Amendment C38

Archive: Amendment C38

Last Updated 12/9/06

C38 Development Plan Overlay In Gisborne Almost Slipped Away

(2/8/06 - P) Cr. Rob Guthrie says ask Minister to extend until Gisborne Outline Development Plan is in scheme. All we need to do now is find the Gisborne ODP.

At last Wednesday's Planning Committee meeting, Cr. Rob Guthrie (South ward) moved a motion in Urgent and Other Business that Council write to the Minister for Planning asking for an extension of the Development Plan Overlay control (DPO1) in Gisborne for another year. The overlay was put in place in September 2004 for two years by former Planning Minister, Mary Delahunty. It is the only planning control over most of Gisborne's as-yet undeveloped residential zoned land. The only dissenting voice came from Cr. Noel Harvey (West ward) who objected to not being told what 'all this was about' and said he needed to be told this was coming. Mayor Neil apologised to Cr. Harvey. In the end, the motion was carried unopposed.

MRRA Says:

Well spotted, Cr. Guthrie. Now it's up to the Minister for Planning to decide whether Gisborne will have any residential controls.

Next questions is, where's the Gisborne ODP. Cooee! Anyone seen it? MRRA understands it was sent to the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Bendigo months ago for translation into an amendment to the Macedon Ranges' planning scheme. So what's holding it up? MRRA did hear a whisper that DSE are refusing to move the ODP forward until it accommodates 4,000 more people than the 8,500 the ODP presently proposes. Now, if that was true, and we had the Department overturning what the people of Gisborne had agreed to, it would just about be time to take to the streets, wouldn't it?

We commiserate with Cr. Harvey feeling put out about not being told this item was coming up in Urgent and Other Business (although we note he didn't have the same objection to the several other items that 'urgently' popped up, including going behind closed doors to consider the Gisborne Call Centre planning application). All we can say - on behalf of Macedon Ranges' residents - is that we too know how it feels to be kept in the dark.