Spreading the developments around to the Pines area… this info sent in for you all.
It confirms that intensive property development is no longer isolated to the Koonung Ward with the Doncaster Hill issues, it’s rapidly spreading to Mullum Mullum Ward
We’ve found out that there are 2x planned developments for Reynolds Road Doncaster East, they are: Continue reading Two Major Developments for Reynolds Road Doncaster East →
Here is some analysis of the Manningham elections, the voting outcomes, and how candidates preferences helped them.
By the way there is a court challenge underway as one of the candidates ( Bob Beynon,) has stated another ( David Muscat,) had a criminal record and so was not eligible to be in the running, nor were his vote allowed to be distributed as preferences. It’s currently in the magistrates court.
2012-10-28 Sun 9:30pm Official Winners, your new councilors. Six new councilors, three returning. (Results below are only provisional results)
The new councilors will choose a Mayor from amongst themselves November 8th.
Koonung Ward: Jennifer Yang (Returning Deputy Mayor), Steve O’Brien, Dot Hayes.
Mulum Mulum Ward: Paul McLeish, Meg Downie (Returning Cr), Sophy Galbally.
Heide Ward: Michelle Kleinert, Jim Grivokostopoulos, Geoff Gough (Returning Mayor).
Heide Ward: The Ward consists primarily of the suburbs of Bulleen, Templestowe and Lower Templestowe.
Koonung Ward: The Ward consists primarily of the suburbs of Doncaster and that part of Doncaster East south of Doncaster Road.
Mullum Mullum Ward: The Ward consists primarily of the suburbs of Warrandyte, Wonga Park, Warrandyte South, Park Orchards and significant parts of Donvale, Doncaster East and Ringwood North.
Here are the Manningham voting scores from the Victorian Electoral Commision (VEC )
We plan to publish the voting details once they are made available. It would be interesting to see who relied on Primary votes, and who needed the preferences.
This news from the Leader Live – Our ex Manningham Councilor Stephen Mayne has taken his style of governance to the Melbourne Council. I’m sure he’ll be happy there, lot’s of super high rise buildings to approve…
UPDATE 9.15pm: LORD Mayor Robert Doyle has been re-elected to Melbourne Council.
The VLGA said Team Doyle members Kevin Louey, Arron Wood, Beverley Pinder-Mortimer would join incumbent Deputy Lord Mayor Susan Riley at Town Hall.
Incumbent councillors Cathy Oke, Jackie Watts and Ken Ong have also been re-elected.
They will be joined by Greens candidate Rohan Leppert, former Manningham councillor and crikey.com.au founder Stephen Mayne, and Richard Foster.
Mr Mayne, who said he “didn’t campaign hard”, quit Manningham Council in August to enter the Melbourne race.
Michael Buxton is a well published expert on Planning.
Search for him On the web and you will find a wealth of content, these excerpts are his review on the new proposed Victorian Planning revamp – and they are significant and in some cases scary. some topics you will have heard, but the extent of impact is Huge. We will break his report into several sections dealing with each Zone. Section 4
The substitution of the two new commercial zones for the existing four business zones will affect strip retail centres (activity centres) in two ways: it will undermine their function as retail centres by creating dispersed (“out-of-centre”) retail areas, and it will lead to the demolition of historic strip centres particularly in the inner and middle ring suburbs.
These zones will disperse a wide range of commercial uses but will lead to further intensification of mixed commercial/accommodation/residential uses in centres. Both these impacts will change fundamentally the current functions of strip retail centres.
Out-of-centre uses: The new commercial zones broaden the range of allowable uses Continue reading Michael Buxton on Proposed Vic Planning Zones 4 – Commercial Zones →
Michael Buxton is a well published expert on Planning from RMIT.
Search for him On the web and you will find a wealth of content, these excerpts are his review on the new proposed Victorian Planning revamp – and they are significant and in some cases scary. some topics you will have heard, but the extent of impact is Huge. We will break his report into several sections dealing with each Zone. This is the Overview section.
PROPOSED NEW VICTORIAN PLANNING ZONES Assoc. Professor Michael Buxton, RMIT 18.9.12
The Victorian government’s proposed new planning zones are the most radical review of planning schemes in the history of Victorian planning. They will lead to fundamental changes in the way Melbourne operates, change the fabric of the city and its hinterland, and remove an extensive range of existing citizen rights. Every citizen will be affected.
The new zone proposals will Continue reading Michael Buxton on Proposed Vic Planning Zones 1 →
Michael Buxton is a well published expert on Planning from RMIT.
