REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
DAREBIN PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT C144
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act), the Heritage Act 1995 and the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998 provide for the intervention of the
Minister for Planning in planning and heritage processes.
In exercising my powers of intervention, I have agreed to:

Make publicly available written reasons for each decision; and

Provide a report to Parliament at least every twelve months detailing the nature of
each intervention.
REQUEST FOR INTERVENTION
1.
Darebin City Council (council) submitted the draft Amendment C144 to the
Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee (RZSAC) for consideration. The
RZSAC recommended that I prepare, adopt and approve Amendment C144 to the
Darebin Planning Scheme, with exemption from the notice requirements under
section 20(4) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act), and I am giving
effect to that recommendation.
WHAT POWER OF INTERVENTION IS BEING USED?
2.
I have decided to exercise my powers to exempt myself from all the requirements of
sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the regulations in respect to Amendment C144
to the Darebin Planning Scheme.
3.
Section 20(4) of the Act enables the Minister for Planning to exempt an amendment
which the Minister prepares from any of the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19
of the Act or the regulations.
4.
In seeking to exercise this power, section 20(4) of the Act requires that the Minister
must consider that compliance with any of those requirements is not warranted or
that the interests of Victoria or any part of Victoria make such an exemption
appropriate.
BACKGROUND
5.
Amendment V8 was gazetted on 1 July 2013 and introduced the Residential Growth
Zone, General Residential Zone and Neighbourhood Residential Zone into the Victoria
Planning Provisions. The new residential zones have been reformed to simplify
requirements, allow a broader range of activities to be considered and better manage
housing growth.
6.
The Residential Zones Standing Advisory Committee (RZSAC) was established in
January 2014 to provide council with an opportunity to streamline the introduction of
the new residential zones into Victorian planning schemes. The RZSAC was
established with clear Terms of Reference to undertake a public notification period
and public hearing (as required).
7.
Amendment C144 proposes to apply the Neighbourhood Residential Zone. [The
Explanatory Report provides further detail regarding the Amendment].
8.
Council undertook public notification of the draft amendment between 20 March and
17 April 2014. Notices appeared in:
- Herald Sun on 20 March 2014
- The Age on 20 March 2014
- Local papers on 25 and 26 March 2014
Council also sent notices directly to relevant Ministers, government agencies and
servicing authorities and to local community groups.
9.
The RZSAC concluded that the draft amendment is supported by, and implements,
the relevant sections of the State and Local Planning Policy Framework.
Updating maps – all business zones are now commercial zones
10. The new Commercial 1 and Commercial 2 zones were introduced by Amendment
VC100 on 15 July 2013 and all the business zones were deleted. An effect of that
amendment was that all land zoned Business 1, Business 2 and Business 5 was
automatically converted to the Commercial 1 Zone. Land zoned Business 3 and
Business 4 was automatically converted to the Commercial 2 Zone. Amendment C144
updates the planning scheme maps to correctly identify the land now zoned
Commercial 1 or Commercial 2 Zone.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
11. Exemption of the amendment under section 20(4) will enable the new residential
zones to be promptly implemented and update the planning scheme, thereby
providing certainty to owners of land in the City of Darebin.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
12. The effect of exempting this amendment from the usual notice requirements will be to
remove the opportunity for potentially affected parties to be formally notified of the
amendment and to have their submissions considered by a Panel. A further
notification, exhibition and consultation process is considered unnecessary given the
review undertaken by the RZSAC and the strategic basis provided by the RZSAC for
applying the new zones.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
13. I consider that any effect of my decision to exempt myself from giving notice of the
amendment is outweighed by the benefits of the exemption.
14. Darebin City Council has undertaken public notification and a committee hearing
process which involved a thorough review by the RZSAC.
15. Accordingly I consider that the benefits of exempting myself from sections 17, 18 and
19 of the Act outweigh any effects of the exemption on third parties.
DECISION
16. I have decided to exercise my power to exempt myself from all the requirements of
sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the regulations in respect of Amendment C144
to the Darebin Planning Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
17. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section
20(4) of the Act.
18. I am satisfied that Compliance with any of the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the
regulations is not warranted because:

The government has a clear agenda to reform residential zones across all
planning schemes as evidenced by the introduction of Amendment V8, gazetted
on 1 July 2013, and this amendment implements the reforms in the Darebin
Planning Scheme.

The update to the planning scheme maps and ordinance to reflect the reformed
commercial zones does not change the zone of the land but provides clarity by
accurately showing the zoning changes introduced via Amendment VC100.

The amendment has been prepared by council and reviewed by the Residential
Zones Standing Advisory Committee.
SIGNED BY THE MINISTER
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 1 September 2014