What’s all this talk about new state government planning controls?

* In 2019 the government declared Bass Coast a Distinctive Area and Landscapes (DAL) to guide future land use. Now we are in the third and final round of DAL consultation – the most important document of all: a draft Statement of Planning Policy (SPP), which will eventually be enshrined in law, aiming to protect our best features and lock in town boundaries.

• Other areas in Victoria – the Macedon Ranges, Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula – have had DAL declaration.
• Town boundaries: It is proposed to exclude from the town boundary the farming zone land at the north-east corner of Coghlan Road and Cowes-Rhyll Road (the Cowes Golf Club and Lechte land). Equally, Saltwater Creek to the west is an important green break between Ventnor and Cowes and should be protected. San Remo’s ultimate township boundary will be Punchbowl Road. The Phillip Island Airport site is located in a landscape of state significance and will remain outside the settlement boundary. It is proposed to exclude the farming zone land to the west of the established residential area, near Churchill Island and the chocolate factory.
• Planning controls: There will be a series of beefed-up landscape planning controls to protect six Bass Coast areas that have been declared state or regionally significant, including the coast and hinterland between Cape Woolamai and Ventnor, as well as the Rhyll Inlet, and areas north of Cowes-Rhyll Road to Newhaven. For example, at San Remo, the draft SPP says no buildings should protrude above natural topography, and significant views should be protected from the George Bass Coastal Walk.
• More than 11,000 new homes will be needed in Bass Coast by 2036, according to the draft SPP. It states Wonthaggi is at the top as a regional centre with a forecast settlement of 10,000 or more people. This is followed by Cowes and Silverleaves – as well as Inverloch, San Remo and Newhaven – all ranked as a district town, with a population between 2000 to 10,000. The report says land within the Cowes settlement boundary has the potential to accommodate between 10 and 13 years of demand.

Community consultation on the draft Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) will run until Friday April 29. Submissions must be lodged through the Engage Victoria platform at engage.vic.gov.au/project/distinctive-areas-and-landscapes-program/page/bass-coast by 5pm that day.

Where a submitter is unable to lodge a submission online, contact the DELWP Customer Service Centre on 136 186 (select option 6).