Amendment GC42 – Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) Local Planning Policy

Amendment GC42 supports Council’s commitment to achieve Sustainable and Resilient Neighbourhoods (Council 2013 – 2017)

Darebin City Council, together with Manningham City Council has prepared Amendment GC42 to the Darebin Planning Scheme and Manningham Planning Scheme, as a second round group of metropolitan Councils proposing to introduce ESD Policy provisions in their planning schemes.

Amendment GC42 seeks to build on the collaborative process undertaken by the Cities of Banyule, Moreland, Port Phillip, Stonnington, Whitehorse and Yarra that developed an Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD) Policy for inclusion in their planning schemes, in the absence of State-wide approach to ESD.

A single Panel was appointed to hear all submissions received by the first round of six Councils simultaneously. The Environmentally Efficient Design Advisory Committee and Panel Report can be accessed here.

These six municipalities submitted a joint amendment to the Minister for Planning for approval in 2014. That amendment was approved by the Minister for Planning and gazetted on 19 November 2015.

The first round Councils’ ESD policies were introduced under the following planning scheme amendments:

• Banyule Planning Scheme - Amendment C73
• Moreland Planning Scheme - Amendment C71
• Stonnington Planning Scheme - Amendment C177
• Whitehorse Planning Scheme - Amendment C130
• Yarra Planning Scheme - Amendment C133
• Port Phillip Scheme- Amendment C97

For further details on these Councils individual policies refer to planning scheme amendments online.

Darebin Council resolved to prepare ESD Local Planning Policy at its meeting on 7 December 2015, and Manningham at its 15 December meeting. Details of the Darebin Council meeting minutes are available to view here.

The introduction of an ESD Policy will address a gap in the local planning policy framework to ensure that environmental performance is considered in the assessment of development proposals. The Policy will assist in providing certainty to applicants on application requirements for medium to large scale developments and is aimed at achieving best practice for sustainable development.