Planning and Environment Act 1987

Darebin Planning Scheme - Amendment C186 proposes to increase the public open space contribution rate for all subdivisions, by amending the schedule to Clause 53.01 (Public Open Space Contribution and Subdivision) to require a 10% open space levy for all land in the municipality and amend the Municipal Strategic Statement (MSS). It also adds the Darebin Open Space Strategy (City of Darebin, 2019) and Open Space Contributions Review Report (SGS Economics and Planning, 2019) as reference documents

This proposal is significant in that it is proposing to move from a blanket 5% contribution to a 10% contribution. 30m² of open space per capita is recommended to deliver a reasonable standard of open space provision. In the absence of a statewide standard, the determination of a benchmark of 30m² per person has been introduced based on an assessment of open space provision standards internationally, nationally and other examples from within Victoria.

Submissions close 16 December, 2019

South Gippsland Shire Planning Scheme - Amendment C116.  has been made at the request of Melbourne Water and the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (WGCMA).

The lands affected by the amendment are:

• Lang Lang River, Little Lang Lang River and their tributaries.
• A section of Muddy Creek on the western urban edge of Toora.
• Lands adjoining the Tarwin River and its branches where private land is incorrectly included in a public land zoning. The amendment proposes to:
• Apply the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay to 144 properties in accordance with updated flood mapping data from Melbourne Water and the WGCMA.

VCAT update:

Recent Tribunal decision limits developers' ability to rely on Cultural Heritage Management Plan exemptions

A recent decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal raises questions on how the exemptions from the need to provide Cultural Heritage Management Plan's (CHMP) under the Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 2018 (AHRegs) for applications that cover multiple lots are to be applied.

In 104-105 Station Street Pty Ltd v Kingston CC (Red Dot) [2019] VCAT 1546  the Tribunal concluded that applicants seeking to rely on Regulation 10 of the AHRegs to exempt themselves from providing CHMP's must now show that the entirety of the land subject of a development proposal is below 0.11 hectares rather than the previously held approach that required each lot to be below 0.11 hectares. The decision is a deviation from the previously held interpretation in Hartland Group Pty Ltd v Mornington Peninsula SC [2018] VCAT 1722 (Hartland)

Regulation 10 of the AHR provides an exemption to the provision of CHMP's. It states that:

The construction of 3 or more dwellings on a lot or allotment is an exempt activity if the lot or allotment is:

a.  Not within 200 metres of the coastal waters of Victoria, any sea within the limits of  Victoria or the Murray River;

b. Less than 0·11 hectares

This recent VCAT decision has changed the approach to exemptions from the requirement to provide CHMP's for small lots; and consideration should  be given to the timing of planning applications and lot consolidation and how the timing may impact the exemptions available.

The effect of this decision creates some uncertainty on the application of Regulation 10.

Whilst Tribunal Members are not required to follow decisions of other Tribunal Members, the Red Dot note does indicate an intention by the Tribunal that the 104-105 Station Street Pty Ltd v Kingston CC (Red Dot) reasoning be followed. Tribunal Members will consider this issue again, and it will be interesting to see what decisions arise in the coming months.

Summer Reading

Some recent releases may be of interest

Why North is Up - Map Conventions and Where They Came From | By: Mick Ashworth | Published: 16th August 2019 |  ISBN: 9781851245192

Most early maps, before the wide-spread use of the compass, placed east at the top. This is generally thought to be due to the fact that the sun rises in the east. This book tells the story of how widely accepted mapping conventions originated and evolved—from map orientation, projections, typography, and scale, to the use of colour, symbols, ways of representing relief, and the treatment of boundaries and place names.

It charts the fascinating story of how conventions have changed in response to new technologies and ever-changing mapping requirements, how symbols can be a matter of life or death, why universal acceptance of conventions can be difficult to achieve, and how new mapping conventions are developing to meet the needs of modern cartography. Why North is Up offers an accessible and enlightening guide to the sometimes hidden techniques of map-making through the centuries.

Essential reading for any map lover

The Tasman Map: The Biography of a Map | By Ian Burnet | Published 1st November 2019 |  ISBN: 9780648446651

The Tasman Map delves into the story of the first Dutch voyages to Australia, set against the background of the struggle of the newly formed Dutch Republic to gain its independence from the Kingdom of Spain and the struggle of the Dutch East India Company for trade supremacy in the East Indies against its Portuguese, Spanish and English rivals.

The Tasman Map shows a recognisable outline of the north, west and south coasts of Australia that was not to change for another 125 years until the British explorer James Cook charted the east coast in 1770

It was in 1925 and 1933 that the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia, acquired both the Tasman Huydecoper Journal and the Tasman Bonaparte Map. This is the story of how the library managed to acquire these treasures of Dutch exploration and cartography.

Trim, The Cartographer's Cat -The ship's cat who helped Flinders map Australia | By  Matthew Flinders, Gillian Dooley, Philippa Sandall | Published: 15^th October,2019   ISBN: 9781472967220

Not many ships' cats have even one memorial statue, let alone six. But Trim does, including one outside Euston Station in London, proudly unveiled by Prince William on the bicentenary of Matthew Flinders's death – 19 July 2014.

Trim was the ship's cat who accompanied Matthew Flinders on his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia from 1801 to 1803. and together they survived a voyage around the world, the circumnavigation of Australia and a shipwreck.

The first part of the book reproduces Flinders' own whimsical tribute to Trim, written while in captivity in the early 1800s. Next part of the book discusses where Flinders was when he wrote his tribute and why, and what his letters and journals from that time tell us about his 'sporting, affectionate and useful feline companion'. Finally, we learn what Trim's views could have been in a fun and fanciful observation on his premature epitaph.

Tasman Map: If you are in Sydney pop into the State Library and view the floor version: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/tasman-map-mitchell-vestibule 

You can also visit the State Library of NSW to view Trim's statue along with Flinders: https://www.google.com/maps?q=-33.866319+151.21265 

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