SUBMISSIONS INVITED ON PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL ZONES

Thursday, 05 February 2009

Planning Minister, Justin Madden, today launched draft new residential zones and invited all Victorians to have their say.

“The Brumby Government is taking action to give councils, the community and developers greater surety about appropriate development,” Mr Madden said.

“These draft zones have been developed to provide councils with better planning tools to manage the location and form of new housing in their communities, and to give residents greater certainty about the type of developments they can expect in their neighbourhoods.

“Having the right planning tools is integral to meeting the future housing needs of Victoria’s cities, towns and suburbs.

“Local councils play a central role in managing the growth of our communities, and I want to ensure the residential zones provide certainty and are locally responsive.”

The three draft zones, which replace the current Residential 1, 2 and 3 Zones, are the Limited Change Zone, the Incremental Change Zone and the Substantial Change Zone.

“These zones provide greater flexibility so that councils can specify local development requirements, such as building height limits, for different neighbourhoods,” Mr Madden said.

The draft zones incorporate feedback to a discussion paper that was released for public comment last year.

Mr Madden said the paper received more than 430 submissions from councils, the community and development industry groups.

“The Brumby Government has listened to the feedback from the community, local government and industry groups on the discussion paper, and I now invite Victorians to comment on the detailed draft new residential zones,” Mr Madden said.

The new residential zones will be on exhibition until Thursday 9 April 2009.

All submissions will be referred to an independent Advisory Committee, who will provide the Planning Minister with advice on the final form of the new residential zones.

More information about the draft new residential zones is available online at www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/planning/residentialzones

For further information call 1300 366 356 (local call cost) or TTY 03 9603 8806 (8.30am - 5.00pm Monday to Friday).