Shire Housing Policy Comment

My name is Michael Hales and I am a Planning Consultant with Millar Merrigan, a Land Development company that has been representing clients in the Shire of Yarra Ranges for over 44 years. I have worked for the company for almost 30 years and have lived in the Shire for most of my life.

Firstly, I acknowledge the importance of the strategy and agree with its intent to provide adequate housing opportunities for the diversity of people within the Shire.

There are some significant positives with the strategy in its current form, particularly the simplification of clause 53, the removal of the areas of Mooroolbark and Kilsyth with single dwelling covenants from consolidation areas and the proposed tree controls through the implementation of the Significant Landscape Overlay.

The problem as we see it, is that the strategy appears to be anti dual occupancy development.

Dual occupancy development plays a very important social role. It facilitates the better use of infrastructure, allows people to reduce existing mortgages, and provides potential for more affordable housing. It is totally in accordance with existing State planning policies, and a logical means of providing for growth within the Shire.

It is submitted that the proposed reintroduction of minimum lot sizes is totally opposed to existing planning policies, as evidenced by the fact that the Department of Community and Development recommended the removal of the density provisions. The best use of scarce resources, and the potential for diverse and affordable housing options is provided by site specific considerations rather than fixed minimum lot sizes.

In the various submissions we have made in relation to the strategy, we have consistently commented that the use of minimum lot size controls are too prescriptive and don’t work well. Unfortunately the latest proposed planning scheme amendments seek to entrench and extend these controls through a series of Design and Development Overlays.

Minimum lots sizes of 500sqm are proposed in the Residential 3 areas of Mooroolbark, Kilsyth and Lilydale. The current average lot size in these areas is under 900sqm making future development on most of the lots in these areas of the Shire impossible. This makes no planning sense as the area is well located in terms of its proximity to schools, public transport and shopping centres.   On the few lots in these areas that are over 1000sqm and therefore mathematically possible to be subdivided a proposed site coverage of 40% is proposed which will require smaller footprints and an increased likelihood of double storeys.  

The minimum lot size provisions will also unduly impact on development in the consolidation areas of Healesville, Yarra Junction, Mt Evelyn and Yarra Glen as well as the balance of residential land in Mt Evelyn and the whole of Coldstream, a fully serviced township in dire need of a push forward.

 In our view it will be impossible to meet the estimates of 500 new dwellings per year with this proposed amendment.