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Amendment C129: 1221-1249 Centre Road, Oakleigh South

Planning Panel report - September 2018

The independent planning panel released its report on Amendment C129 to the Monash Planning Scheme regarding the former Talbot Quarry Site in September 2018.

The Talbot Quarry site at 1221-1249 Centre Road, Oakleigh South, is a complex site owing to its history as a former sand quarry and land fill.

The owner Sterling Global sought to rezone the land to allow a range of uses including the possibility for residential if the environmental conditions were considered suitable.

Council as the Planning Authority saw merit in progressing the Amendment to an independent Panel as this was considered an appropriate way to test not only the rezoning of the site but the staged process that has been proposed by the applicant. This process provided a way of assisting Council in determining whether or not the land was suitable for redevelopment and whether or not the staged approach was appropriate.

The Panel found that there was not yet enough information prepared and presented by the owner to allow them to determine that the land could be remediated to the point where it could be rezoned.

The Panel felt that the site was too complex to be rezoned in the staged process that was proposed, and that the land should be fully and comprehensively audited prior to consideration of a rezoning.

At its Council meeting on 25 September, 2018, Council followed the advice of the panel and determined to abandon the amendment (part 1 of the panel recommendation) and extend the Environmental Audit Overlay over all of the land (part 2 of the panel recommendation).

You can read the Council report from this meeting and the decision of Council here

It is now up to the land owner Sterling Global to decide what they want to do. The community will be consulted on any future plans proposed for the site.

Council will continue to monitor the site for compliance with the existing planning permits on the site.

In accordance with the Council resolution, Officers are arranging for a meeting with the community representatives to discuss the panel report and any questions that may arise.

Background

An independent planning panel has been established to consider Amendment C129 and submissions. Council initially received six submissions to the Amendment after inviting the community to comment on the proposed zoning changes.

In October 2017, Council received over 300 late submissions, most as proforma letters, objecting to the rezoning of the land. These submissions were provided to the panel and as a consequence further hearing days have been provided.

In 2017Council sought community views on proposed Amendment C129 to the Monash Planning Scheme.

The land affected by this amendment is located at 1221-1249 Centre Road, Oakleigh South, the site of a former quarry and landfill.

As part of the community consultation, residents and property owners could make submissions on the Amendment to Council up until Friday 3 March 2017.

Panel Hearings
Expert Evidence Statements
Documents Tendered at Panel Hearing
Exhibited Amendment Documents

The Amendment has been made at the request of Sterling Global on behalf of the owners of the site.

The use of the land for extractive industry and landfill purposes ceased over 20 years ago. The site has remained dormant since that time, and is in need of rehabilitation to improve the environmental condition of the site and enable a new urban use to be established. The current Special Use Zone – Earth and Energy Resources Industry - is no longer an appropriate zone for the site. Similarly the existing current residential zoning of the western part of the site should be changed to allow the environmental issues and constraints to be planned and managed in an appropriate way across the whole of the site.

However, until a full environmental assessment is undertaken, it cannot be confirmed what types of uses of the area is appropriate for the site.

The Amendment:

Proposes to rezone the land, formerly used as a quarry and landfill, from part Special Use Zone Schedule 2 and part General Residential Zone Schedule 2 to a different zone: the Comprehensive Development Zone Schedule 2. This will allow the land to be used for a range of potential uses, subject to addressing the environmental issues relating to its former use; consideration of its impact on neighbouring properties and the surrounding street network; and other amenity issues.
The amendment also corrects the boundary of the existing Environmental Audit Overlay to incorporate the whole of the site within the Overlay and includes the Former Talbot Quarry and Landfill Comprehensive Development Plan 2016 as an Incorporated Document within the Monash Planning Scheme.
It also makes minor consequential changes to the local planning policy framework to reflect the rezoning and broad directions set out in the Comprehensive Development Plan 2016.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this matter, please call Sherry Hopkins, Coordinator Strategic Planning, on 9518 3071 or email strategicplanning@monash.vic.gov.au.

Panel Hearings

An independent planning panel has been appointed by the Minister for Planning to consider the Amendment and all submissions that Council received about the Amendment. The Panel hearing commenced its hearings in August 2017 and held hearing days on the following dates:

Tuesday 8 August 2017 – Friday 11 August 2017
Thursday 12 October 2017
Monday 30 October 2017

A second Directions Hearing was held on Tuesday 30 January 2018.

Further hearing days are proposed to be held:

Tuesday 4 June 2018 – Thursday 6 June 2018, 10.00am – 5.00pm (Planning Panels Victoria, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne)

At the recent January Directions hearing, the Panel directed that Council make available as many of the documents tendered at the previous hearing days as possible (please see below).