A group of Lancefield landowners are hopeful a lengthy planning battle restricting development may soon come to an end.
Macedon Ranges Shire mayor, Cr Kate Kendall, has sought Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny’s urgent assistance to remove Development Plan Overlay Schedule 24 (DPO24) that has instead hindered development.
Cr Kendall told Minister Kilkenny its constraints had “effectively sterilised development potential” within the affected areas.
MRSC introduced the overlay in 2020 to create coordinated development for the last significant areas of undeveloped residential land in the town. It applies across about 150 acres of township land in three residential zones, impacting about 22 landholders.
“Despite council efforts to support landowners in navigating the development plan process, not one new house has been built,” Cr Kendall said.
“Feedback is consistent: the process is too complex, costly, uncoordinated and time-consuming relative to the scale of development being contemplated.”
BARRIER TO DEVELOP
Impacted landowner Narelle Stebbins said people in the DPO24 area were frustrated and one of the biggest challenges was finding someone willing and able to assist them.
“The restricted number of development plans means that large groups of landowners need to be in a position to develop at the same time,” she said.
“This includes wanting to develop, having the funds, having the time to commit to all the required work and knowing how to engage, project manage and negotiate all the parties that need to be involved in the process. Most of the landowners do not want to develop, which means that no one else in their group can move ahead.
“The financial expectation of building and paying for the extensive council-owned infrastructure is not viable.
“I would like to see DPO24 be removed entirely and immediately. There have been too many years of financial loss and personal hardship for this to continue any longer.”
LANDOWNERS DRAINED
Terry Foster was the only landowner to have a development plan endorsed when he tried to subdivide his 14,000 sqm block into two. However, the process has left him drained — both financially and mentally.
Mr Foster said he experienced lengthy delays and several frustrations in dealing with the planning department, resulting in Ombudsman intervention.
“After all the stress, all the years going backwards and forwards between planners, council and consultants, all the money spent getting the document done and signed off (about $70,000 at this stage), we had to put our house and land on the market,” he said.
“The requirements that are set out in the DPO made development very expensive. It was a bridge too far for us to develop ourselves.
“Our house and land has been on the market for four years and there has not been one offer, at any price, come forward.”
He said the imposed overlay “does the exact opposite of what is currently needed”, at a time when people seek more affordable housing.
“In summary, this overlay has caused many people a lot of stress, a lot of financial pain, a lot of having to re-think retirement plans and all for what? Not one new house, not one new block of land. It has been nine years of hell for many, for a nett gain of zero for everyone,” he said.
SIGN OF THE TIMES
It’s hard to miss the signage challenging DPO24 and government that faces Lancefield’s main street from Robert Green’s property. While some people may find it confronting, that is the very point, and he won’t remove it until the problems of DPO24 are resolved. Mr Green is one of the impacted landowners.
Last week, he told the Express he was pleased Cr Kendall understood the problems DPO24 was imposing.
“The minister will not give landholders a meeting on this matter,” he said.
“The council acknowledged I had suffered full developed value loss due to this DPO in a meeting with me in 2021.
“Why has it taken over five years to get this to this stage, and why the hell are they hanging onto a DPO that’s no good?
“I’ve stood up for this matter and my town without fear or favour. I’m not going to stop until we get it sorted out.”
Cr Kendall’s request marks Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s second attempt to get the overlay removed.
SECOND ATTEMPT
Ms Kilkenny refused MRSC’s request for removal of DPO24 back in 2023, after the council recognised it had “become a barrier” to development.
At the time, Ms Kilkenny said complete removal might give rise to risk of uncoordinated development, however, if the council remained of the view that DPO24 was not feasible she was open to considering a planning scheme amendment to address those concerns.
“This could involve simplification of the overlay schedule to address concerns relating to cost and complexity, provided the overlay’s objectives are not compromised,” she said.
Cr Kendall and the council now awaited a response from the minister.
