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Amendment C50 - Consideration of Submissions - Greater Shepparton Council Meeting - 9 August 2005

Amendment C50 was on exhibition from 3rd May 2005 to 4th July, 2005.

Forty-seven submissions were received to the proposed amendment. Thirty of these submissions sought the inclusion of Parkside Gardens in a Heritage Overlay. The executive of the Association were advised by Heritage Victoria to encourage submissions to this amendment. Thank you for the response!

Council Recommendation

That having considered the submissions received, the Council, in accordance with Section 23 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 request the Minister for Planning to appoint an independent panel to hear the submissions relating to Amendment C50 to the Greater Shepparton Planning Scheme.

Comment

Another panel hearing folks! It is anticipated however, that in view of Heritage Victoria's strong recommendation of 24 September 2004 that Council consider placing the entire site on a local heritage overlay scheme, this will be a very different Panel from the rezoning Panel hearing of February 2004.

Social and cultural heritage must be considered according to the Act and Council's own stated policy on local heritage overlays. Damage to the "integrity of the site" has been incurred by Council over the past eight years.

Submitters to the C40 amendment (475 objections) will recall that the state guidelines for assessment were not followed in relation to social and environmental objections. The Panel was appointed only to assess 'the suitability or not of the VicUrban/Council Project for residential development of 150 houses on the precinct.'

As the public has only this year been informed that Council sought and gained an exemption from the Local Government Minister (June 2003) not to publicly exhibit the "sale or exchange of the public land' - the C40 submission process for the destruction of Parkside Gardens by residential rezoning was seriously flawed. We were misled!!