Mount Evelyn
5 Tuesday, 29 October, 2013
Dreams up in smoke
6
MECS celebrates 60 years
A Mail Newspaper Group publication
■ Council puts foot down to discourage drive-through developments...
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Town’s walking tall
Driven away
By REBECCA BILLS ROLL UP, roll up, and they certainly did roll up to the 2013 Mount Evelyn circus themed street party. With cheeky clowns, stilt walkers, dancers, magicians and interesting stalls, the community came together in a day to celebrating all things Mount Evelyn. Yarra Ranges councillor Maria McCarthy was unrecognisable dressed as a clown leaving residents double taking, trying to recognise the community figure. Cr McCarthy said the day went really well and was very exciting with lots of people showing up creating a great atmosphere.
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“I was really pleased with the turnout and everybody involved put in a lot of effort,” she said. Organiser of the event Nicki Condello said the turnout on the day increased significantly from the 2011 street party with more than 5000 people visiting on the day. “We have had really positive feedback from stallholders and attendees with the event really showing Mount Evelyn off,” she said. “The circus theme brought a creative element to the day and really heightened interest. “A big thank you to all our sponsors and committee members for a great event.” See the Mail’s website www.starcommunity.com.au for a full gallery of the event.
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sustainable design principles. An intensive process was used to develop the five DDOs, which Cr Dunn said have been in development for years. The amendment to the planning scheme, including a draft version of the DDOs, were exhibited for six weeks over March and April this year, with 72 submissions regarding the amendment. According to Yarra Ranges Council, the majority of submissions were in regards to future fast food restaurants in the Dandenong Ranges. A panel was appointed by the planning minister in May, including representatives from McDonald’s, with two days of public hearings in August, delivering a report and recommendations shortly afterwards. The panel’s recommendations did not support the limiting of drive-through facilities in the Yarra Ranges, but the council decided not to support the panel’s view on the matter. There were a number of other matters of contention between the panel and the council, including the ESD requirements, which the council supported but the panel did not. There is no timeline currently set for the planning minister’s decision on the amendment. For the full council report on the DDOs, visit www.yarraranges.gov.au.
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NEW drive-through facilities could be pushed away from towns across the Dandenong Ranges following the approval of an amendment to the council’s planning scheme. Amendment C126, which features five Design and Development Overlays (DDOs) for Yarra Ranges towns, was put before the Yarra Ranges Council on 22 October and passed by a majority of the councillors. If approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy, the DDOs will enforce guidelines on new developments for town centres, with separate DDOs for different regions of the municipality. DDO14 and DDO15, which affects Tecoma, Kallista, Mount Dandenong, Olinda and Sassafras, and Belgrave respectively, had an extra guideline that discourages buildings that feature drive-through facilities. Lyster Ward councillor Samantha Dunn said that, if the changes are endorsed by the planning minister, the DDOs would be acknowledged by VCAT for any future development disputes. “It’s about driving good quality design - it will clarify to people who want to build about the kind of things that are acceptable,” she said. Cr Dunn said the addition of the drive-through discourage-
ment is to help encourage foottraffic through tourism towns in the hills. “Towns that spread across the Dandenong Ranges are a key tourism route,” she said. “It’s about built-form, aiming to be as pedestrian-friendly as possible in high-tourism towns. “Drive-through sales impact on that - they are not as pedestrian friendly.” She said the discouragement of drive-through facilities would not affect any current drive-through businesses in the affected towns. Smaller towns, such as Belgrave South, Montrose and Wandin North, among other towns, will not have the guideline discouraging drive-through facilities added to DDO13, which covers their areas. Cr Dunn said that concerned residents should inform the council if they would like to see changes to design guidelines in their area. Among the other items in the DDOs are guidelines for building heights and a requirement that developments that have a floor area over 1500 square metres must meet Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) requirements. To meet the ESD requirements, an application would have to include a management plan showing how the proposal would adopt environmentally
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