MORE PLANNING TAKEOVERS Planning Minister Madden’s recent actions in taking control of more major strategic development sites is undemocratic and unnecessary, but unfortunately just what the community has come to expect. With the politically sensitive Amcor site in Alphington, the minister simply imposed a mixed use zone (MUZ) but left the City of Yarra in charge of the site. A MUZ leaves the council with much more limited options in trying to turn the site into a sustainable development showpiece with community input. The re-zoning also includes an "incorporated plan overlay" that removes residents’ rights to be notified or to appeal about any part of the development. But the government wants Yarra to be nominally in charge of the site to shield itself from the negative fallout at next year’s state election once local residents realize the impact the development could have (just like the Minister did with the Jaques site in Richmond, despite the panel recommendation that he be the Responsible Authority). Instead, if the government was serious about sustainable development, jobs and the shortage of housing (especially affordable housing), SOS believes that there are much more effective steps it could have taken which would not only provide more jobs and certainty but also better planning outcomes, and still retain notice and appeal rights. As one option, the government could have authorized VicUrban to purchase the site before re-zoning it (which has just handed Amcor millions of dollars in land appreciation value). The subsequent increase in land value could have funded a showpiece urban village based on sustainable design principles that would still have provided a large increase in both jobs and local housing opportunities. Ironically, only a few weeks ago (March 25) the Government boasted that VicUrban’s huge Aurora site on the far north edge of the city was the first residential development in Australia to plan for water conservation and environmental initiatives on a large scale – so why not follow similar sustainable design principles with some of these inner city brownfield sites? Or the minister could have simply left the site in the hands of Yarra Council, which is on record as being determined to achieve a model of sustainable design on the site (which might give some much-needed impetus to the government’s energy, transport and climate change policies!). But this is a volatile electorate and the local Greens could have taken a lot of the credit for a successful sustainably-designed development in the lead up to the next election. Besides, windfall profits for private industry have the potential to produce generous donations to political party election coffers….. Check the excellent article on Amcor in The Herald Sun (April 16): www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25339971-664,00.html
