Mornington Peninsula Shire fighting for right to force residents to fix planning breaches
Despite a court victory over illegally cleared land against a company owned by Chris Judd, Mornington Peninsula Shire will have to go back before a judge to have the property replanted. It’s an expensive process the council is now fighting to change.
South East
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Costly and drawn out court battles could be avoided if councils were given the power to force people to fix planning breaches, says Mornington Peninsula Shire
The council wants the State Government to change the Planning and Environment Act to allow all Victorian councils to enforce their own planning schemes.
Currently council officers do not have the power to stop works or order land owners to rectify planning breaches.
Instead they have to apply to VCAT for an enforcement order.
Cr David Gill said this meant it could take years to resolve planning compliance investigations.
“There is a recent case involving some land in Somers that took three years to complete,” he said.
In that instance a resident fenced off a section of Crown land adjoining their property.
“A lot of planning breaches are reported to us by residents. It’s frustrating for them to see nothing happen,” Cr Gill said.
The inaction also encouraged people to defy the planning scheme, he said.
“There don’t appear to be any consequences so people think they can get away with it too.”
Mornington planning and building director David Bergin confirmed that under the current system councils and communities were subject to long delays and heavy costs, even when urgent health and safety concerns were involved.
“Effectively this is how it is at the moment,” he said.
The council agreed to ask officers to spend up to $9000 preparing a report into how the system “hindered (council) ability to enforce planning permit conditions in a timely manner due to State Government sanctioned processes”.
Once complete and approved by the council the report will be sent to the Municipal Association of Victoria and all Victorian councils asking them to support the campaign.
Frankston mayor Sandra Mayer said the council responded to planning regulation breaches daily.
Cr Mayer said while council officers had sufficient resources to manage current enforcement activities, the need to refer some matters to the VCAT or Magistrates Court resulted in increased costs and time delays.
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The MAV would need support from more than 50 per cent of member councils to take an official position on a campaign to increase planning permit enforcement powers
Mornington Peninsula Shire is currently looking at taking two high profile cases to VCAT involving the companies of Carlton great Chris Judd and trucking tycoon Lindsay Fox.
In September 2019 Fox’s company was fined $20,000 for illegally ripping up beachside vegetation and replacing it with a massive lawn.
Around the same time Chris Judd’s company Three Zebras was fined $40,000 for illegally clearing 3000sq m of preserved vegetation alongside a protected creek and dam in a Green Wedge zone at his Arthurs Seat holiday home.