REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
GLEN EIRA PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT C110
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 Glen Eira City Council has requested that I prepare, adopt and approve
Amendment C110 to the Glen Eira Planning Scheme, with exemption from the notice
requirements under 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 C110
to the Glen Eira 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 new zoning tools enable planning authorities to better specify strategic locations
where increased densities should be provided and to limit residential change in areas
where they wish to protect neighbourhood character, environmental and other
characteristics. Being able to specify areas that should be protected from increased
residential development mean that attributes that are highly valued by the
community for specific areas and supported by strategic work undertaken by planning
authorities can be given statutory effect in Victorian planning schemes.
7.
Planning authorities are now responsible for applying the new zones into their
planning schemes through a local amendment. The Glen Eira City Council is the first
planning authority to initiate a planning scheme amendment which proposes to apply
the new zones to its municipality.
8.
The Glen Eira City Council gave effect to its Housing and Residential Development
Strategy (Strategy) with the introduction in 2004 of Amendment C25. Work on the
Strategy commenced in October 2000, and included a community notification and
consultation process. Nine community workshops attended by approximately 50
people also contributed to the development and refinement of the Strategy. The
Strategy was adopted by the Council in 2002.
9.
Amendment C25, was introduced to reflect the outcomes of the Strategy, providing
guidance within the planning scheme as to how residential development in the area
would be planned and managed over the next 20 years. Amongst other things, it
introduced two new local policies (Clause 22.07 – Housing Diversity Area policy and
Clause 22.08 – Minimal Change Areas policy).
10. Amendment C25 was placed on public exhibition over six weeks in June and July
2002.
11. A total of 189 submissions were received in response to the exhibition of the
amendment. An independent Panel held in October 2002, delivered its report in
December 2002. The amendment was gazetted on 28 October 2004.
12. The policies provide clear spatial direction as to the preferred location and density of
new residential development. As a result, approximately 78% of the municipality is
included in a Minimal Change Area with a preferred density of no more than two
dwellings per lot. Medium and higher density developments are encouraged in
Housing Diversity Areas, which are located in neighbourhood centres and along major
transport routes.
13. Amendment C110 proposes to implement the new residential zones into the Glen Eira
Planning Scheme. The amendment will apply the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to
the Minimal Change areas, the Residential Growth Zone to the Housing Diversity
areas of Elsternwick, Carnegie and Bentleigh and the General Residential Zone to the
smaller activities areas, around the periphery of the above major centres and along
the transport routes within the Housing Diversity areas. The Explanatory Report
provides further detail regarding the amendment.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
14. Exemption of the amendment under section 20(4) will enable a prompt decision on
the adoption and approval of the amendment and will allow for the orderly
application of residential zoning controls for this planning scheme, based on previous
strategic work. It will avoid the need for a further notification, exhibition and
consultation process, which is considered unnecessary given the strategic basis for
applying the new zones can be found within the existing planning scheme.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
15. The effect of exempting this amendment from the usual notice requirements will
remove the opportunity for potentially affected parties to be formally notified of the
amendment and to have their submissions considered by a Panel.
16. As the Glen Eira City Council has requested the amendment, the support of the
Council for the amendment is evident.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
17. 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.
18. The Glen Eira City Council undertook extensive community consultation in developing
its Housing and Residential Development Strategy and in introducing Amendment
C25. The panel report for Amendment C25 considers various issues associated with
the strategy of focussing higher density development in Housing Diversity Areas and
potential effects of limiting development in Minimal Change Areas. The local policies
(Clause 22.07 – Housing Diversity Area policy and Clause 22.08 – Minimal Change
Area policy) have guided the application of the new residential zones.
19. 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
20. 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 C110
to the Glen Eira Planning Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
21. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section
20(4) of the Act.
22. 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:

I consider that further notification through the formal statutory process is
unnecessary. Consultation has been conducted during the development of the
Housing and Residential Development Strategy and in relation to Amendment
C25, which introduced the local policies upon which the application of the new
residential zones is based.
Signed by the Minister
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 5 August 2013