Community planning services in Glenelg Shire Council : 1998-2005 ...

Did the council have appropriate management arrangements for the delivery of its planning services? 85
CASE STUDY 12: AMENDMENT C4
During October and November 2002, a proposed amendment was publicly
exhibited. It proposed a number of changes to the planning scheme, based on
recommendations made in the 1998 Panel report. Submissions were received from
the National Trust of Australia, the Western Coastal Board and the former
Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The submissions were critical of the council’s proposed amendment as it did not
adequately address:
recognition and conservation of the shire’s cultural assets – specifically, the
clarification of heritage overlay provisions in the planning scheme
the Victorian Coastal Strategy and the South West Regional Coastal Action Plan
(this is a requirement of the State Planning Policy Framework and had been
specifically requested by the Minister for Planning)
environmental issues – specifically, native vegetation controls; protection of
Aboriginal cultural sites; management of wildfire, soil and stream salinity; as well
as appropriate zoning to limit town boundaries.
The council considered that these submissions related to matters not specific to the
amendment and were in the nature of additional matters to be included in the MSS. As
a result, no changes were made to the amendment.
In December 2002, the council formally adopted amendment C4 and submitted it to
the Minister for Planning for approval. The amendment failed to address any of the
matters initially raised by the 1998 panel report36 and the amendment and
submissions were not referred to an independent panel for review, as required by the
Act.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment disagreed with the process the
council had followed in amending its planning scheme and sought legal advice in
mid-2003.
The Victorian Government Solicitor concluded that the amendment was invalid and
that the council had:
erred in ignoring the submissions from the 3 agencies, and in not referring these
submissions to an independent panel for review
failed to comply with the legislation.
36 Stage 1 of a heritage study was completed in October 2002. A brief has been prepared for the final
stage and this is due for completion at the end of 2005.