Council celebrates rural strategy approval
Party time: South Gippsland Shire Council CEO Tim Tamlin, mayor Cr Warren Raabe and director of development services Phil Stone welcome the finalisation of the rural strategy.
SOUTH Gippsland is expected to grow after the State Government last week approved a long-awaited strategy governing development in rural areas.
Victorian Planning Minister Matthew Guy passed the South Gippsland Rural Land Use Strategy 2011, ending 11 years of uncertainty.
More hobby farms and greater tourism opportunities could result from the strategy, diversifying the region’s economy with more newcomers.
However the strategy has not impressed everyone, with land-holders with properties not fitting the guidelines missing out on the opportunity to build.
Simply, the new strategy permits: lots up to 4.1ha to be built on; lots between 4.1ha and 40ha to be built on only when an agricultural use warrants a house; lots over 40ha to be built on without a permit; and a minimum subdivision size of 80ha.
About 2000 lots under 4.1ha can be built on without proof that a house is needed to farm.
The amendment also rezones 5100 hectares of land from the Farming Zone to the new Rural Activity Zone around Loch, Korumburra, Yanakie, Koonwarra, Foster and Mirboo North, allowing for tourism-related businesses.
The minister made some minor changes relating to properties between 4.1 and 40 hectares and properties primarily covered with native vegetation to ensure consistency with state-wide policy and the Farming Zone provisions. Essentially, the amendment is consistent with council’s adopted strategy.
The strategy will come into effect when the notice of its approval is published in the Victorian Government Gazette, expected this Thursday (March 8).
Council officers are celebrating and mayor Cr Warren Raabe, who stood for election largely on the issue, was delighted by the news.
“It has taken us a long time to get to this point. The fact it is finished is what pleases me the most,” he said.
“People now have a simple set of rules as to what they can do with their land.”
Completing the strategy was a priority project for council and Cr Raabe believed this year’s council elections would be the first in four elections where the strategy would not be a major election issue.
Council’s director of development services Phil Stone, said the strategy permitted growth while protecting the rural ambience of South Gippsland.
He labelled the minister’s decision “exceptional”.
“We are very happy with the minister’s comments. It’s been great decisiveness,” he said.
Mr Guy said: “Council has been involved in the preparation of the strategy for six years and has engaged with the community, agricultural industry groups, rural land-owners and the farming community.”
Deputy Premier and Gippsland South MLA Peter Ryan congratulated council on undertaking the rigorous process to find a suitable outcome.
“The entire community now has a clear picture of the future of the municipality’s rural areas, providing direction to support growth and change for dwellings and tourist activities in identified areas,” he said.
“This is a great outcome for the community and one that has been long awaited.”
While the strategy was finished, Cr Raabe conceded “quite a few people would be displeased by the outcome and we recognise that, but they now have certainty too”.
“I think the strategy is fair and fits in with the state scheme. There will still be people caught out and I don’t know what we can do to help them. That is something they need to take up with the State Government,” he said.
Cr Raabe did not believe the strategy would result in an immediate influx of applications for hobby farms, but said the strategy would open more opportunities for rural living in the shire.
“That would bring money into the district, which flows on. Every time you get a family moving into the area, they are spending money in the area and every time we discourage a family from coming into the area, the community is missing out on that cash flow generation,” he said.
“The council feels there is a balance now between the protection of major agricultural enterprises and the lifestyle opportunities this strategy allows.”
The mayor is not anticipating an influx of applications for planning permits, despite some people applying under the previous rules and then appealing council’s decision to the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). About half of the appeals were successful.
Cr Raabe said the strategy granted South Gippsland concessions under state planning provisions that recognised “the historical land settlement of South Gippsland”.
“When people came to South Gippsland, lots were settled in small parcels and because of that, we have this legacy of small lots across the shire,” he said.
Council was faced with the dilemma of juggling how to give people access “to their perceived rights to live on a piece of land that they have purchased”, Cr Raabe said, while protecting farmland.
Other parts of Victoria were settled on the basis of larger land allotments.
A former council approved a rural strategy for public comment recommending no houses be built on lots smaller than 250 acres.
“That would have meant no more houses in South Gippsland in the Farming Zone which was 97 per cent of the shire and to me, that would have stifled development,” Cr Raabe said.
With the strategy behind them, council planners will now turn to the Housing and Settlement Strategy that will determine which towns will grow and which will not, due to the lack of such services as sewerage.
Short URL: /?p=3104
Posted by 
