City of Ballarat set to vote on next step for Miners Rest Township Plan after public notice period concludes

The MRTP, which was adopted by the city at their December 11, 2019 meeting, was created in an effort to encompass both Miners Rest community groups and the council in addressing the northern suburb's long-term planning and design vision.

During the meeting, the council responded to residents' concerns surrounding the area including protecting the older northern part of Miners Rest and its rural township character through a proposed zone change; a 750 square-metre lot minimum as well as a potential rezoning of the former quarry site through a public notice exhibition.

The public notice period, which was approved by the Planning Minister, ran from November 17 to December 19, 2022.

It garnered a total of five submissions. However, the submissions put forth, which came from a variety of community members and government authorities, have left the council unsure of how to best proceed with the MRTP.

In the council's March 8 planning meeting agenda, one of the submissions from the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (GHCMA) requests an update to flooding overlays which were last completed more than nine years ago in 2013.

While the council's officer had acknowledged flood mitigation was "important and necessary", they highlighted such works were not part of the MRTP.

"There are actions to work at flood mitigation, however there is no specific action to update the overlays," the officer wrote.

"This is state driven work that depends on the DTP (Department of Transport and Planning), GHCMA and City of Ballarat to work together to implement."

Another suggestion which was strongly echoed by residents was a need to rezone Miners Rest northern section from a General Residential Zone to a Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

Such a change would ensure the area's heritage character was kept in tact. It would also make it difficult for developments that were not in line with neighbouring dwellings to be created. This generally refers to housing greater than two storeys.

Specifically, community members requested planning permit applications including for a 54-lot subdivision at 1-11 Victoria Street, which had been approved in July 2022, to stop completely or to at least take into consideration the proposed submission.

In response, the council officer wrote planning permits could not be delayed nor the submission considered.

"The amendment cannot be seriously entertained until a panel has reported on the amendment," the council officer wrote.

The ongoing debate on rezoning the former quarry site, which has been in discussions for more than a year to accommodate greater diverse housing, was also pushed back by the council officer.

Forming part of action 30 of the MRTP which seeks to "investigate potential for the development of the quarry site", the site's land owner requested the area be flagged for short term residential lots.

However, the officer wrote the site was "not considered to meet land supply requirements for the short or long term".

"The quarry site has a number of constraints and outstanding technical issues that need investigation and resolution prior to any conclusion being drawn about the suitability of the quarry for redevelopment," they wrote.

"The future use of this site is also intrinsically tied to the outcomes of the City of Ballarat's Housing Strategy project which is currently identifying long term housing demand and supply options within the municipality.

"Any future application to rezone the land would require a detailed assessment of the current site constraints including bushfire assessment, Environmental Audits or introduction of Environmental Audit Overlays."

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Similarly, the landowner of a site located under the Ballarat Airport runway, which is categorised as "not suitable for rezoning to sensitive land use" due to "noise impacts" sought to have this overlay removed to accommodate residential developments.

The council officer wrote such a rezoning was not appropriate as "based on an assessment by experts in 2018" outlining "various noise scenarios of potential runway development options".

On Wednesday, Ballarat councillors will vote on the next step of the MRTP, which will either include the council asking Planning Panels Victoria to review the submissions, making the required changes to the plan or abandoning the amendments altogether.

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