REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
STONNINGTON PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT C190
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.
The Minister for Education has requested the intervention to facilitate the delivery of
a practical response to the Government’s policy position.
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 C190
to the Stonnington 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.
The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the Education of Gifted and Talented
Students (June 2012) has recommended a range of extension and outreach services
for gifted and talented students across Victoria. These include residential facilities to
allow students from rural and regional Victoria and other metropolitan schools to
access programs offered by Victoria’s selective entry academic and specialist schools.
6.
In April 2013 the government released the New Opportunities for the Gifted and
Talented, directions paper, which outlines the need to give more support to gifted
and talented students. The government is now developing a comprehensive strategy
to support a more effective and coordinated approach to addressing the needs of
gifted students.
7.
Melbourne High School is one of four selective entry high schools in Victoria. It is
one of only several schools in Victoria that accommodates high achieving,
academically talented students who are educated alongside peers at a similar level to
themselves, by teaching staff experienced in providing a challenging curriculum for
high achieving students.
8.
An opportunity has arisen for the Melbourne High School Foundation (a charitable
foundation linked to Melbourne High School) to secure some land (part of the
property at 661-663 Chapel Street, South Yarra) adjacent to its existing campus, to
allow it to expand its facilities to include a new Gifted Education Academy. The
proposed Academy will include a residential hostel for gifted students from rural and
regional Victoria, allowing them to access the programs offered by Melbourne High
School for gifted students.
9.
The Melbourne High School Foundation has entered into a contract to purchase the
land needed for the proposed Academy from the owner of 661-663 Chapel Street.
10. The proposed integrated development consists of the Gifted Education Academy on
part of the site, and a multistorey mixed use development (consisting of two buildings
comprising dwellings, office and shop) on the balance of the site. The two
developments are contractually and conceptually linked as part of an overall proposal
for the property.
11. Separate planning permit applications were lodged for each aspect of the proposal, in
2012 and 2013. Both planning permit applications were refused by Stonnington City
Council in late 2013. The grounds for refusal included height, form, scale and
massing, other design and amenity issues, car parking, waste collection and
information regarding the management of the hostel.
12. Following consideration by council, the proposals were considered by the Office of the
Victorian Government Architect’s Design Review Panel. Both proposals have been
revised to address the design and amenity issues identified by the Council and the
Design Review Panel.
13. The Minister for Education wrote to the Minister for Planning on the 12 December
2013 requesting assistance to expedite the planning approval process in order to
enable Melbourne High School Foundation to secure the land required for the
Academy. The Academy will provide an important facility for gifted students, the
need for which has been clearly identified in the Parliamentary Inquiry, discussion
paper and the government’s draft strategy for addressing the needs of gifted
students.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
14. The key benefit of the exemption is that it will enable a prompt decision to be made
on the Amendment, enabling the development of a Gifted Education Academy as well
as the securing of the land required for the Academy to be built. The Academy is an
important facility needed to address the need identified in the Victorian Parliamentary
Inquiry into the Education of Gifted and Talented Students (June 2012) to extend
services for gifted students.
15. There is an urgent need to approve the amendment, because the Foundation’s
contract to acquire the land for the Academy is conditional on planning approval
being obtained for the integrated development by a certain date. If the contract is
not completed, there are limited opportunities to acquire land adjacent and
connecting to the Melbourne High School, and the opportunity to develop the
Academy may be lost.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
16. The effect of the exemption is that third parties will not have the opportunity to make
a formal submission in relation to the amendment and for submissions to be
considered by a panel.
17. However the views of council and third parties are known through the planning
permit application processes that occurred in 2012 and 2013, and the amended plans
for the integrated development are considered to address many of those concerns.
18. The proposals have been significantly improved since they were considered by
Council. They have been reviewed by the Victorian Government Architect, who
considered both proposals to represent an appropriate design response to the site
and surrounds.
19. Further, the incorporated document which forms part of Amendment C190 imposes
conditions to address many of the concerns raised in objections to the permit
applications, and by Council in its reasons for refusal. The incorporated document
only allows uses and development which require a permit under the underlying
controls, and does not allow any prohibited uses.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
20. The views of potentially affected parties are well known and understood through the
consultation process that occurred in relation to the two permit applications. Those
views have been taken into account in the preparation of the amendment documents.
21. It is considered that the proposed development being facilitated by the amendment
will have a reduced impact on third parties, through modification of the plans and
inclusion of conditions in the incorporated document. It is considered that any
potential remaining impacts of the proposed development on third parties are
appropriate, given the location of the site in a principal activity centre.
22. The amendment will enable the contractual requirements in the Melbourne High
School Foundation’s contract to acquire the land required for the development of an
academy for gifted students to be fulfilled, allowing the Foundation to secure the
land. If these contractual requirements are not fulfilled expeditiously, the opportunity
to secure this land is likely to be lost. Other opportunities to secure additional land
adjacent to the Melbourne High School campus are likely to be extremely limited.
Exempting the amendment will enable its expeditious approval, without which the
substantial benefits the Academy will provide to all Victorians may be lost.
23. 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
13. 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 of Amendment C190
to the Stonnington Planning Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
14. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section
20(4) of the Act.
15. 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 views of the potentially affected parties are known and have been
considered in the preparation of the amendment documents and the plans
for the proposed integrated development.
The interests of Victoria or any part of Victoria make such an exemption appropriate
because:

there is a need to urgently amend the planning scheme in order to enable
the Foundation to secure the land required for the development of the
Gifted Education Academy.
SIGNED BY THE MINISTER
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 3 February 2014