Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape, draft statement of planning policy (open for comment now until 22 January 2021)
Among the key proposals contained within the Surf Coast Distinctive Area and Landscape ‘Draft Statement of Planning Policy’, we have a clear choice about where the Torquay-Jan Juc protected settlement boundary should be located.
Option 1 – would result in our township effectively expanding westward by 1km from Duffields Road, resulting in more than 200 hectares of rural lands converted to new residential development, adding more houses. cars and congestion in our community.
Option 2 – would maintain what community considers to be the current western edge of our township at Duffields Road, locking in a permanent green break where nature and community can thrive.
Why reject option 1?
Option 1 – directly contravenes our own state conservation planning measures intended to protect Yellow gum woodland, and other species of state significance contained in the Spring Creek valley.
Option 1 – fails to provide any detail in the SPP, on total numbers of additional houses and residents in our community, nor how it is meant to be ‘ecologically sustainable’.
Option 1 – includes further adverse impacts beyond the immediate site, including the crowding of fragile coastal environments and facilities. There will additional cost to the state and to our community in managing these assets.
Option 1 – more residential development, will mean thousands more cars on our roads, in a township that already struggles under the summer traffic.
Option 1 – More residential development in Spring Creek will result in hundreds, if not thousands more houses being built. Logically, this seems to directly contradict the aims of the Distinctive Area Landscape process.
Option 1 – the business-as-usual, developer-led approach has resulted in the ‘vast sameness’ apparent along the drive from Melbourne to Torquay. We don’t want this for our unique community and believe that our township has carried more than our fair share of Victoria’s development burden.
Wording contained within the Draft Statement of Planning Policy clearly states that the Surf Coast Declared Area Framework Plan should ‘conserve and enhance the declared area’s significant landscapes’ including the Spring Creek valley, west of Duffields Road (under a state significant landscape overlay). Option 2 supports this aim, whereas Option 1 clearly contradicts it.
Why choose option 2?
Option 2 – Contrary to what developers may say, more housing estates is not the only economic option for Spring Creek. Option 1 might provide short-term employment, but doesn’t address long-term employment needs of our community.
Option 2 – could support a sustainable and diverse local economy through various ways; community-owned solar, ecotourism businesses, carbon offsetting, regenerative farming, expansion of the emergent arts and culture precinct, and more.
Stop the developers from building more residential houses in our region. By choosing option 2, green break area to protect Spring Creek you will be contributing to a more sustainable future for the Surf Coast.
Option 2 – maintains what community considers to be the current western edge of our township at Duffields Road, locking in a permanent green break where nature and community can thrive.
Option 2 – supports the protected settlement boundary as defined in the Draft Statement of Planning Policy for the following reasons. You may consider incorporating some of the following points in your written submission: https://engage.vic.gov.au/dalsac open NOW and CLOSING on 22 January 2021.
Please do not cut and paste the exact words as it will only count as one response .
Option 2 – Green break area (excluded from settlement boundary) as shown on Map 11.
(For example) I support option 2 for the following reasons.
Create a protected habitat in Spring Creek Valley for flora and fauna threatened by residential housing development,
Stop the over crowding on our beaches, surf spots and car parking already at breaking point during the peak holiday periods,
Reduce the impact of unsustainable growth that will undermine the distinctive landscape character of our towns,
Protect and restore the remanent Bellarine yellow gum woodland habitat by maintaining an exclusion zone from residential development between Torquay and Bellbrae.
Have your say about the Protected Settlement Boundary for Spring Creek.
Option 2: Green break area (excluded from settlement boundary) to protect Spring Creek.
