Volume 6 Number 5 Home Page: http://www.vicnet.net.au/~tcpa/ October 1999
Three Objectives for the Government
We suggest the following objectives to the new state government of Victoria.
1. A New Strategic Plan for Melbourne
We call for the development of a comprehensive strategic land use and transport plan for Melbourne. The plan should set strong guidelines for the protection of the ecology and landscape of green wedges and other open space and for the location of land uses in relation to transport infrastructure. The plan should aim to minimise the need for vehicular travel, and hence reduce the demand for expenditure on roads and freeways. The plan should mandate the provision of public transport in all new suburban developments. Pending the development of the strategic plan, all urban freeway construction should be halted.
To reinforce the integration of transport and land-use planning, strategic transport planning should be the responsibility of the Planning Ministry, with VicRoads’ responsibility limited to road construction and maintenance, and traffic management. The transport minister should be responsible for both roads and public transport.
2. A Strategic Plan for non-metropolitan Victoria
A strategic plan for the remainder of Victoria is our second main priority. The problems of regional Victoria are more diverse than those of Melbourne, and include environmental issues such as forest clearing and salinity, and social issues such as unemployment and the decay of rural communities.
A strategic plan should set directions for development in the regional cities and towns, and should encompass both physical land-use and transport planning and economic development.
The same principles of land use and transport integration that apply to Melbourne should be applied to the major urban areas.
3. Democratise Docklands
Planning the Docklands has been secretive and un-democratic. The planning process must be opened up to public scrutiny and public participation.
It makes no sense for Docklands to be a separate administrative unit: the area should be incorporated into the City of Melbourne.
Wedge City or Edge City?
The speakers at our October public meeting were Associate Professor Michael Buxton, from RMIT, and Kahne Franke, representing the Green Wedge Group, a community group from Nilumbik.
Michael Buxton gave an overview of the history of the green wedge in Melbourne. The concept of green wedges has been an element of Melbourne’s strategic planning for almost 30 years. Originating in 1971, the concept embraced a wide range of land uses, including:
The purposes of incorporating non-urban zones in Melbourne included:
Since 1992, however, the government has given way to continual pressure for development of green wedge land, with incremental development being permitted in the Dandenong Valley, the Dandenongs, the Yarra Valley and so on.
Kahne Franke gave a personal and community perspective of the significant green wedge that lies between Eltham and Warrandyte. There is a strong community feeling that the wedge should be preserved in its present form, a mixture of farmland and natural bush. Nilumbik Council is under continual pressure to develop parts of the wedge, as it seen as a desirable place to live.
One of the problems that Nilumbik Shire has is paying for the maintenance of its green wedge. Development would bring in additional rate revenue, which would alleviate the financial problem, but destroy some of the asset in the process. The question arises as to whether the whole of metropolitan Melbourne should contribute to the maintenance of its rural playgrounds. (The same question arises with coastal facilities that are used by the whole city but maintained by a local council). Charging entry fees may be one solution (not TCPA policy, however!).
Scoresby
The recent panel recommendation that the planned Scoresby freeway construction proceed threatens to further erode the green wedges, from Eltham in the north to Frankston in the south. An article in the Business section of The Age, Monday 11th October, argues that the Western Ring Road has been the catalyst for a surge of industrial and commercial development in the western suburbs. The same process could be anticipated in the east.
Whilst the unemployed will doubtless welcome the growth in investment and jobs, the economic benefits must be weighed against the environmental and social costs. Development along the Scoresby freeway would undermine efforts to revive the ailing economies of urban centres such as Dandenong and Frankston, and would lock us into a car-dependent future. The nature and form of our city is being dictated by the road lobby. Road transport should be subservient to strategic planning, not driving it.
It is possible to envisage alternative futures, in which the private car is an option rather than a necessity. The book Seeds for Change first proposed the Cluster and Connect model in 1978. More recently, the Urban Village concept has been floated. Both models advocate concentration of development around existing rail-based suburban centres, to minimise car travel and encourage walking and cycling for local transport, with rail public transport for longer distance travel.
Save Our Fringes
Beryl Phillips, President of the Mount Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA), would like to hear from similar environmental groups with a focus on the semi-rural fringes of Melbourne, to form a "Save Our Fringes" coalition. MEEPPA is at PO Box 101, Mt Evelyn, 3796.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Town and Country Planning Association Inc., will be held at 7.00 pm on Monday 6th December, at the Sisalkraft Theatre, ground floor, Architecture Building, University of Melbourne. The draft agenda is as follows:
Election of Office Bearers
Nominations are sought for the following positions:
All members are encouraged to nominate: please do not assume that the incumbents wish to remain in their present positions. Nominations must be received by the Secretary no later than Friday 3rd December 1999.
Nominations for Awards
Nominations are sought for suitable recipients of the following awards:
Send your nominations to the Secretary no later than Friday 19th November.
Address for Correspondence
The Secretary, Town and Country Planning Association, Box 312, Collins Street West PO, Melbourne 8007.