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Cowes, Ventnor And Silverleaves Structure Plan

Work is about to start on a structure plan for Cowes, Ventnor and Silverleaves.

By Bass Coast Shire Council - 4th September 2007 - Back to News

Coomes Consulting Group Pty Ltd has been appointed to develop the plan.

Council’s Strategic Planning Coordinator, Lisa Dunlop said the structure plan was a very important project for Phillip Island.

"This really is an exciting project, particularly in light of the concerns that Phillip Island residents have regarding planning and development," said Ms Dunlop.

"This structure plan will set the framework for planning for the next 15 years," said Ms Dunlop.

"And it will build on work that has been done in the Phillip Island and San Remo Design Framework."

Ms Dunlop said it was very important to deal with Cowes, Silverleaves and Ventnor under the one plan.

"These areas have a direct affect on each other and are definitely inter-related," said Ms Dunlop.

Coomes Consulting will begin work in the first week of September. The project is expected to be completed by the end of July 2008.

Appointing consultants

A tender process was undertaken to appoint the consultants for the project.

"Coomes Consulting has a lot of experience in this type of work," said Ms Dunlop.

"They also have strong understanding of local issues.

"Recently, they prepared a report on the new farming zones at Five-ways on Phillip Island and the tourist area in Bass. They’ve also worked on the Wonthaggi and Dalyston Structure Plan."

Rob Milner from Coomes Consulting Group said the Group was delighted to be appointed to undertake the Structure Plan on behalf of the Council.

"We approach this as a much needed and sought piece of work that will provide necessary information to Council and the community on the management of growth, and the orderly development of the business area.

"There are important environmental and sustainability issues to be incorporated into the plan.

"We have built into our methodology a number of opportunities for government and the community to both advise on what they value and seek as outcomes, as well as time to comment and critique our recommendations," informed Mr Milner.

Ms Dunlop said Coomes Consulting’s approach to community consultation was one of their strengths.

"Ensuring that the community get a chance to have input to this structure plan is vital," said Ms Dunlop.

"We believe community consultation is a key feature of the project."

What will the structure plan do?

"The purpose of a structure plan is to address key issues for future development," explained Ms Dunlop.

"This includes where resident growth and medium density development should take place, and where tourism development should happen.

"The plan will look at how to improve traffic and car parking and ways to improve retail and commercial areas. It will also look at ways to deal with any environmental or landscape issues in the areas."

Ms Dunlop said the Council would work closely with all the utilities, such as the water board and electricity providers, to make sure the structure plan fits with their future plans.

Community consultation

In order to get as much input from the community as possible, there will be a series of consultation sessions.

"We will try to ensure that these sessions are held at a time and place where the largest number of people can attend," explained Ms Dunlop.

"That includes permanent residents, holiday home owners and visitors.

"There will be ads in the local newspapers for all the meetings. But you can be kept up-to-date by going on our mailing list," continued Ms Dunlop.

"If you’d like to be on this list, either call me on 5671 2706 or send an email to l.dunlop@basscoast.vic.gov.au.

"It is so important that people get involved, as this structure plan will set the future for the towns and really might affect where you live."

A new process

In response to community feedback over the time taken to develop and implement these types of plans, Council will be trialling a new process.

"We understand how time consuming these projects can be," said Ms Dunlop.

"People have to give up a lot of their time to be part of the community consultation. To then actually get the plan into the Planning Scheme, so it is a working document that has a much greater affect on planning decisions, can be very long-winded.

"So in this instance we will be working on the development and the implementation of the Structure Plan at the same time.

This means that Council will exhibit a draft Structure Plan Council and the changes to the Planning Scheme (i.e. changes to zoning of land, introductions of new planning policies and overlays) at the same time.

"This is different to our normal process," explained Ms Dunlop.

"The way we’ve done other structure plans is to develop the plan first and then we start work on implementing it, which takes additional time and resources."

"To be able to change this process, we’ve had to get the go-ahead from the Department of Planning and Community Development."

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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