REASONS FOR DECISION TO EXERCISE POWER OF
INTERVENTION
UNDER SECTION 20(4) OF THE PLANNING AND
ENVIRONMENT ACT 1987
WARRNAMBOOL PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT C95
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 Hon. David Davis MP, Minister for Health, has requested that I prepare, adopt
and approve Amendment C95 to the Warrnambool Planning Scheme, with an
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 prepare, adopt and approve Amendment C95 to the Warrnambool
Scheme, and 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 C95.
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 South West Radiotherapy Centre (SWRC) is a Victorian Government initiative to
bring a radiotherapy service to Warrnambool and the south west region of Victoria.
6.
The Victorian Government has allocated $15 million to the project. In addition, the
Commonwealth Government has committed $10 million and the community led
Peter’s Project is well on the way to achieving its fundraising goal of $5 million.
7.
The SWRC is to be developed on a 2,000 square metre site owned by South West
Healthcare (SWH) located at 30 and 34 Ryot Street and 12 Worland Grove,
Warrnambool, located opposite the main Warrnambool Base Hospital campus. The
site was formerly occupied by a dental service, the Warrnambool Community Health
Building and associated car parks.
8.
The tender for the design, construction and operation of the SWRC was released by
the government on 14 February 2014. Tenders will close in June 2014 and work on
the project is anticipated to begin later this year.
9.
On 28 March 2014, the Minister for Health wrote to me requesting that I use my
ministerial powers of intervention to rezone the site earmarked for the SWRC from its
existing Residential 1 Zone to Public Use Zone 3 (Health and Community) to facilitate
its future development for this purpose.
10. In addition, the Minister for Health also requested that I rezone two additional SWH
properties located at 15 Hider Street and 299 Koroit Street, Warrnambool, from
Residential 1 Zone to Public Use Zone 3, in recognition of their exiting public use.
11. The Public Use Zone is normally applied to public land owned or managed by a
government department or public land manager. The majority of the existing SWH
facilities, including the Warrnambool Base Hospital, are included in PUZ3.
BENEFITS OF EXEMPTION
12. Exempting Amendment C95 from the usual public notification and consultation
processes will enable the immediate rezoning of the land to an appropriate public
land zone.
13. For land at 30 and 34 Ryot Street and 12 Worland Grove, the exemption supports the
development of SWRC which will have substantial health service benefits for the
community.
14. The exemption will also avoid unnecessary duplication of the informal consultation
that has already taken place with the council, the community and public authorities in
relation to the proposal.
15. Whilst there are no immediate plans to redevelop properties at 15 Hider Street and
299 Koroit Street, the exemption and consequent rezoning will provide certainty to
SWH that these sites may be used and developed for health and community purposes
in the future.
EFFECTS OF EXEMPTION ON THIRD PARTIES
16. The exemption will preclude third parties from making submissions in relation to the
amendment, and having those submissions considered by an independent panel.
Once included in an appropriate public land zone, the affected land may be used and
developed by SWH (as the public land manager) for health services purposes without
a planning permit.
17. The Department of Health and SWH have engaged with the Warrnambool City
Council, local community and nearby landowners to share information about the
SWRC project proposal and understand its potential impacts on residents.
18. In response to concerns raised by an adjoining landowner, the Department of Health
has committed to managing car parking and lighting design and traffic flows to
protect the amenity of residential properties.
19. Notwithstanding the above, the Minister for Health currently benefits from an order
made under the provisions of section 16 of the Act that exempts the minister from
any legal need to comply with planning scheme requirements. This means the
development of the SWHC or other SWH sites could have proceeded without a
planning permit ahead of the currently proposed amendment.
ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER BENEFITS OF EXEMPTIONS OUTWEIGH
EFFECTS ON THIRD PARTIES
20. The exemption will enable the immediate application of a public use zone to land
managed by SWH and in turn support the timely development of the SWRC for the
benefit of the people of south west Victoria.
21. 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, particularly
given the consultation that has already occurred in relation to the project.
DECISION
22. 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 C95
to the Warrnambool Planning Scheme.
REASONS FOR INTERVENTION
23. I provide the following reasons for my decision to exercise my power under section
20(4) of the Act.
24. I am satisfied that Compliance with the requirements of sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Act and the
regulations is not warranted because:

The Department of Health and SWH have engaged with the Warrnambool City
Council, local community and nearby landowners to share information about
the SWRC project proposal and agreed to manage the potential impacts of the
project on nearby residents.
Signed by the Minister
MATTHEW GUY MLC
Minister for Planning
Date: 29 May 2014