Yarra Ranges knocked back on subdivision bid by the State Government

POTENTIAL Yarra Ranges property developers have been shut out of the lucrative market after the State Government rejected calls to ease laws on subdivision.

Monbulk is one of the townships exempt from subdivision. Photo: Daniel Pockett

POTENTIAL Yarra Ranges property developers have been shut out of the lucrative market after the State Government rejected calls to ease laws on subdivision.

The Government knocked back a bid by Yarra Ranges Council to drop the minimum subdivision size from 4000sq m to 2000sq m in certain areas.

There are 12,417 lots in the area zoned for low density, and only 875 blocks are 4000sq m or larger.

Councillors have vowed to try to find other ways to try to increase development in these areas after being turned down by Planning Minister Richard Wynne.

The process took more than five years and during that time it was Mr Wynne who appointed an independent committee to review the proposal and make recommendations.

However after the panel made its recommendations, the minister decided to reject the proposal.

But in a letter to the council, Mr Wynne said he refused the changes because of the bushfire risk in these areas and that he wanted to “prioritise human life”.

“I recommend the council review its housing strategy to identify the need for additional housing in specific towns or areas better suited for growth, rather than a broad application across most of your townships,” the letter said.

But Cr Fiona McAllister said she was disappointed after all the hard work that had gone into the proposal.

“We followed the due and appropriate process yet we sit here, five or six years into this journey, having been told by the minister that asked us to go down this path, that he doesn’t accept the recommendation,” Cr McAllister said.

But Tim George from Thomas & George Licensed Surveyors said the entire process had been a ‘bureaucratic stuff up” between the council and State Government.

Mr George said while he did not entirely blame the council, officers had not prepared the report well enough.

He also said the State Government had not provided essential information on planned changes to the Bushfire Management Overlay prior to the report being submitted.

Mr George said he represented more than 50 clients who could no longer subdivide their Yarra Ranges properties.

“It’s quite a complex process and it’s not all the council’s fault,” he said.

“The outcome is fairly disappointing and the goalposts were changed the whole time by the minister.”