Rural Strategy - Surf Coast Shire

Surf Coast Shire Rural Strategy Review
Final Report
development between towns, development at township and natural landscape edges and
along road corridors were identified as critical to maintaining landscape character and
values. Reducing the minimum lot size particularly at urban boundaries for rural residential
development would have significant negative impacts on landscape character.
It is a recommendation of this study that the basis for establishing minimum lot sizes be
broadened from a consideration of land units to support agriculture to include consideration
and protection of the rural-farmed landscape.
9.10 Dwellings
In seeking to minimise the fragmentation of rural land, there is a need to achieve a cultural
change in the expectation that a dwelling may be constructed on every lot. The primary
justifications for a house on a rural lot must be that it complements and improves the
agricultural use of the land and preserves the existing rural character of the area.
In the Farming Zone a permit is not required to use land for a dwelling provided it meets the
minimum lot size specified in the zone schedule. On smaller lots a permit may be granted,
provided (amongst other things) that the dwelling is reasonably required for the operation of
the rural activity conducted on the land.
This provision allows for a wide interpretation of what is “reasonably” required for a rural
activity and, indeed, what is considered to be a bone fide rural activity. Without clear
guidelines it will be very difficult to make effective and consistent decisions, particularly if an
applicant uses personal hardship or family reasons to reinforce the planning grounds.
Given that the purpose of the provision is to limit the proliferation of dwellings in a rural zone,
it would create a dilemma if Council were to approve a dwelling on an existing single small
lot, but refuse a dwelling on a similar sized lot which was part of a multiple land holding. In
the first instance, there has been an historical expectation that a person can build a dwelling
on a lot if it exists as a single tenement holding before the introduction of planning scheme
controls. In the second case, if permits were to be issued for dwellings on all existing
undersized allotments throughout the Shire this would result in substantial fragmentation and
loss of existing rural land.
Council has addressed this problem through the use of tenement provisions at Clause 22.02
(Rural and Environmental Development Policy). That is, a dwelling will only be permitted on
a lot less than the minimum size for the zone provided that the lot has historically been in
different ownership to adjoining lots.
In the past, tenement provisions have been generally effective in limiting the number of
houses built in the rural area and in encouraging retention of rural land holdings and their
continued use for traditional farming production. By maintaining this policy, an equitable
entitlement to housing is managed which avoids the encouragement to fragment land
holdings. Owners can build on smaller existing tenements without prejudicing the decision
guideline requiring, in all other cases, that an application for a house on an undersized
allotment be justified on the basis of being required for the operation of the rural activity.
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