Press Release Provided To Independent News Group (Frankston Independent), 9/1/2001

Another Green Wedge Subdivision

A controversial proposal to rezone and subdivide a large portion of the Burdett Quarry site in Potts Road Langwarrin has outraged conservation groups.

The land in question lies within the South East Green Wedge, contains precious native vegetation and provides habitat for a wide range of birds and animals, including wallabies, echidnas and gliders.

A Planning Scheme Amendment has been prepared by the Frankston City Council which allows over half of the 101 ha property to be subdivided.

The Defenders of the South East Green Wedge are appalled by the proposal and its timing. The Defenders are a consortium of conservation and community organisation dedicated to the protection of the South East Green Wedge.

A spokesperson for the Defenders, Mr Frank Kennedy, said the group was concerned that the proposal appears to be being pushed through during the Festive season when people have other things on their mind. According to papers lodged with the application, the quarry still has a potential life span of approximately two years, so why the rush?

There are many good reasons why this subdivision must be rejected according to Mr Kennedy. Most importantly, it is in the South East Green Wedge and it is Frankston Council and State Government policy that this should remain as open space. Melbourne's Green Wedges are currently being reviewed as part of the State Government's Metropolitan Strategy. Perhaps the developers are afraid that the Strategy will contain firmer restrictions against any residential development in the Green Wedges and want to get in before this happens.

Also, part of the land earmarked for residential use contains native vegetation which is of state significance. Mr Kennedy added that Frankston Council has wonderful policies about reversing the decline in biological diversity and using its planning scheme to protect the natural heritage. What a pity all this and the policy of protecting the Green Wedge seems to count for nothing in when it comes to proposals such as this.

According to Mr Kennedy, the Green Wedge has come under severe attack over the past few years within the Frankston municipality. If this proposal gets the go-ahead, it will set a dangerous precedent for wholesale destruction of the remaining rural areas.

Mr Kennedy urged all residents interested in preserving Frankston's rapidly dwindling open space and bushland to let Frankston Council know in no uncertain terms what they think of this 'preposterous' proposal.

The Amendment to the Planning Scheme is 'C7 'and it can be inspected at Frankston City Council. Submissions must be sent to council by 29 January. More information is available on the Defenders of the South East Green Wedge website: www.vicnet.net.au/~wedgies

Press Release Provided To Frankston Standard, 5/1/2001

Attacks on our remaining native wildlife habitat have intensified through a number of planning amendments coming from Frankston City Council. A few months ago it proposed the C3 planning scheme amendment which if passed would make drastic inroads into the south-east metropolitan non-urban corridor (green wedge).

Then a few days before Christmas it released amendment C7, which would allow urban development on land east of Potts Road, Langwarrin, also in the green wedge. Sizable areas of this land host a rich variety of remnant native vegetation and wildlife habitat, which has been assessed as being of high regional to state significance. We cannot allow this to be bulldozed.

If this proposal proceeds, the small numbers of remaining wallabies will die from shock and become extinct in the area. As trees are pushed over, sugar gliders will be forced out of their hollows, and birds will take flight and abandon their young. On the ground, rodents and echidnas will be crushed, as will the many varieties of delicate and sometimes rare orchards, herbs and shrubs, thus adding to local extinction.

And yet, this same council had promised to protect and restore wildlife habitat so as to ensure the survival of plant and animal species. Recent studies of the nine council listed natural reserves in the municipality show that only one third of the original number of mammal species now exist in these, and, with the exception of Seaford Wetlands, the species of birds have been reduced by half. The story is similar for plant species, and worse still, the loss of species is ongoing.

Council claims that its nine reserves represent the original biodiversity of the area. However, this can only be true while these are part of a broader network of native vegetation, including land such as that covered by amendment C7. Remnant native vegetation needs to be retained or restored, and then linked to existing reserves by habitat corridors. And we need to maintain the integrity of the green wedge which was established by Melbourne's planners more than 30 years ago.

We would like to see Council take a more considered approach to protecting what remains of our natural heritage. Submissions on the C7 proposal close on 29th January. Some of the issues are discussed on the web at www.vicnet.net.au/~wedgies.

Hans Brunner
President of Langwarrin Bush & Parklands Group, and local fauna expert.

Independent News Group (Frankston Independent), published 12/12/00

New Group to Defend the Green Wedge

A consortium of conservation groups called the Defenders of the South East Green Wedge has been formed to campaign for the protection of the South East Green Wedge.

The new group is made of the leading conservation organisations in the cities of Casey, Frankston, Greater Dandenong and Kingston.

The convenor of the Defenders, Henry Kelsall, said that there is widespread alarm throughout the community at the way the Green Wedge is being rapidly eaten away by large scale residential subdivisions.

