By Violet Li
A parliamentary committee is recommending the State Government remove all urban uses in the Green Wedge and Rural Conservation Zones, including places of worship and schools.
Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee handed down its inquiry report into securing the Victorian food supply in the context of urban sprawl and the impact of population growth on the farming industry and arable land on 26 November.
One recommendation calls for the State Government to review and amend the Green Wedge Zone, the Green Wedge A Zone and the Rural Conservation Zone to remove all Section 2 uses with no link to the agricultural or environmental objectives of these zones, which should be completed by March 2027.
City of Casey is home to Green Wedge in the Westernport and Southern Ranges areas.
Section 2 uses are discretionary uses, which require the proponents to seek a planning permit, including educational facilities, places of worship, and exhibition centres.
Several inquiry submissions noted that the range of discretionary urban uses had expanded significantly in recent years to facilitate the urbanisation of agricultural landscapes.
Environment and planning professor Michael Buxton of RMIT submitted that “the incremental approval of urban-related uses and developments in the Green Wedge and broader rural zone” was a major threat to the future of productive agriculture in these areas.
He suggested that all Section 2 urban uses currently permitted in the Green Wedge Zones and Rural Conservation Zones be prohibited.
The Green Wedges Coalition submitted that the best way to address urban uses in Green Wedges and Rural Conservation Zones is to prohibit the development of places of worship and schools.
It also supported tightening up the restrictions around the restrictions around these developments.
“A limit of 250 square metres be placed on a place of worship,” it submitted.
“In addition, the place of worship should be subordinate to the rural values of the Green Wedges and consideration should be given to applying the same ‘in-conjunction’ conditions as related to research and development centres.
“Applications should be accompanied by a report that demonstrates how the place of worship will be limited to the use of residents living in the Green Wedge.”
The Committee notes that earlier this year, the State Government’s Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land Action Plan 2024 proposed to develop a new Planning Practice Note for urban-rural interface areas.
The Committee states that the Planning Practice Note should “discourage discretionary uses which have no link to agricultural or environmental values” and “direct local governments to consider the cumulative impact of all discretionary development in Green Wedge areas”.
The Committee also believes that the tighter design controls proposed such as mandatory site coverage, setbacks and building heights for discretionary uses should apply in the Rural Conservation Zone, as well as Green Wedge Zones.
