UDIA Victoria backs PSP for Spring Creek valley

THE Urban Design Institute of Australia’s (UDIA) Victorian branch is backing more development in Torquay’s Spring Creek valley but continues to believe the wider Distinctive Area and Landscapes (DAL) program has “very real potential to undermine the integrity of Victoria’s planning system”.

The institute, which is the peak industry body for Victoria’s urban development sector, has made a submission about the Surf Coast DAL and its draft Statement of Planning Policy (SPP).

It supports the approval of the Spring Creek PSP for the land 1km west of Duffields Road passed by the Surf Coast Shire council in 2017 and supported by an independent planning panel.

“The Draft SPP should have included this as the preferred outcome, or else at least as an option,” the submission said.

“No valid arguments have been made in the documents to support or counter the findings of the planning panel for Amendment C114 to the Surf Coast Planning Scheme.”

UDIA Victoria states Option 1 in the draft SPP suggests an ecologically sustainable development option for Spring Creek but “there are no details as to what this means”.

“We highlight that the SPP cannot ignore a fully transparent process that critically analysed the appropriateness of the development of the Spring Creek Corridor, and having weighed up all factors (including community views), chose to support its full redevelopment.”

The declared area in the Surf Coast DAL extends beyond the Surf Coast Shire into the southern part of the City of Greater Geelong, an extension that UDIA Victoria said “surprised” Victoria’s urban development industry.

“We question the merits of the spatial boundary of the DAL and recommend that it should only affect land in the Surf Coast municipality. We have not yet seen a sound basis for its impact into Greater Geelong, or for how that impact might be properly managed.”

UDIA Victoria released a policy position in December 2019 stating its opposition to some elements of the Victorian government’s DAL process, and referred to this in its submission to the Surf Coast DAL.

According to the policy position, the processes surrounding the declaration and preparation of SPPs for declared areas “appear to be purely politically motivated, with publicly reported announcements indicating predetermined outcomes ahead of any consultation”, with its areas of concern including “opaque” decision-making processes, a failure to recognise existing zoning, and restrictions on the ability of well-serviced areas to accommodate planned growth.

A directions hearing about the Surf Coast DAL will be held today (Thursday, February 11) at 10am ahead of the main public hearing, which will begin on March 15.

To read all 3,159 submissions to the draft SPP, or for more information on the hearings, head to the DAL Standing Advisory Committee’s website at engage.vic.gov.au/dalsac/submissions.