Melbourne is fortunate that our early planners had the foresight to set aside large tracts of land as green space in the metropolitan area, Mr Kelsall said. "This is one of the things that make Melbourne such a good place to live in and sets as apart from other places, such as Los Angeles which is virtually wall-to-wall residential and industrial city."

Mr Kelsall explained that the South East Green Wedge stretches from Warrigal Road in the north to Westernport Bay in the south and separates the bayside suburbs from Dandenong and Cranbourne. The Green Wedge spreads across the four municipalities of Casey, Greater Dandenong, Frankston and Kingston.

Retention of the South East Green Wedge has been state government policy since the 1960's. The state government and the four councils all say they are committed to maintaining the Green Wedge but all of them seem to be enthusiastically embracing large scale developments Mr Kelsall lamented.

According to Mr Kelsall, the word seems to be out that the Green Wedge is ripe for the picking and developers are buying up large tracts of land and applying pressure for rezoning.

Two recent initiatives by Frankston and Greater Dandenong Councils were the main reasons for the formation of the Defenders Mr Kelsall said.

"In Frankston the Council has a plan for the Green Wedge land south of Ballarto Road that will reduce the minimum subdivision size from 20 ha to 1 ha or less. This could spell the end of the existing pleasant rural landscape and bushland with a proliferation of tiny hobby farms and would inevitably lead to demands for standard housing.

In Dandenong the situation is even worse. There the Council is proposing a development that will accommodate 10,000 people in the Green Wedge north of Hutton Road and has the audacity to justify this as a small subdivision. Goodness only knows what the Council thinks would be a large subdivision. Mr Kelsall said.

Mr Kelsall pointed out that these two proposals will have the effect of splitting the Green Wedge into three unconnected segments using the classic divide and conquer approach.

Some other recent significant developments approved in the Green Wedge are:

The Defenders first action has been to request the State Planning Minister, Mr John Thwaites, to place a moratorium on further development, pending completion of the Metropolitan Strategy. Mr Kelsall said that the Strategy is a great initiative that will help determine how Melbourne is shaped during the next 20 to 30 years. One of the aims of the Strategy is to set in place plans for Melbourne's Green Wedges.

"It seems unbelievable that while all the research and consultation is taking place about the Metropolitan Strategy, the various authorities are giving the go-ahead for developments that will destroy our Green Wedge", Mr Kelsall said.

Mr Kelsall urges all people concerned about the future of the Green Wedge to contact their local councillors and members of parliament. Clearly we need to stiffen the spines of the decisions makers to resist the demands of rapacious developers. Unless there is an immediate halt to residential development, all we will have left soon is a Clayton's Green Wedge.

Letter from Defenders to Minister of Planning, 8 December 2000

The Hon John Thwaites MP
Minister of Planning

SOUTH EAST GREEN WEDGE

Dear Mr Thwaites,

We are writing to urge you to place a moratorium on further urban development in the South East Green Wedge, pending completion of the Metropolitan Strategy. Unless some action is taken soon to stop the rapid spread of residential subdivision, the Green Wedge will be so fragmented that it will be of little value.

We are a consortium of umbrella organisations from the four municipalities in the South East Green Wedge that have banded together to mount a united campaign. Our member groups have all fought battles at local government level against individual proposals with little success. As Green Wedges are really a state matter, we consider it essential that you act as a circuit breaker, similar to the way you acted to impose interim controls on height limits on buildings around Port Phillip Bay.

There are two current proposals which, if approved, will have substantial detrimental impact in the Green Wedge:

(1) Planning Scheme Amendments C2 and C5 by the City of Greater Dandenong which provides for residential development in 'North Hutton Precinct' that will accommodate approximately 10,000 additional residents over the next 10 to 20 years. According to the Council's draft strategy, it is not considered major because it is minor compared to that which the total population South East Growth area will accommodate in that period.
The Amendments also allow 'Environmental Residential Living' in the aptly named 'Wetlands Precinct'. Although the Planning Amendments set out some admirable principles for Environmental Residential Living, the precinct is a low lying section of the Green Wedge that is ideally suited for wetland creation, not residential subdivision.

(2) Planning Scheme Amendment C3 by the City of Frankston. This Amendment provides for delightfully vague 'Environmental Living Opportunities' in a large portion of the City of Frankston's remaining section of the Green Wedge. The Amendment will reduce the minimum subdivision size for 20 ha to 1 ha or less but does not give any details of the numbers of house blocks that should be permitted. Together with other proposed narrowing of the wedge in this area, this would lead to the Green Wedge all but disappearing just where it was supposed to be joining up with the open space of the Mornington Peninsula.

