On 20 July 2020 Mornington Peninsula Shire Council resolved to adopt a recommendation from officers that the Amendment documents be submitted to the Minister for Planning to seek his re-authorisation to prepare the Amendment to the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme.

The revised amendment, also known as the ‘HSS refresh’, seeks to:

• Introduce the Neighbourhood Character Zone (NRZ) and schedules and revised Design and Development Overlay (DDO) schedules to the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme;
• Respond to the Minister’s request outlining conditions to be fulfilled by Council;
• Implement the findings of the Neighbourhood Character study as adopted by council in 2019;
• Simplify planning scheme (ie DDOs) and delete permit triggers.

Although Amendment C219 did not progress, the Minister, in his letter on 18 September 2019, invited Council to seek re-authorisation of Amendment C219 on the condition that a series of work be completed prior to submitting for re-authorisation. Essentially, Council was required to:

1. Outline the strategic justification for the Amendment by:

• Adopting a municipal-wide approach to the provision of housing that includes major activity centres, investigation areas and capacity arising from holiday homes converting into permanent homes;
• Demonstrating that the Mornington Peninsula Shire (Shire) is capable of achieving a 15-year supply of housing and residential land that is consistent with the Victorian Government population projections and land supply estimates; and
• Demonstrating that the proposed residential provisions do not limit the ability of the Shire to provide housing diversity.

2. Update the drafting and application of the NRZ schedules to:

• Reflect any changes required as a result of the further strategic work above, including the removal of the minimum lot sizes for subdivision, unless strategically justified;
• Incorporate the recommendations of the neighbourhood character study prepared by Ethos Urban once adopted; and
• Be consistent with the new Planning Practice Note 90: Planning for Housing and Planning Practice Note 91: Using the Residential Zones.

3. Review existing provisions that apply to residential land to ensure there are no conflicts between the proposed and current controls and remove unnecessary permit triggers (primarily the DDO schedules).

Town Planning & Co has undertaken a review of the proposed changes to the Design and Development Overlays and acknowledges the reduction of permit triggers streamlines the planning process and reduces red tape, with annual planning applications estimated by Council to be reduced by around 350, with the bulk of these approvals (predominantly involving single dwellings) to be dealt with under the private building permit process, consistent with the majority of Victoria.

We note that Council has reservations about the loss of control over outcomes regarding many single dwelling applications, with issues such as view sharing and reflectivity effectively removed from the decision making process.

For more information regarding Strategic Planning Projects at MPSC, visit: https://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au...