Dear Madam/Sir,

I am writing to notify your organisation of proposed changes to the residential planning zones in the City of Melbourne and to encourage you to make a submission to the Standing Advisory Committee for their consideration.

The proposed new residential zones in the Melbourne Planning Scheme

The City of Melbourne has drafted a planning scheme amendment to guide the introduction of the new residential zones.

From 4 August to 29 August 2014 you can review and comment on the draft amendment.

The proposed zoning is based on the community’s earlier feedback in March and April 2014.

These changes only relate to residentially zoned areas in the City of Melbourne, covering parts of Kensington, Parkville, Carlton, South Yarra, North, East and West Melbourne, Jolimont and Southbank.

Information about the proposed changes can be viewed here: http://melbourne.vic.gov.au/participate/reszones.

Questions about these zones can be directed to Dianna Siomos, Strategic Planner at the City of Melbourne on 03 9658 8404 or diasio@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

The Committee

The Minister for Planning has appointed a Standing Advisory Committee (the Committee) to advise on the method andapplication of the new Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone and Residential Growth Zone into local planning schemes.

The role of the Committee is to:

•  Give submitters an opportunity to be heard by an independent body in an informal, non-judicial manner.
•  Give independent advice to the Minister for Planning as outlined in the Terms of Reference.

Information about the Committee can be found on the DTPLI webpage.

Making a submission

You can make a submission to the Committee before 5.00pm on Friday 29 August 2014.

Submissions can be made online at  www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/residential-zones-advisory-committee. Parties wishing to post awritten submission will need to obtain a hard copy of the Submission Coversheet from Planning Panels Victoria.

Submissions must be directed to the Committee through Planning Panels Victoria.  Council cannot accept submissions.

All submissions and information provided at the Hearing will be treated as public documents.

A Hearing is scheduled for the week starting Monday 15 September 2014. If you wish to present at the Hearing, pleasecomplete the relevant section of the Submission Coversheet.

Questions about the Advisory Committee, making a submission, or the public hearing, can be directed to Jessica Cutting, Senior Project Manager at Planning Panels Victoria on 8392 6383 or jessica.cutting@dtpli.vic.gov.au.

We thank you in advance for distributing this information to your networks and encouraging them to lodge their submission.

Yours sincerely

Jamee Baker on behalf of
David Mayes

Manager, Strategic Planning

Letter to David Mayes 22 05 14

24 April 2014

Mr David Mayes
Manager Strategic Planning
City of Melbourne
City Planning & Infrastructure
PO Box 1603
MELBOURNE VIC 3001

Dear Sir

Residential Zoning Changes – a golden opportunity

It is the view of the Melbourne South Yarra Residents Group Inc that the City of Melbourne has never had a better opportunity to permanently protect and preserve the heritage and neighbourhood characteristics of large parts of South Yarra and that the initial step taken by Council’s planning officers to merely categorize all of South Yarra as “general neighbourhood” failed to take advantage of this opportunity.

1. While the planning minister has the power to intervene, his overriding concern has been to ensure sufficient land is set aside for “growth”. However in the case of the City of Melbourne this cannot be an issue having regard to the enormous concentration of apartments in the central district, a development that the minister has been driving most recently by once again intervening and approving five apartment towers.
2. Furthermore, having regard to the impact of this enormous increase in city dwellers as well as the growing influx of residents from other areas into the city upon the City of Melbourne, its facilities and services it would be entirely inappropriate for the minister to insist that additional growth areas should be set aside in nearby areas such as South Yarra or Carlton. Indeed we would have thought the City of Melbourne should be seeking a contribution from State Government for the additional burdens it has to deal with.
3. As a consequence of bad laws and/or bad implementation of those laws, important and attractive historic parts of South Yarra have already been impacted by inappropriate houses and blocks of flats. It is time to bring that to a halt and to preserve those historic areas from further degradation.
4. While property developers will no doubt be unhappy if large parts of South Yarra were zoned Neighbourhood Residential it is high time the planning and development of this city was undertaken by those with expertise rather than developers as has so often been the case in the past. The Minister has now given Council the golden opportunity to do just that.
5. Accordingly, we enclose a plan in which all of the areas the Melbourne South Yarra Residents Group consider have important historic and neighbourhood characteristics that must be preserved and protected from further over development by re-zoning them as “Neighbourhood Residential”. These comprise all of the properties fronting the following streetsDomain Street
   Hope Street
   Millswyn Street
   Mason Street
   St Martins Lane
   Park Street
   Toorak Road West – Park to Domain Streets
   Leopold Street
   Domain Road – between Hope and Domain Streets
   Domain Road – between Walsh Street and Punt Road
   Pasley Street
   Park Place
   Airlie Street
   St Leonards Cour
6. Council should not take the view that as there may be inappropriate existing developments in a street, that that street should not be protected as “neighbourhood residential”. These streets are stable precincts in which the dominant characteristic is low level, historic, diverse and interesting buildings that contribute significantly to the feel and style of South Yarra as one of the early parts of Melbourne to be settled. These streets should each be looked at as a whole and if its characteristics are important they should be protected.
7. It is also our view that the maximum building height should be fixed at 8 metres and the number of dwellings per lot at two.
8. Reclassifying these precincts “Neighbourhood Residential” and fixing the maximum building height and number of dwellings will provide clarity and certainty that is rare and a great deal more than is currently provided by heritage overlays and other means.
9. Other councils have been bold in protecting significant parts of their municipality and so should the City of Melbourne. A recent letter from our local member Clem Newton-Brown encourages and indeed tells us to do just that.
10. There are constant complaints about outsized and inappropriate building in South Yarra to which Council and VCAT often respond “we can do nothing as it is allowed by law”. Well this is the opportunity to change that and for the City of Melbourne to take control.

The Melbourne South Yarra Residents Group urges Council to take full advantage of this opportunity and designate the marked streets “Neighbourhood Residential”. It would be a significant step by the City of Melbourne that the minister should not argue about.

Yours faithfully,

Michael Butcher
President

cc        Lord Mayor Robert Doyle; Councillor Richard Foster; Councillor Rohan Leppert; Councillor Kevin Louey; Councillor Stephen Mayne; Councillor Cathy Oke; Councillor Ken Ong; Councillor Beverley Pinder-Mortimer; Councillor Jackie Watts; Councillor Arron Wood

Proposed Neighbourhood Residential Zones – Melbourne South Yarra