Both of the above amendments are virtually daggers pointing at the heart of the Green Wedge and should be rejected or least held over until the future of Melbourne's Green Wedges is determined in the Metropolitan Strategy.

By way of background, the Green Wedge comprises approx 45,000 hectares of land and stretches from Warrigal/Heatherton Road in the north to Westernport Bay in the south. The eastern and western boundaries are formed by the edges of Dandenong/Cranbourne and bayside urban corridors. The Green Wedge covers land in the municipalities of Kingston, Greater Dandenong, Frankston and Casey.

In 1997 the South East Non-Urban Study (SENUS) was completed. This study was commissioned by the above four municipalities and the State Government Dept of Infrastructure. Its principal finding was that the concept of the Green Wedge is supported and needs to be maintained. in line with State Government policy since the 1960's.

The Study also concluded that:
o Some parts of the area have potential for urban conversion, although this is limited.
o Some limited low density environmentally based residential development would be appropriate.

The SENUS recommendations were accepted by the four municipalities who then entered into an agreement to uphold its principles. Unfortunately, since the report, there has been a surge in development, all of which is supposedly in line with principles of limited urban conversion and environmentally based residential development. Following are the larger developments approved since SENUS:

o The Royal Botanic Ridge development in the City of Casey will contain approx 3,600 house lots accommodating around 11,000 people. This estate abuts the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne and was strongly opposed by the Garden's management. Drainage from the estate poses a real threat to the health of Westernport Bay.

o The Waterways Estate in Governor Road Braeside is being constructed on a floodplain and will contain 700 houses. It was approved on the basis that it is an environmental residential development because a significant portion of the land will used for wetlands and a lake.

o The Sandhurst development in the City of Frankston will have 1,850 house lots accommodating approx 5,500 residents and is close to the narrow part of the Green Wedge.

The spate of approvals for residential development over the past few years has raised expectations that more land will be set aside for housing. This in turn has attracted developers looking for opportunities and there now seems to be a mood that much of the Green Wedge is ripe for development.

To help you appreciate the current dire situation ,we have enclosed a map showing recent applications and approvals for development.

There is no real justification for urban subdivision in the Green Wedge because of the large supply of future residential land contained in designated growth areas around Melbourne.

Melbourne is lucky to have a number of Green Wedges as they provide welcome breathing space and are essential to stop Melbourne developing into a 'wall to wall' residential and industrial' city like Los Angeles.

To sum up, we believe it imperative that strong action be taken to stop urban development in the South East Green Wedge. We therefore strongly urge that, as a matter of urgency, you place a moratorium on any further development pending completion of the Metropolitan Strategy. The alternative of leaving it to the Councils will soon result in a 'Claytons Green Wedge' and be a sorry example of the laissez-faire approach to planning.

Yours sincerely,

Henry Kelsall
CONVENOR

Letter to Frankston Hastings Independent, 19/12/2000

Defending The Green Wedge

Best of luck to the newly formed 'Defenders of the South East Green Wedge', (Independent 12 December). They had better get to work fast while there is some Wedge left.

Almost weekly we read about the steady march of suburbia from Frankston City across the Green Wedge towards Cranbourne. Observing this, it is hard to believe that it is State Government and Frankston Council policy to retain the Green Wedge. One can only wonder what a 'let her rip' approach would look like?

The benefits separating the bayside suburbs from the rapidly expanding growth areas of Dandenong and Cranbourne are obvious and have been accepted by state and local government for many decades. Why then is it so difficult for the various authorities to comply with the policy of retaining the Green Wedge? It is hard not to be cynical.

Good luck Defenders, you will need all the help you can get.

Christine Claffey-Ross
Seaford.

Independent News Group, published 3/8/99

Green wedge plan is again on show
By Mike Morris

The long-running saga of the rezoning of the Keysborough green wedge of non-urban land may be in its final stages. Greater Dandenong Council's objectives and guidelines for the future development of the area, together with private applications for developments may, just may, soon be placed on public display - again.

It has been like trying to weave rope out of quicksand, putting these plans together. Senior planners have disappeared without a trace in the quagmires of Keysborough. The proposed changes to the green wedge are certainly very complicated and involve many people for a long period of time. It, perhaps, has been due to the direct intervention (interference, some would say) of Planning Minister Rob Maclellan last year that resolution may be nigh, even if the council and its planners are being drawn there kicking and screaming.

The green wedge covers a total area of about 2100 ha (55,000 acres) roughly bounded by Cheltenham Rd, Mordialloc Creek, Springvale Rd and Dandenong Creek. There are sectors and floodways, buffer zones for industries and dogs, schools and a golf course included in the area.

