"The Victorian government’s proposed new planning zones are the most radical review of planning schemes in the history of Victorian planning. They will lead to fundamental changes in the way Melbourne operates, change the fabric of the city and its hinterland, and remove an extensive range of existing citizen rights. Everyone will be affected".

Download this disturbing 5-page analysis here.  You can lodge a submission with the planning department until 5pm Friday Sept. 28 – but also send your comments to Minister Guy AND Premier Baillieu, even if it's after the official deadline for submissions – they need to know how opposed to these changes you are!

Many of Melbourne's local councils and the Planning Institute (PIA) have added to criticism of the State Government's proposed planning zone reforms. 

Submissions on the new zone proposals officially closed on Sept. 28 but we suggest you continue to contact your local MP, the planning minister and the premier to complain about the deleterious effects the new proposals will have.  For official updates on the new zones, go to the planning dept.website new zone reforms page.

Here are links to submissions and reports from Save Our Suburbs, the Planning Institute of Victoria (PIA) and 12 local councils:

             SOS, PIA, Baw Baw, Brimbank, Boroondara, Frankston, Glen Eira, Manningham, Mornington Peninsula (Report and Interim Position Statement), Nillumbik, Stonnington, Whitehorse, Yarra (response and submission) and Yarra Ranges.

"Melbourne already has 30 years of land supply but Ted Baillieu and Matthew Guy want more….radical deregulation will change Melbourne irrevocably for the worse".  (click to read article)

This revealing opinion piece by Prof. Michael Buxton was printed in The Age last Sunday July 15. 

Dr Michael Buxton is Associate Professor of Environment and Planning with the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at RMIT University. He has held senior positions in four Victorian planning and environmental agencies and has contributed extensively to national and state environmental and planning policy.  He was also a critical member of the former government's Melbourne 2030 Implementation Review Group,

Prof. Buxton led the intergovernmental process developing a new National Greenhouse Strategy between 1994 and 1996 and was Chairperson of the Premier's Green Wedge Working Party which advised the government on the adoption of a legislated urban growth boundary.  His research areas include urban intensification, peri-urban development and the sustainability of outer urban development.

He was an elected Victorian local government councillor and Mayor for ten years and was a member of the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Authority for six years. He is a former lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne.

Link – Prof. Buxton talk   –  41 minute video

Link – Questions & Answer session   –   41 minute video

Transcript of Prof.Buxton talk (pdf – 12p)

The links above take you to an address by Dr Michael Buxton, Associate Professor of Environment and Planning at RMIT University. He spoke at Save Our Suburbs’ AGM on November 20th, 2011, analysing Victoria’s planning malaise and possible solutions. His presentation was followed by a question and answer session.

Professor Buxton has held senior positions in government planning and environmental agencies, been a Victorian local councillor and Mayor, and is a former lecturer at Monash University.  His research at RMIT has focussed mainly on  issues relating to urban consolidation and the urban growth boundary.  He is also a frequent media commentator on planning issues.

We are very grateful for his contribution, which clarifies the ongoing debate over how Melbourne’s town planning system should function.

DVD copies of Professor Buxton’s talk and the Q & A session are available now – contact us HERE by email to inquire about ordering one ($5)

Many organisations, individuals and groups have made submissions to the Review, and some (including SOS) were invited to discuss their issues with the committee in person.  Our submission (click here) was a summary of our overall concerns and we are doing a follow-up submission after being encouraged to do so at our meeting with the committee in September.

While the 6-member committee are undoubtably experts in their field (mostly with extensive background in the development industry and/or the planning department), they clearly only represent one aspect of a multi-faceted debate.

Where are the independent experts in traffic and public transport, strategic planning, urban design, environmental sustainability, health and sociology?  Where is the deliberative community consultation process so that feedback from informed residents can be incorporated into the new City Plan?

Are we planning for a complex city that can meet the sustainability challenges of peak oil, climate change, population and energy and water conservation; or are our planners just focussed on a simplistic numbers game of providing enough boxes for increasing numbers of people to "live" in?

However, since the Premier's department is actually preparing the overall strategic plan for Melbourne rather than just the planning minister (see Age article), perhaps there is still hope that a sustainable plan with vision will eventuate….

To find out more about "deliberative community consultation", click here

Melbourne lays claim to being a smart, savvy and sustainable city, but how can we use our knowledge and communities to improve decision making and planning?

Thursday 18 November 2010, BMW Edge

6pm to 7.30pm, entry from 5.30pm
BMW Edge, Federation Square, Cnr Swanston & Flinders St

* Mr Dan Hill – Senior Consultant, Arup, Sydney
* Ms Jodi Newcombe – Head of States and Regions Program, The Climate Group, Melbourne and Founder of Carbon Arts
* Cr Cathy Oke – Councillor, City of Melbourne
* Dr Marcus Spiller – Director, SGS Economics and Planning, Melbourne

Melbourne Conversations

Free entry. No bookings required
 

Coburg Town Hall,  Aug 12 – Sept 29

This
 photographic 
exhibition 
portrays 
some
 of 
the 
diverse 
range
 of 
Victorians 
who, 
faced

with 
evidence 
of 
climate 
change 
and 
environmental 
degradation, 
have 
acted
 to 
live 
more

sustainably. 

The 
images 
(by 
John
 Werrett, 
curated 
by 
Morag 
Loh)
 show 
home
 and

workplace 
initiatives by individuals 
who
 aren’t 
waiting 
for 
government 
leadership 
but

providing 
their 
own
 solutions
 to
 one 
of 
the 
most 
challenging 
issues 
of 
our 
times.

WestWyck
 Eco 
Village, 
West 
Brunswick, 
a 
model 
of 
sustainable 
development


Westwyck 
aims 
to 
minimise 
reliance 
on 
mains 
water 
and 
lessen 
discharge 
via 
storm
 water 
and 
sewer.
  A 
CSIRO 
study 
found 
WestWyck 
town
houses 
and 
apartments 
consumed 
64% 
less 
mains 
water 
than
 similar 
housing
 serviced 
by 
Yarra 
Valley 
Water.  
Rain
water 
from 
the 
roof 
is 
heated
 by 
solar 
energy 
to
 provide 
hot 
water.  
Grey
water 
from 
kitchens
 and
 bathrooms 
is 
treated 
to 
Class 
A 
Standard
 and
 used 
to
 flush 
toilets 
and
 water 
gardens.  
Organic 
kitchen
 and 
toilet 
waste 
is 
treated 
in 
a 
large
 worm 
farm.
 The
 resulting 
liquid 
is
 pumped 
through 
evapo‐transpiration 
beds
 and 
filtered 
by
 indigenous 
plants 
such 
as
 local
 grasses 
and
 woolly 
ti‐tree.  
Excess 
water 
goes 
to 
the 
sewers.



WestWyck
 also
 demonstrates 
the
 two 
other
 key
 sustainability 
principles 
of 
efficient 
use
 of 
materials 
and
 energy

SEE
 THE 
"HARBINGERS 
OF 
CHANGE"
 PHOTO
 EXHIBITION 
AT:

Coburg Town Hall,
90 Bell St Coburg

August 12 – September 29, 2010

(for more details see City of Moreland website – www.moreland.vic.gov.au)

Project Melbourne: towards a sustainable city
PAUL RAMADGE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF     March 16, 2010

Project Melbourne is a special series by The Age aimed at encouraging and broadening public debate about Melbourne’s future — particularly the inner 40 kilometres. We are keen to get your views and feedback."
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/projectmelbourne

Click here for a Multimedia special on Project Melbourne <http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2010/times/25/>