REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
CENTRAL GOLDFIELDS PLANNING SCHEME
GANNAWARRA PLANNING SCHEME
MACEDON RANGES PLANNING SCHEME
MILDURA PLANNING SCHEME
MOUNT ALEXANDER PLANNING SCHEME
AMENDMENT GC8
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. Central Goldfields Shire Council, Gannawarra Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire
Council, Mildura Rural City Council and Mount Alexander Shire Council have requested
my intervention to amend the Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Macedon Ranges,
Mildura and Mount Alexander Planning Schemes using section 20(4) of the Planning
and Environment Act 1987 (the Act).
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 GC8
to the Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Macedon Ranges, Mildura and Mount
Alexander Planning Schemes.
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
Reformed residential zones
5. The Victorian State Government (the government) has a well-documented reform
agenda which it has made clear will be implemented by 1 July 2014.
6. Following significant public consultation from 17 July 2012 to 28 September 2012, the
Reformed Zones Ministerial Advisory Committee considered the views of relevant
agencies in formulating its recommendations on the form and content of the reformed
residential zones. The government’s response to these recommendations was
published in March 2013.
Publication of this agenda and timeframe for implementation has been made available
through multiple sources including media releases, publications on the Department of
Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure website and particularly through the
implementation of Amendment V8.
7. 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 (VPP). The residential zones have been reformed to give greater
clarity about the type of development that can be expected in a residential area, to
simplify requirements, to allow a broader range of activities to be considered and to
better manage housing growth. In particular, the General Residential Zone (GRZ)
seeks to respect and preserve neighbourhood character while allowing housing
growth and diversity.
8. Councils have until 1 July 2014 to initiate amendments to convert residential land in
their municipalities to the new reformed residential zones. Where councils have not
finalised an amendment to implement the new residential zones by 1 July 2014, the
GRZ will be implemented to replace all land in the Residential 1, Residential 2 and
Residential 3 Zones.
9. The Residential 1 Zone, Residential 2 Zone and Residential 3 Zone will be removed
from the VPP after 1 July 2014.
10. Central Goldfields Shire Council, Gannawarra Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire
Council, Mildura Rural City Council and Mount Alexander Shire Council have decided
to implement the new GRZ earlier rather than wait until 1 July 2014.
Reformed commercial zones
11. The Commercial 1 Zone and Commercial 2 Zone were introduced into the VPP by
Amendment VC100 which was gazetted on 15 July 2013. In all cases land zoned
Business 1, Business 2 and Business 5 was converted to the Commercial 1 Zone and
land zoned Business 3 and Business 4 was converted to the Commercial 2 Zone. This
amendment will also update the planning scheme maps and ordinances to reflect the
introduction of the reformed commercial zones.
Amendment GC8
12. The amendment replaces all land in the five affected planning schemes in the
Residential 1 Zone and Residential 2 Zone with the General Residential Zone. It also
updates the planning scheme maps and makes consequential changes to other
planning scheme provisions to reflect the reformed commercial zone.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
13. The main benefits of the exemption is that it will enable a prompt decision to be made
on the adoption and approval of the amendment and implementation of the new
reformed General Residential Zone into the Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Macedon
Ranges, Mildura and Mount Alexander Planning Schemes, and an update of maps and
relevant clauses to completely implement the reformed commercial zones.
14. The exemption also avoids duplication of the consultation that has already taken place
during the review of Victoria’s planning zones.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
15. The effects of exemption of the amendment from notice requirements is that third
parties will not be notified of the amendment and will not have the opportunity to
make a submission or to have their submissions considered by a Panel.
16. The State Government conducted a review of Victoria’s planning zones, including the
existing residential zones and business (commercial) zones, to ensure that they were
functioning correctly and their schedules were still relevant. The review included a 10
week consultation period on the draft zones, which attracted over 900 submissions.
Various government departments and agencies were also consulted about the
reformed zones. An advisory committee reviewed the submissions and provided
recommendations on the content and implementation of the new zones.
17. Central Goldfields Shire Council, Gannawarra Shire Council, Macedon Ranges Shire
Council, Mildura Rural City Council and Mount Alexander Shire Council have requested
the amendment and are supportive of the amendment.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
18. Substantial consultation occurred during the review of Victoria’s planning zones, which
included draft residential and commercial zones.
19. The amendment implements the new General Residential Zone and completes
introduction of the new commercial zones. The
changes introduced by the
amendments are unlikely to have any adverse impacts on landowners or third parties.
20. 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
21. 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 GC8 to
the Central Goldfields, Gannawarra, Macedon Ranges, Mildura and Mount Alexander
Planning Schemes.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
22. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section
20(4) of the Act.
23. 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 Central
Goldfields, Gannawarra, Macedon Ranges, Mildura and Mount Alexander
Planning Schemes.
 The update to the planning scheme maps and other planning provisions 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 C100.
 Placing the amendment on public exhibition, with a potential panel hearing, is
not likely to give rise to a different outcome than proposed by this amendment.
Signed by the Minister
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 13 May 2014