The two basic issues involved crudely put are:
* the purpose of the green wedge to set up an urban buffer in the suburban sprawl between the bay and western Gippsland;
* having a place where incompatible uses such as kennels, churches, market gardening can happily exist;
* dealing with boggy, floodprone land in the southern end of the wedge and parts of the northern section.

But it hardly seems all the fuss now. While Greater Dandenong has been mulling over the planning amendments the so-called Green Wedge, which ran from Dingley down through Carrum Downs to Western Port Bay through Cranbourne South has now almost gone. Kingston, Casey and Frankston Councils have gone ahead and allowed residential zoning, with barely a squeak from the minister.

Now the council wants to put on display its own grand plans and guidelines, and two private development proposals.

The grand plan is to draw the line at Greens-Hutton Rd, with rural south and qualified development to the north. In the northern sector there would be a two ha minimum subdivision lot size, to be averaged over the subdivision. In the southern sector the minimum lot size would be six ha. There would be allowance for 'environmental residential' in the southern bogs. Dog related industries and industry would have buffers. There will be land left for retention of broadscale farming in the southern sector with a maintenance of the current minimum of 40 ha.

The most fiddled around specific rezoning proposal is the Keysborough Concept by consultants Watsons who act for a number of property owners north of Hutton Rd. This involves 134 ha of land north of the Keysborough Golf Club and abuts the council-owned Tatterson Park. It would have 1400 residential lots ranging from 450 to 1000 sq m and accommodate a population of 3000-3500 people - a new suburb. This has been back and forth like a shuttlecock and has been changed again recently to possibly include the land of Haileybury College and Lighthouse College.

Another, more controversial proposal, is the Asset Solutions' Keysborough Park to rezone 86 ha of land on the southwest corner of Springvale and Hutton Rds from rural and urban floodway to part rural-part residential. There would be an equestrian park and about 250 homes, with a convenience store and a horse training centre. As the issue limps along through the ages, the council is now preparing all the maps and paperwork for future exhibition.

Meanwhile, a game: ask your local councillor to simply explain the issues of the green wedge.

6/10/98

Minister acts on wedge

Greater Dandenong Council has accused State Planning Minister Rob Maclellan of intruding on its planning powers after he stepped in and asked the council to shortcut the processing of rezoning applications in the Keysborough Green Wedge.

He asked the council to reverse its April decision to refuse to exhibit an application by the Asset Solutions Group for residential rezoning of 87ha (267 acres) of farmland on the south east corner of Hutton and Springvale roads, to be called Kingston Park.

The Minister wants that application put on exhibition with another rezoning application for land north of Hutton Rd, known as the "Watson¹s development" so they can be considered together.

At the same time an independent panel is considering another application for residential rezoning on the south western corner of Springvale and Hutton roads for land owned by the Haynes family. The outcome of the hearing is likely to have a profound effect on the entire Green Wedge area.

Two years ago, after years of prevarication by the former Springvale Council and pressure from landowners the City of Greater Dandenong and developers got together and produced plans for some development in the Green Wedge. There was a very lengthy independent panel hearing.

The panel tossed the whole thing out and recommended the Green Wedge remain non urban.

Since then there have been more plans and studies, including those from the Minister¹s Urban Fringe Advisory Committee and the South East Non Urban Areas Study which looked at green wedges in Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Casey and Frankston municipalities.

The Kingston Park proposal is for 238 residential lots and equestrian facilities, a convenience store and community centre. When the council rejected the application it 'bit the bullet¹ and decided that Hutton and Greens Roads would be the southern limit for any potential urban rezoning, and the land south remain non urban. This gave the Watsons development the green light to draw up plans for about 1500 housing lots between Hutton and Cheltenham roads. The applicant is reworking the zoning submission and it seems it will be some time before it hits the desk of the council.

The council is also in the process of drawing up its own Keysborough Non Urban Policy. And, finally, there is the matter of the new planning scheme for the entire municipality which has to go to the Minister for approval.

With all these balls in the air, Mr Maclellan has asked the council to respond to his request in 14 days. Last week the council agreed to the request to hold the exhibition when the appropriate documentation is available (whenever that may be), adding "that council notes that the minister¹s intervention is inappropriate and immature".

Speaking after the meeting Cr Phil Reed said the Assets Group went to the Minister after the council rejected its application.

"Rather than coming back to see the council to discuss ways to overcome council¹s objection to this project the developers appear to have run-off to the minister in an attempt to sidestep council¹s planning processes.

"We need to send the strongest signal possible to developers, and to the minister, that this is not how we expect people to do business in our city," Cr Reed said.