OK – confession time – this is a matter I feel very strongly about. I live in Rhyll, an historic fishing village. The Bass Coast Planning Scheme identifies Rhyll as an area of low growth, with limited public transport and services. Yet there is a new development of 15 residences being built on Lock Road, on about 7100m2, an old caravan park.
The shire rejected this development over many years on many grounds, including not meeting local character. The proposal went to VCAT. Based on the existing planning controls, VCAT approved the application. It was approved partly because the land used to be a caravan park and has different zoning compared to other residential land. It was also approved because it is close to restaurants and a general store, with the planning scheme encouraging greater density in areas with access to services.
Rhyll is very leafy and coastal. Most houses have eaves and room for a boat to be parked, which seems appropriate for a fishing village. Admittedly this Lock Road development is still being built.
Yet it is hard to envisage there is room for sufficient tree planting to soften the buildings. The combined vertical mass of the buildings was also not seen as a problem by VCAT.
Does this development fit the character of Rhyll? Most locals would say emphatically “no”. Higher density could have been achieved with more sympathetic design, but unfortunately VCAT cannot enforce that.
What this example illustrates is that without detailed controls in place for townships, character and design concerns cannot be upheld at VCAT.
So what is neighbourhood character? Residents would list things like vegetation, wildlife and birds, views, lack of front fences or easy access to shops, schools, services or sports clubs. Without including these elements in planning then it’s easy to see how we end up with jarring development.
The planning scheme includes guidelines for preserving coastal and environmentally sensitive areas, but the importance of preserving neighbourhood character is not well specified. By contrast, the Surf Coast Planning Scheme is more specific about neighbourhood character and recognises the risk development represents.
Surf Coast states the coastline and areas of vegetation and landscape “contribute strongly to the character” of the area. “Development pressure and insensitive suburban style development threaten township character, which has been impacted by re-subdivision, infill development, larger and bulkier replacement dwellings and vegetation loss, including from the desire for views or for the creation and maintenance of defendable space for bushfire protection”, Surf Coast states.
And again the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme recognises the need to preserve local character and is in the process of adding muscle to the scheme to “ensure the character of the Peninsula’s residential areas is protected and enhanced as the Shire’s population continues to grow”.“Future housing development will then respond better to the neighbourhood’s preferred character”, Mornington Peninsula states.
The peninsula identifies specific neighbourhood character objectives for townships such as Crib Point, as a “low-density country town on the coast” where “housing is set within the landscape and canopy trees are retained and re-established”. The peninsula shapes new developments before they are built, with one new housing estate in Rosebud specifying that it must “maintain the bush landscape setting and strengthen the sense of living on the foreshore … in a coastal village environment”. The estate must “retain the appearance of the meandering unmade streets that underscore and contribute to the neighbourhood character”.
In the opinion of Island Voice, the Bass Coast planning scheme is less effective at protecting character and needs to be updated.
New residential builds do not need to gain planning permission generally, which means our council has little ability to influence them. That is, of course, unless the planning scheme is updated and uses clear specific language. Coastal property is becoming scarcer, and developers push densities to increase profitability. So we must ensure design considerations preserve character.
Unsympathetic developments result in large houses with minimal green areas in suburban-type estates. This does not preserve the uniqueness of coastal living. We must clearly define the character of our townships to council, so they can be incorporated into the planning standards and enforced. Please think about this now so that you can express these ideas at the upcoming planning scheme review.
