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Wednesday 14 August 2024
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The circus has arrived! The Great Moscow Circus is here, and promising an all-new extreme show with death-defying acts from around the globe. The Great Moscow Circus will be in Rosebud until 18 August. Tickets available from: greatmoscowcircus.com.au Picture: Yanni
New planning scheme amendment adopted Cameron McCullough cameron@mpnews.com.au A PLANNING scheme amendment that allows for 1,200 new homes a year to be built on the peninsula was adopted by council at their meeting last week (6 August). The shire states the amendment C219morn provides a sustainable approach to housing on the Peninsula by: n directing future growth to areas close to shops, jobs, schools and public transport n ensuring all types of housing
can be accommodated (homes, units, apartments and residential aged care facilities) n protecting the Peninsula’s special values and character A shire release stated “Amendment C219morn meets the State Government’s draft housing targets under its long-term housing plan for Victoria. The amendment will provide for about 1,200 new homes per year to house our growing population which is expected to reach 180,000- 200,000 residents by 2036,” and insisted the new planning scheme would not affect the Green Wedge with the Urban Growth Boundary unchanged.
One speaker at the meeting, Lyle Ridout, expressed concern the changes would have adverse intentions on the housing market, not consistent with supplying an increased supply with the growing population of the peninsula. Having family in the Somerville area for 130 years, the new scheme would amend his family’s six acre lot from subdividable into one acre lots to now not subdividable at all, even though the property is within the Shire’s own Somerville Township Structure Plan. “The new amendment has changed the LDRZ (Low Density Residential Zone) for our property,” said Ridout.
“The effect of that is that while we always intended to subdivide to accommodate members of our family on our existing and long-held family block, the new plan makes that impossible”. “We are not greed property developers. Just a long-standing family who want to carry on our family tradition. A plan that is now disrupted”. Ridout pointed out to councillor’s the planning panel’s recommendation 18 that suggested council should “review the Low Density Residential Zone areas as a matter of priority, to assess and identify areas that could accommodate an increase in develop-
ment density without materially impacting amenity or the environment.” The council only agreed to review LDRZ areas for the potential to accommodate more housing density as part of a future review, and not as part of the current planning scheme. “According to the shire’s town planning department, this could take up to another five years,” said Ridout. “The peninsula can’t wait an additional five years to open up land like ours to much-needed housing.” “A six-acre property is not farmland. It is a lifestyle property,” said Ridout. Continued Page 7