MACEDON Ranges Shire is a step closer to a localised planning statement following a Special Council Meeting in Gisborne on Thursday night.
The draft localised planning statement, now known as the Macedon Ranges Statement of Planning Policy (SPP), recognises the importance of the Macedon Ranges Shire as a distinctive area and landscape to the local and Victorian community.
Last night council formally received the statement from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), thanked the department for its work and noted the SPP was a Victorian Government document which will be incorporated into the Macedon Ranges Planning Scheme.
Several changes were requested, including the development of ministerial guidelines prior to the government’s endorsement of the statement, and that DELWP work with council to develop a work plan and funding program to implement it.
This Victorian Government document aims to ensure the protection and conservation of the distinctive attributes of Macedon Ranges Shire.
The SPP includes protected settlement boundaries for towns expected to grow, including Gisborne, Kyneton, Romsey, Riddells Creek, Lancefield and Woodend.
In a first for regional Victoria, once established, these boundaries will be subject to the same rigorous protections of Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary and will only be able to be altered with the approval of both houses of the Victorian Parliament.
The SPP was developed by DELWP with input from council. The Victorian Government conducted community consultation on the proposal for a localised planning statement from late 2017 to early 2018.
