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It’s been a while since our last newsletter and a lot has been happening on the Intentional Communities front. We hope communities are on the road to recovery from the damage and trauma of the floods. Our ability to legally construct more housing in the very near future will certainly play an important role in alleviating the dire shortage in the shire. Thank you to all who contributed to our fundraising efforts, we managed to cover the costs of commissioning the comprehensive planning and legal report presented to Council staff. That report produced the desired effect of dialogue with staff and the push to accelerate action to implement Council’s resolutions regarding extra dwellings on Intentional Communities. Planning Proposal submitted to the DPE has been approvedByron Shire Council submitted a Planning Proposal to the NSW Department of Planning seeking to allow secondary dwellings and dual occupancies on CTs and MOs. The Planning Proposal was granted Gateway Determination by the DPE in record time and is now on public exhibition from 20 June till 22 July. planning proposal to allow second dwellings and dual occs on CTs and MOs on exhibition
What’s in the Planning Proposal
Council planning staff accepted all that we advocated for in our planning report regarding CTs. The process of the Planning Proposal being exhibited, brought to final Council vote and gazetted which will end in the LEP being amended, is scheduled to be finished in November. At that point every rural CT will be able to apply for a modification of the existing consent condition restricting one dwelling per lot. Once approved, every lot will be entitled to submit an individual DA for a second dwelling or dual occupancy that will be assessed on merit. We have a meeting with the director of planning early August where we’ll negotiate with staff to accelerate and simplify the process. MOs will be able to have one second dwelling or dual occupancy per entire MO because according to staff’s legal advice an MO is one undivided lot, therefore only one extra dwelling will be permissible on that lot. It is evident that Council’s planning and legal staff have marked a clear distinction between CTs and MOs in terms of what is permissible. They also made it very clear that they are not going to move from this position. We alerted the Mayor and several Councillors to that fact and asked for intervention. The matter was then raised in two consecutive Council planning meetings where planning staff’s position was reiterated emphatically and seemed to have convinced all Councillors. We couldn’t find any political will on the part of Councillors to push the argument of more dwellings on MOs any further. What to do?We recommend to all community members, residents and the general public to support the Planning Proposal. Even though not perfect, the Planning Proposal presents a great achievement; a fundamental change in attitude and a unique opportunity to provide housing in the short term in the shire. No need to stress how desperate that need is. This could be a first step on which more can be built. MOs need to think seriously what planning changes are realistic and possible for them and what they want to achieve further down the track, then come forward and actively participate in the work NRIC is doing.
Writing a submission
Submissions of support can be short, as most of our own arguments for extra dwellings on Intentional Communities were actually used by Council staff to successfully convince State Gov. We want to show that the support for this landmark change continues and that the public is aware of these matters.
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