REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
LATROBE PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT C66
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 the Minister’s powers of intervention, including action taken under
delegation from the Minister for Planning, the Minister has 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. On 12 November 2013, Latrobe City Council wrote to the Minister for Planning
requesting an amendment using section 20(4) of the Planning and Environment Act
1987 (the Act) to amend the Latrobe Planning Scheme to correct a number of zoning
anomalies.
WHAT POWER OF INTERVENTION IS BEING USED?
2.
Under delegated authority from the Minister for Planning I have decided to exercise
the power to exempt the Minister from all the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19
of the Act and the regulations in respect to Amendment C66 to the Latrobe 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 Amendment corrects a number of zoning anomalies on Maps 5, 28, 52, 55, 76,
97, 103 and 112 of the Latrobe Planning Scheme. The Amendment includes rezoning
of eight properties owned by Gippsland Water from Farming Zone and Rural Living
Zone to Public Use Zone 1 (Service & Utility) to reflect current ownership and
operations on these sites.
6.
The Gippsland Water requests for rezoning follow on from an earlier Amendment
(C81) to rezone properties which was approved in September 2013. These properties
were inadvertently left out of that earlier Amendment request.
7.
A parcel of land at Grant Street, Morwell is being rezoned from Residential 1 Zone to
Public Park and Recreation Zone. This land forms part of a council reserve.
8.
The Amendment corrects an anomaly at 25-27 Breed Street, Traralgon by rezoning a
small section of the land from Residential 1 Zone to Commercial 1 Zone to reflect the
balance of the land in the Commercial 1 Zone.
9.
A portion of the land at 18 Albert Street, Moe is being rezoned from Rural Living Zone
to Residential 1 Zone to align with the Moe Settlement Framework Plan.
10. The land at Albert Street, Moe was originally proposed for inclusion in a series of
Amendments (C47, C56 and C58) but was not progressed at that time due to a
concurrent review of flooding controls, which subsequently did not affect the subject
land. The use of section 20(4) was accepted at that time because the rezonings
aligned with the Moe-Newborough Structure Plan 2007 which was subject to
extensive public consultation and is now included in the planning scheme. The
owners have now re-initiated that process to rezone their property.
11. Because some time has elapsed since those earlier Amendments were processed, the
Department requested that the Council notify four adjoining properties of the
proposed rezoning. Those letters of consent to the rezoning were received and no
objections.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
12. Exemption will allow the prompt adoption and approval of an amendment that
addresses anomalous provisions in the Latrobe Planning Scheme. These provisions
affect properties across the municipality and Council has undertaken targeted
consultation with land owners of properties which could conceivably be affected by
the amendment.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
13. The main effect of the exemption is that third parties will not have the opportunity to
make submissions on the amendment or have them considered by a Panel.
14. It is considered that the outcome for Amendment C66 would be unchanged if it went
through consultation and the planning Panel process.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
15. Exemption from notice will allow the prompt amendment of inappropriate controls on
properties that are either incorrectly applied or no longer warranted.
16. Accordingly I, acting under delegation from the Minister, consider that the benefits of
exemption from sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act outweigh any effects of the
exemption on third parties.
DECISION
13. Under delegated authority from the Minister for Planning I have decided to exercise
the power to exempt the Minister from all the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19
of the Act and the regulations in respect of Amendment C66 to the Latrobe Planning
Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
14. I provide the following reasons for my decision under delegated authority to exercise
the power under section 20(4) of the Act.
15. I, acting under delegation from the Minister, am satisfied that The interests of Victoria or any part of Victoria make such an exemption appropriate
because:
 The Amendment enables the prompt correction of zoning anomalies to apply
the appropriate zoning to 11 sites.
Signed by Delegate
PAUL JARMAN
Acting Director
Planning Statutory Services
Date: 2 April 2014