New planning rules for land highly susceptible to landslide may be introduced, after Council last night voted to move forward with an interim Erosion Management Overlay.
The planning control was a key recommendation of the Board of Inquiry into the McCrae landslide, and the Victorian Minister for Planning has asked Council to urgently prepare an amendment to the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme to introduce it.
The new control will be known as Erosion Management Overlay – Schedule 7 (EMO7) and will apply to all land highly susceptible to landslides butnotalready covered by an Erosion Management Overlay.
If the EMO7 is applied to a property, the landowner will likely need to apply for a planning permit before undertaking most types of development – including removing trees and vegetation and altering drainage.
In many cases, an application will need to include a report from a geotechnical expert explaining how the proposed development will be safe from landslides. However, Council will be able to vary or lessen the requirements if they are not relevant to the assessment of an application.
About seven per cent of all Shire land is identified as being highly susceptible to landslides. This covers about 33,000 properties, of which 27,000 are residential properties.
In many cases, only a small part of a property will be covered by EMO7. In such cases, development can occur in the usual way on that part of the site not covered by the new overlay, subject to any other relevant planning controls that apply to the land.
The new EMO7 will apply on an interim basis only, until a comprehensive Shire-wide review of landslide susceptibility data and mapping is completed to help inform permanent landslide planning controls. This will likely take at least 2-4 years to complete, including a full planning scheme amendment process.
General information about landslides and landslide susceptibility across the Mornington Peninsula can be found at mornpen.vic.gov.au/landslides.
Landslide susceptibility mapping can be found at mornpen.vic.gov.au/landslidemapping.
Quotes attributable to Mayor Councillor Anthony Marsh:
"Council's highest priority is to keep our community safe. This interim control will help minimise the risks posed by development on landslide susceptible land.
"While an Erosion Management Overlay would not have prevented the McCrae landslide, which was caused by a burst water main, it was a recommendation of the Board of Inquiry. Council has acceptedthe Inquiry's recommendations in relation to implementing the Erosion Management Overlay."
