Aussie towns 100km apart face planning rules making land ‘worthless’
A doomsday ‘1 per cent’ flooding prediction has rendered homes along a huge stretch of Victoria’s coastline effectively ‘worthless’ – and residents are furious.
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Changes to planning laws that have left some vacant blocks of land in Victoria virtually “worthless” are affecting properties stretching 100km along the state’s east coast.
Loch Sport landowner Henry Luiz’s fight against the flood overlay imposed on his property is gaining support as others living in coastal towns realise their homes are also caught by the new rules accounting for future sea level rises.
Plans for new dwellings in low-lying coastal parts of Gippsland have been scuppered as “future flood levels” of 2.7 metres – 80cm above previous marks – were enforced by a local water agency.
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Mr Luiz and his wife were told last year the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority had retracted its previous intention to approve construction on a block he bought in Loch Sport nine years ago, having previously flagged support in 2018.
“Now my piece of land is worth zero,” he said, noting hundreds of Loch Sport properties were impacted.
He is petitioning the state government to review the regulations, with Wellington Shire Council voting to note the campaign and write to the planning minister this week.
About 120km west of Loch Sport, the van Dijk family have a holiday home in Port Albert which they learned had also fallen under the same rules.
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‘Test case’
Lodi van Dijk said the family supported Mr Luiz’s petition, adding the state of affairs in Wellington Shire could prove a “test case” for more parts of Victoria.
“Because if it applies to us, it’s going to apply to places like Brighton and Sandringham and all sorts of other places,” he said.
Documents from 2014 model the impact storm surges in 100 years’ time could have on seaside towns, with artist impressions showing water flooding entire locales.
In the report, the graphics showing the worst of the flooding are labelled as “1% AEP”.
The report states AEP stands for “Annual Exceedance Probability: The measure of the likelihood (expressed as a probability) of an event equalling or exceeding a given magnitude in any given year”.
“It’s just been insanity. It’s childish insanity,” Mr van Dijk said of the one per cent probability relied on.
The family believe if authorities stick with these rules there should be “compensation” for affected landowners.
“I think honestly … they don’t take people’s livelihoods into consideration and they don’t really care,” Mr van Dijk said.
Wellington Shire, which also takes in Port Albert, confirmed in November the policy potentially affected 222 lots in Loch Sport and 156 properties in other coastal areas.
A Victorian government spokesperson said a statewide sea level rise benchmark has been in place since 2008 to guide local planning decisions, and councils have been required to identify risks to “avoid inappropriate development”.
‘No idea this is happening’
Lesley van Dijk said the couple’s son Aiden was involved in plans for a new development of 11 homes on a block near their holiday house.
Since the new regulations were introduced, she said plans had halted and the block was now worth “next to nothing” as no one wants to buy it.
“Nobody is actually challenging (the rules) because a lot of people have no idea that this is happening,” Ms van Dijk said.
In an email sent to Mr Luiz in November, a representative from the WGCMA explained “that all coastal development will now be assessed against the future flood level of 2.7 metres”.
“The new assessment criteria means that the Authority can no longer support the construction of a single dwelling on your property, as the flood depth exceeds safety criteria,” it said.
Mr Luiz wrote to the WGCMA on Friday to share comments made by locals at a meeting held the week before, which was attended by 300 people.
“There has been a total failure on the WGCMA to consult with the communities affected along the East Coast of Victoria and the process has been entirely devoid of transparency,” he wrote.
Residents of Loch Sport were, however, last year airing concerns about coastal erosion and telling The Age water was getting closer to homes and affecting coastal infrastructure.
Loch Sport Business and Tourism Association secretary Tony Patchell told the paper erosion was threatening the town’s economy as a holiday destination for Melburnians.
“We’re losing tourist assets and that’s all this town has really got,” he said.
‘Radio silence’
Wellington Shire Council discussed Mr Luiz’s petition at Tuesday night’s meeting, with its general manager recommending that council write to the planning minister.
Loch Sport resident Craig Holland told councillors that the “extraordinarily severe” controls on the town and its landowners “should not be underestimated”.
“We accept that climate change is occurring … however the analysis of the long-term effects is wildly divergent,” he said.
“And at this stage, the denial of building permission based on such long-term predictions, we feel, is unwarranted.”
He noted other water catchment authorities did not seem to be enforcing the same guidelines, pointing to recent development in nearby Paynesville – located in the East Gippsland CMA.
Mayor Scott Rossetti said the guidelines had come from “down on high”, and there had been “radio silence from the state government”.
“We realise as a council the impact this has on our community … and that’s why we actually have pushed back on the guidance to not refuse a house permit to build a single dwelling.”
Mr Rossetti said, however, if a proposal was taken to administrative tribunal VCAT “it would be likely we would lose every time if the recommendation was to not allow the permit”.
“So we’re certainly battling along trying to get the best for our community. We realise for most people their block of land … is probably their biggest asset,” he said.
“I really do support Loch Sport putting this petition up.”
Deputy Mayor Cindy Madeley said the matter “is of great concern to council we remain empathetic to land owners facing uncertainly over their ability to develop land that has long been assumed to be developable”.
She said the council was currently approving plans for single dwellings on single lots: “In short, if you have a block you can build.”
A lack of clarity
In a draft letter to Minister Sonya Kilkenny, Mr Rossetti wrote the changes had “significant implications” for towns such as Loch Sport, Golden Beach, Paradise Beach, McLoughlin’s Beach and Port Albert.
“This policy position now means that the WGCMA’s assessment criteria has made it significantly more difficult for landowners wanting to develop in identified flood prone areas. “In some instances, the building of new dwellings will not be supported by the WGCMA given the predicted level of flood risk.”
The council was “continuing to support planning applications for new single dwellings, though this may be for a limited time only”, he wrote.
A spokesperson for the Victorian government said planning for flooding and managing coastal hazard risk and climate change impacts was “a key objective of Victoria’s planning system”.
It said local councils were required to identify affected land in their planning schemes “which guide planning decisions to avoid inappropriate development”.
“A statewide sea level rise benchmark has also been in place since 2008 to guide planning decisions for councils and provide a framework for coastal hazard risk assessments.”
“This enables councils to plan for climate resilient development, and prepares our environment, community and economy for change.”
Loch Sport real estate agent Rachelle Potts told news.com.au in February the “devastating” impact of the flood overlay had left local owners with “virtually worthless land”.
“At the moment, I can’t even get a buyer to look at a block with flood overlay on it. It’s too unknown,” she said.
Nationals MP for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien, who has sponsored Mr Luiz’s petition, said it was “disappointing for both landowners and our local governments … that the state government is failing to offer any real clarity”.
“I understand the need to ensure future developments are planned carefully as we face increasing challenges with flooding, particularly in coastal areas, but we need common sense decisions that are fair and there’s not enough clarity coming from the government.”
Originally published as Aussie towns 100km apart face planning rules making land ‘worthless’
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