Search for him On the web and you will find a wealth of content, these excerpts are his review on the new proposed Victorian Planning revamp – and they are significant and in some cases scary. some topics you will have heard, but the extent of impact is Huge. We will break his report into several sections dealing with each Zone. Section 2
Issues: Residential zones:
The new residential zones and the changes to the Mixed Use zone and Township zone will allow an extension of commercial activities such as a shop and office into residential areas. In the General Residential and Residential Growth zones, shops, food and drink premises other than convenience restaurant, hotel and tavern (for example restaurants and cafes) to 100 sq mt will be allowed “as-of-right” (without the need for a permit) Continue reading Michael Buxton on Proposed Vic Planning Zones 2 – Residential Zones with Offices Hotels Etc. →
Michael Buxton is a well published expert on Planning from RMIT.
Search for him On the web and you will find a wealth of content, these excerpts are his review on the new proposed Victorian Planning revamp – and they are significant and in some cases scary. some topics you will have heard, but the extent of impact is Huge. We will break his report into several sections dealing with each Zone. This is the Green Wedge section.
Green wedge areas
The amended Green Wedge zone will remove restrictions on current non-urban uses leading to the use of the zone for a wide range of commercial uses. In effect, the new zone will render the urban growth boundary (UGB) irrelevant by allowing a wide range of urban related uses on either side of the UGB, effectively removing the differentiation between urban and rural land. Continue reading Michael Buxton on Proposed Vic Planning Zones 3 – GoodBye Green Wedge →
There is a new proposal for the Corner of Tram Rd and Doncaster Rd, opposite Shoppingtown where the current AutoBarn and Officeworks are. (602 Doncaster Road, Doncaster)
And if you have ever shopped there, you will know how hard it is to get out of the site, as the only direction available is south down Tram rd. There is no alternative entry and exit facility.
Traffic departing from the development, travelling North, East or West will have to U-turn on main road or navigate through residential streets,
Proposed entry and exit point will impede the Tram road traffic flow,
The proposal also seeks a 42% reduction of its parking space requirement, which considering there is no on street parking or public shared parking seems inappropriate. will visitors park in Westfield Shoppingtown?
To learn more about this, see some plans, or make a submission to Council about it – refer to this page.
From Kelvin, his case at VCAT, and the proposed process for council to ensure emergency arrangements are in place before planning permits are approved.
I spoke at VCAT on the Access and Egress issues for the development at Hepburn Rd Doncaster. For several other articles on this type Hepburn into the search space above.
A couple of notes: Building Code of Australia (BCA)
The BCA has a stipulation that stricter rules apply when a building is above 25m high. This is because:
As explained by the BCA Guide to Volume 1 the provision regarding an effective height of 25 metres recognises the effective operating height for fire brigade ladders and other fire-fighting and rescue equipment. Above this height, fire?fighting, rescue and egress
problems increase considerably
The point that is not immediately obvious is that the Building Code requirements for Access and Egress are not only for the provision of safe escape for residents, it also protects emergency services personnel when entering the building to assist. The MFB, Police, Ambulance and SES have a primary responsibility to ensure the safety of their members. They will not be able to assist if the rescue path within in the building is unsafe.
Whilst the most obvious reason for Emergency Exits are for fire, this is clearly not the only reason for having compliant exits.
So additional state of the art fire sprinklers (as proposed by the Architect) may slow down the spread of a fire but will be ineffective if there are other emergencies requiring evacuation (like gas or chemical leaks etc).
The best outcome is still to have the requisite number of emergencies exits as clearly defined by the building code.
The Emergency Management Plan at the planning stages would certainly be useful to help inform the councillors decision when voting on a planning application. In much the same way as a traffic report or environmental impact assessment. The Emergency Management Plan would be submitted at a cost to the developer (not the rate payers).
This Emergency Management Plan would need to also indicate if the planning application complies with the Access and Egress provisions of the BCA directly (Deem-to-Satisfy) or if Alternate Solutions are proposed. Where Alternate Solutions are proposed, MFB is required to provide a report and consent (as per current regulations).
The council planning department are concerned about their ability to enforce. We do not have to rewrite the Building ACT and seek enforcement of the BCA on Access and Egress at the planning stage. This would still have to be the responsibility (and liability) of the Relevant Building Surveyor. All we ask is that as part of the planning approval process that resident safety is adequately considered with an Emergency Management Plan.
If the Emergency Management Plan reviews the development and provides expert advice that the building is safe, the council officers and councillors would be able to make a more informed decision. If the report recommends more exits, then this would only aid the developer as the changes can be made at the planning stages, and not be subject to bandaid fixes at building permit/VCAT stages- or worse still – result in a building that cannot be built.
