From the realm of lofty ideals to the everyday or mainstream, the peregrination of sustainable building design marches on, with recent developments suggesting stricter environmental controls might soon carry the force of law.
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In the past week, 24 municipalities, including the City of Ballarat, lodged a joint planning scheme amendment with the planning minister Lizzie Blandthorn, seeking to embed a series of tighter planning controls over the design of future builds within their respective planning schemes.
The practical effect of the amendment - if approved - would be to lend council the authority it requires to reject planning applications which pay no heed to renewable energy, insulation, electric vehicle infrastructure or storm water recycling, among other things.
City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King said the move owed to council's ongoing involvement in a project spearheaded by the Municipal Association of Victoria focused on realising this change.
"That all councils that had signed up were going to write to the Minister to request the amendment was sort of [always] how it was going to flow," he said.
"We wrote a letter to the minister last week, advocating for those [environmental sustainable design] components to be added into the planning scheme."
Notably, Mr King added that participating councils would endeavour to "fast-track" the process - something which, assuming its success, might see the legislative change take hold before the vast parcels of land to the north and north-west of the city are unlocked for housing development.
As this masthead has previously reported, however, the likelihood of this eventuality occupies tenuous ground, at least according to sources close to the project, including MAV president David Clark.
Absent the amendment, City of Ballarat mayor Daniel Moloney said the "business case" for sustainable housing was nevertheless growing.
"Developers are starting to realise that it can be a win-win; that they can make a profit and that we can have beautiful sustainable suburbs," he said.
"Given the difference between selling an energy inefficient house versus one that is highly efficient and low cost to maintain, it's a no-brainer; so hopefully the days of cheap and nasty are starting to get behind us."
Council's draft Ballarat Net Zero Emissions Plan will also be released for public exhibition this week.
The document details a variety of strategies through which council might conceivably assist both residents and businesses alike to transition to lower emission technologies and practices.
The draft plan will be published on the City of Ballarat website soon, with provision made for public feedback and comment.
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