunal members made these comments in relation to signage (from para 91):

91   Notwithstanding the above general support for the proposed signage, we concur with the residents that the number of signs should be reduced. There is some duplication of the larger signs and we think the number of signs exceeds the signage generally provided for other commercial premises in Tecoma. We think the following signage should be deleted as it largely duplicates other signs and would add to the extent of night illumination. The signs that we will require to be deleted are:

·   S13 – flagpoles and banners (should be replaced by landscaping).

·   S9D – 2.3metre by 0.7 metre directional sign (could be replaced by smaller non illuminated directional sign).

·   Delete either 9A or 9B (2.3 metres by 0.7 metre) at entry to the access aisle to Burwood Highway as these signs duplicate.

·   Replace Sign S2B on the west elevation with S4B.

·   Delete S4B from the blade on the west elevation.

92   We consider the dimensions and content of sign S4A to be appropriate, however, we consider its colour to be overly prominent. We consider a more muted colour should be employed.  Given the height, size and illumination of the large north facing ‘McDonald’s’ sign, we concur with the residents that it would generate a strong illumination into the adjoining residential areas, and we will direct that the illumination be turned off between 10.00pm and 7.00am.

93   With these modifications we consider the proposed signage would comply with the decision guidelines of the Scheme, make a positive contribution to the streetscape and not adversely impact the site’s neighbours.

As the application was only lodged this week it has not as yet been considered by our planning officers. Although there is no public submission process as part of a Secondary Consent application given it is a live planning permit amendment application plans are available for public viewing. I have organised for plans to be available at our Upwey office as of next week (1 Sep).

    

I’ll keep you posted with more details as they come to hand.

an update in the fight against wandering trad

My thanks to Bill Incoll (Friends of Sherbrooke Forest) for providing this update, Bill has been tireless in his pursuit to rid the Dandenongs of Wandering Trad - Tradescantia fluminensis. Thanks also to Glenn Brooks-McMillan (Community Weed Action of the Dandenongs) and Anne Fitzpatrick (Yarra Ranges Landcare Network) who had a hand in preparing this summary update.

Regular readers of my blog will recall an earlier article detailing the call for research into a biological control for this weed nasty, ranked 10 in Yarra Ranges.

Wandering Trad forms a smothering carpet, it displaces
indigenous ground covers, herbs, grasses and orchids.
It is a common cause of rashes in dogs and is toxic
to cattle.

Funding has been found to start the battle with Tradescantia fluminensis (Wandering Trad). A recent Research Update provided by the Department of Environment and Primary Industry (DEPI) and CSIRO has provided the following news.

An application to the Australian Weeds Committee to have Wandering Trad (Trad) a target for biological control has been prepared and is being considered by the Committee.

While the application is being approved, testing of biological control agents can begin, provided this is done under safe quarantine conditions. Two agents, an insect and a fungal pathogen, are being imported from New Zealand. The fungal pathogen has already been imported and is currently in the quarantine facility with CSIRO in Canberra.

The insect, Lema basicostata, attacks the stem of the plant and greatly reduces the biomass of the plant. It has already been released in New Zealand and is successfully attacking Trad in the wild. It spreads by natural increase and will reduce the volume of weed until a natural balance is achieved that maintains a population of insects and a low biomass of Trad.
 

The fungus, Kordyana sp, (Brazilian yellow leaf spot fungus) attacks the leaves. The spores are spread by wind, much more quickly than the insect. This agent also has the potential to reduce Trad biomass to a low level.

The biocontrols will be tested on Australian native plant species likely to be affected, under strict quarantine conditions. DEPI will work on the insect, and CSIRO the fungus.

The first year of a three year program has been funded from State and Federal sources. Further funding must be found for two more years, leading to the safe release of up to four biocontrol agents.

In addition to the biological control program, Federal funding has been found to combat the spread and impact of Trad while the biological control program is carried out safely. These efforts will be concentrated where Trad is likely to affect rare or endangered species or communities in the Dandenong Ranges, on both private and public land.

It's great news and good to receive progress updates, it's a terrible weed which smothers everything else in its path and sadly is commonly found throughout the Dandenongs, especially along our waterways.